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For about 21 hours from Oct 21 to Oct 22, JetBlue Airways did a fantastic job of what Rohit Bhargava calls “short term blogging“. They set up a Live blog, to coincide with the opening of their new Terminal 5, at New York’s JFK Airport. There were a couple of posts every hour, keeping track of the latest happenings at the new terminal, updating not just customers but also employees. The blog was quite a hit!

Today, the blog still exists as a reminder of how well JetBlue has embraced technology in order to engage its customers – both internal and external. But the airline has a history of tapping on the Web to interact with customers on their own terms.
David Neelman’s flight log
JetBlue was one of the pioneers in the airline industry to add a “personality” to the company – when David Neelman started his personal blog on JetBlue’s website in September 2006 (way before Web 2.0 became the craze it is today). In his first post, David wrote:
I try to fly JetBlue at least …

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Jet Airways is relying heavily on ethnic marketing in the US to get in touch with its key target market of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), and tapping on distribution networks like grocery stores to allow access to tickets! In this part 2 of the exclusive interview with Lisa Markovic, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Jet Airways in the US, shares with us ways in which Jet Airways is trying to trump the current economic crisis.
Flying through the current economy
Jet Airways has been targeting niche events such as Diwali celebrations and India Day Parade in the US to get targeted exposure with the people who regularly fly to India. Moreover, Lisa realizes that these customers “shop around a lot and do their homework before they make a purchase”, and hence Jet Airways offers a product that offers “great value”.
Alliances and more…
One of the mitigation strategies for the current crisis …

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Jet Airways has been the shining star of the Indian aviation industry, especially in the past 5 years, since liberalization. The airline established itself as the harbinger of positive changes in the region, and currently offers one of the best service in the Indian skies, their numerous industry awards a proof of that.

A couple of years ago, Jet Airways started international operations and currently offers direct flights to key destinations in India from New York, via their hub in Brussels. However, of late, the airline has struggled with the rest of the world airlines due to fluctuating fuel prices and the economic troubles. Seeking to douse my curiosity on how Jet Airways is dealing with this, I decided to get the inside scoop by speaking with the expert.
In conversation with an industry veteran
In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Lisa Markovic, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Jet Airways in the US, talks about how work at Jet Airways is different from her 22 years at Lufthansa. She shares the …

AirFrance-KLM recently launced Bluenity, what they claim as the “first social network for travelers” by an airline. But as Scott Carmichael pointed out in his article at Gadling, Lufthansa was the first airline to launch such a social network called GenFly Lounge – targeted at student travelers. Both of these sites follow the norms of social networks, allowing you to add friends, have a profile page, and of course, update your travel plans and interact with other travelers.

But it’s important for airlines to differentiate their efforts so that they’re not creating yet another Dopplr (which I think is a great community for travelers). So, what are some of the things that airlines can do to ensure that their online forays help enhance the brand overall?
How to “control” the brand online?
Don’t even try! Since it’s the world of user generated content, user opinions often matter more than what the “corporate speak” is. As Michael D’Esopo from Lippincott shared in his interview, there is a need to allow free discourse to take place online. The airline should really just act as a moderator. This way, …

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[caption id="" align="alignright" width="460" caption="Time for pilots to hang their boots"][/caption]

If you haven’t already heard, all pilots in France are going on strike yet again this weekend. It almost seems like a futile attempt at getting a long weekend for themselves. That means, all air travel in France will shut down from 14-17 November, since no planes take off – not just for Air France, but all French airlines.
Poor KLM
The sad part is that it’s not Air France’s doing, yet, it’s going to have a significant impact on a brand that already has been tainted due to its history of striking staff. Moreover, now that KLM is tied up with Air France, its brand will be negatively as well, even though all Royal Dutch pilots are operating as usual. The fact that flights will be canceled and passengers stranded means that they will form a bad impression of the airline, which is likely to last long.

So, now that the strike is a certainty, what can AirFrance-KLM do now, and how can they deal with this better in the future, to minimize impact on …

Lippincott, a leading brand strategy and design consultancy, has worked with airlines globally, including Virgin Atlantic and most recently TACA Airlines. Lippincot helped TACA deliver a “calming trip” to their customers, the moment they stepped aboard the plane. They have also extensively helped Delta Airlines deliver a 360 degree brand experience, both internally and to the external customer.

