SimpliLeader — Giam Ming Toh on Brand Vistara, Social Media & Indian Aviation

Without a doubt, Vistara is the the hottest word in Indian aviation right now. Since the joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines was announced in 2013, much has been speculated, analysed and written about Vistara’s operations in India.

As part of our new SimpliLeader series — in which we’ll showcase some of the keenest minds in aviation — we met Vistara’s Chief Commercial Officer, Giam Ming Toh, at their temporary HQ in Gurgaon. The affable CCO spoke candidly to us about Vistara’s branding strategy; their presence on social media; the Indian aviation industry; Vistara’s much discussed Premium Economy cabin; and future passenger experience enhancements, including addition of IFE (In-Flight Entertainment). Here’s the first part of our conversation, followed by edited excerpts from the interview.

 

 

Related: Second part of the conversation

 

SimpliFlying: Tell us a bit about yourself and your background

Giam Ming: I’m a career Singapore Airlines man. I’ve spent most of the last 23-24 years overseas, in places like Dubai, Germany, UK, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan,  Mumbai and now Delhi. I have spent 4 and a quarter years in India so far, which included 3 years in Mumbai as SIA General Manager in India, and the last 15 months in the Tata SIA airline project.

 

SimpliFlying: What are the biggest opportunities that you see in the Indian aviation market right now?

Giam Ming: The fact that we [SIA] took up the challenge and went into this JV, between Tata and Singapore Airlines, is proof that we believe in the potential of the [Indian] market. One statistic is very telling — if you distill the data of Indian flyers, it is basically 1% of the population that is flying. So 99% of the world’s second biggest country hasn’t flown. Of course, the Indian economy is growing at a fairly rapid pace [Highest growth rate in the world among big economies, currently]. The rule of thumb in the airline industry is that traffic grows at double the pace of GDP growth.

 

SimpliFlying: What is the level of involvement of Singapore Airlines in Vistara, and how will Vistara as a brand reflect the values of Singapore Airlines?

Giam Ming:  I would prefer to state at the outset that Vistara will reflect values of not just Singapore Airlines, but also Tata. It is almost a marriage made in heaven, as far as JV airlines are concerned in India. From SIA’s perspective, we couldn’t have had a better partner in India than Tata, and Tata feels similarly as well. So I think you will find that Vistara reflects the values of both the organisations, which are actually very similar — such as their belief in values like Trust, Integrity, Belief in excellence & Service. These are some of the features you would see in Vistara.

 

SimpliFlying: What are your plans to connect with travellers over social media & online?

Giam Ming: I’m wading into your area of expertise. But I think if you look back at the history of Vistara, we first unveiled ourselves to public on August 11, 2014. When we unveiled our name, our identity, our logo, the same day we launched our website, along with going live on Facebook and Twitter as well. I think that clearly reflects our desire to tap technology, the Internet and social media to propagate the positioning we are taking, the image, branding and so on. We have been active since then but we must admit that initially we did not have a lot to talk about — we did not have the visibility as to when we would get the operating permit. We had a fairly good idea what the product was going to be, how the cabins including Premium Economy would look like, but we weren’t prepared t0 share it, as we did not want to give any lead time to our competitors. We did not spend a lot of money on social media advertising, and some newspaper reporter noted that as well. We did not go for a big splash by spending a lot of money. Rather, we have made use of the keen interest of the Indian public in Vistara. We recently did a campaign to publicise our Premium Economy, and it got a great response for a one day activity. You will see a lot more of that in weeks ahead.

 

SimpliFlying: Passengers in India are known to be very price sensitive. Being a full-service carrier, how do you plan to overcome that?

Giam Ming: Much has been said about price sensitivity. I think if you look at the consumer market in India, there are many discerning consumers, and we think there’s no difference as far as air travel is concerned. There’ve been international LCCs who have tried to enter the Indian market. Some Indian carriers have tried to venture into international long-haul markets, and they have not been very successful. In every segment of the market, whether its long haul, medium haul, short haul domestic, we believe there is a place for a variety of offerings, so it is about segmentation and trying to meet the needs of the customers at a price point that is acceptable. If price had been the only consideration, Singapore Airlines would not have been as successful in India.

 

Stay tuned as we bring the next part of this insightful conversation to you tomorrow, where Giam Ming Toh talks in detail about Vistara’s Premium Economy, Yields, Cabin Products, as well as future Passenger Experience Enhancements for Vistara, including In-Flight Entertainment.

 

Related: Second part of the conversation

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