Joe Crump of Razorfish predicts doom for airlines that don’t build digital brands

I’ve had the opportunity in the past few months of interviewing a number of distinguished thought leaders in the aviation and branding industry over the past few months on SimpliFlying. But a recent encounter in New York has left a deep impression on me, since this brand leader’s ideas truly resonated with what I’ve been writing about technology branding for airlines lately.

I’m referring to my conversation with Joe Crump, the VP of Strategy & Planning at Razorfish – the leading digital branding agency. At one point in the interview, he predicts that “any airline that doesn’t go digital pretty damn quick is going to find itself obsolete”. And he has 25 years of experience in branding and technology to back up his foresight.

Airline branding – “genuinely complicated”

In his interview, Joe shared that the fundamental problem of the airline industry is that “of over-promising and then inconsistently delivering”. And this is mainly because of the number of externalities airlines need to deal with – from fluctuating oil prices to severe weather conditions – all of which often impact the business negatively. Ultimately, it’s detrimental to the brand and makes airline branding “full of rich challenges”.

Expanding the brand “beyond the browser”

Joe also discloses that the “least important part of brand building is how you talk about it”. It’s the brand experience that matters most, and in case of airlines, begins much before a passenger steps on the plane. These days, it starts on the Internet. Joe believes that airlines cannot afford to have stale websites anymore, as they’re competing against the likes of Apple and Coke, when it comes to delivering an online brand experience.

He shares that airlines like Virgin America, JetBlue, Southwest and Ryanair are setting new benchmarks in web interaction. Personally, I’ve had great experiences with Cathay Pacific as well. But most of these airlines are pretty agile and generally young, without legacy baggage.

Joe’s advise for legacy carriers is that they need to renew their culture by imbibing a spirit of innovation across the airline. An example of this he gives is that of American Airlines adopting Go-Go for providing wifi in the air.

Without revealing much more about the man and his ideas, let me jump straight to the interview. Below, you’ll find the first of three parts of Joe’s interview. The other two parts of his interview will be posted on SimpliFlying on 21st and 23rd January.

What are your thoughts on Joe’s analysis? Do you agree with him, and my earlier assessment that airlines need to go digital with their brands? What’re some examples of airlines succeeding at such efforts, and failing too?