Airline brands need to emerge from the “jurassic era” – Joe Crump

Continuing the series of interviews with Joe Crump, the Vp of Strategic Planning at Razorfish, I’m pleased to share with you the second of his three part interview. Joe continues to amaze with his in-depth knowledge of not just the branding world, but also of the airline industry, since he’s a frequent flier himself.

Target the niche and appeal to the masses

When asked whether airlines should carve out a niche or target everyone, Joe responded with an intriguing answer – do both at the same time. He shares the example of Virgin America, which stongly markets itself to “the connected class”  but the budget conscious traveler often boards the airline too, since they offer such a great value product and service.

Do digital branding efforts need new measurement rules?

At the recent Interact 2008 conference in Washington DC, Joe had mentioned that the “Interbrand brand rankings are dead”. I dug in on his comment to find out what he really meant. Joe explained that the old rules of brand engagement have changed, since a brand’s digital presence now needs to be taken into account too. Hence the methods to measure them also need to be adapted to the current practices. And this is especially true for airline brands, since they’ve been operating by rules set in the 60s, and not those meant for the new millennium. Hence, they need to emerge out of the “Jurassic era” and adopt digital branding. Fast.

“Before and After”, the true opportunity

Something very interesting Joe shared with me was how he defined brand experience as having a beginning, middle and end. It’s the middle that airlines currently focus on – the in-flight experience. Hence he sees an immense opportunity for airlines in the “before” and “after” flight brand experience. Adn the key to unlocking the true brand potential here will be going digital – since much of the entry brand experience with an airline happens online. Herein lies the hidden opportunities for airlines around the world.

I’m sure you’d enjoy hearing an industry thought leader’s ideas on airlines, branding and Web 2.0. Here’s Joe Crump, un-cut. You can view all three parts of his interview here.

What do you think of Joe’s ideas? Do you also feel that traditional brand rankings have lost their relevance? Is there a need to come up with a benchmark just for airlines? Let’s hear your thoughts.