I decided to take this opportunity to meet up with Michael D’Esopo, a senior partner at Lippincott’s Boston office, to get his perspectives on airline branding, and what makes for a truly successful airline brand. With 15 years’ experience in brand building, he revealed a number of gems, and you can view the full, uncut version of the interview right below.

Here’s a quick summary of Michael’s thoughts:

Differentiation – Like all brands, airlines should have a strong and unique value proposition – something Barack Obama did so well, as I discussed in my previous article.
Clarity – They should then deliver this differentiated positioning to consumers with clarity. The important point here is to deliver
Mergers: During mergers in the industry, airlines should ideally strive for …

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Not only did Mr. Obama win the US general elections last week, he was also selected as Advertising Age’s Marketer of the Year by the executives attending the Association of National Advertisers’ annual conference in Orlando last month.

For a person who has come from behind, fighting tough opponents to win the elections, success can be attributed to many things. But one that cannot be ignored is his super-efficient marketing machine, which not only helped raise a record $600 million, but also brought Barack Obama and his message to the hearts of millions. So what are some lessons airlines can learn, from Mr Obama, to build a strong and long-lasting brand?
The power of simplicity
Change. It was a message that was understood everywhere, from the boardroom, to the hinterlands. There was no confusion over the meaning of this “mantra”. Effective slogans needs to be simple and grounded in reality. Only then will they drive masses of people toward a brand.

In the airline world, a good example of …

I was recently reading an article by Harvard Business School Professor John Quelch, who discussed eight refreshing ways of marketing in a recession. Inspired by that article, I decided to take a shot at coming up with ways in which airlines can market themselves to achieve a superior brand authority in a recession. Here are three of those ideas.
1. Build trust through empathy
In recessionary times, people need the comfort of knowing that they’re not alone in their troubles. While the rest of the world changes, the brand which remains consistent to the promise as much as possible would win the hearts of many.

Airlines should take small steps to build trust. One suggestion by Patrick Hanlon is to empathize. People don’t want to be reminded of their problems even when they fly – it’s an oasis of privacy, where they are disconnected from the world. For starters, the in-flight crew can smile more and be more patient with passengers. It’s the small things that build trust. And trust built in tough times is …

I’ve always found Thai Airways’ new brand image to be very appealing – purple, gold, and very traditional shapes. But I never really knew what it meant and stood for. So I decided to do some digging around, and here’s what I found. This description is by an Airliners.net member, Mathias Krewedl
The ornament consists of three main things: Firstly, it contains a magnolia blossom (indicated with the pink part), secondly we can find a stylised version of the typical Thai salutation “Wai”, if you rotate the logo 90 degrees in a clock-wise direction (only in this picture though) and as a third it represents the characteristically pitched roofs. And all that put into one with the colors of gold, standing for the temples, the purple representing the tropical orchids as well as the Thai silk’s glamor – a true piece of art!
Hope it douses the curiosity of other Thai Airways fans. Which are some of your favorite liveries? What do you think they stand for? Let’s hear it in the comments section…

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Terry Maxon of the Airline Biz Blog recently posted an email from a passenger who was helped by a Southwest Airlines employee at Love Field airport in Dallas. It is a great show of how empathizing employees can create trust between the brand and the customer. Again, proving the theory that happy employees lead to happy customers. Here’s the email. Enjoy the read.
Oct. 29, 2008

Southwest Airlines
P.O. Box 36647 – 1CR
Dallas, Texas 75235-1647
Re: Oct. 18, 2008

Dear Sir/Madam:

On Oct. 18 I arrived at Love Field, having come from Illinois, visiting my sister who has cancer.

A passenger on my flight misdirected me to the basement when I inquired as to where to pick up my luggage and when I tried to come back through, an airport employee helped me back through the security checkpoint. Unfortunately, TSA nabbed me and informed me that I would have to go back and walk all the way around the airport outside till I found Baggage Claim myself, but they would not help me …