What’s the biggest obstacle to implementing customer experience successfully?

‘Lack of strategy’ according to Forrester’s annual State of Customer Experience report 2011.

We agree, but strategy in itself – even if it is bold, differentiated and customer-centric – won’t guarantee success. Where we see most companies fail is in the execution.

In our work with brands around the world we see that there is a lack of coherent thinking about how brand positioning, marketing, customer experience and employee experience fit together, and, dovetail they must if you are to be successful. Many of you will be thinking about how to execute your customer experience strategy in 2012 so let’s see what we can learn from a topical example…

A tale of two airlines…

There are two major Asian airlines that have recently posted their 4^th quarter results for 2011. They share some common features; both employ very attractive flight attendants dressed in smart red uniforms; both operate state of the art aircraft with the latest in-flight entertainments systems; both re-defined air travel in their respective markets and shook up complacent competitors; both have enthusiastic customers and are rated tops for service in their markets; each is led by a flamboyant entrepreneur each with his own Formula One racing team. And perhaps not unsurprisingly, Richard Branson and Virgin Atlantic inspired both.

However this is where the similarity ends, Air Asia operating out of Malaysia, declared a 46% increase in profits for Q4 2011 whilst Kingfisher Airlines, the Indian based carrier, reported a doubling of losses between July and September 2011. Air Asia was purchased for 25 cents 10 years ago and today has a cash balance of over half a billion dollars and is expanding rapidly. Kingfisher Airlines is currently $1.2b in debt, contracting rapidly and facing a financial crisis.

So why the difference and, most importantly, what can we learn from them about customer experience strategy?

Air Asia is one of the brands featured in our book ‘Bold-how to be brave in business and win’. In our view, Air Asia demonstrates a number of the characteristics that are shared by the ‘bold’ brands we studied. Its CEO, Tony Fernandes, had a vision of creating a low-cost airline that provides great service and then re-wrote the airline business model to achieve this and, in so doing, virtually guaranteed success. He paid enormous attention to creating a culture and employee experience that reinforced the brand values of simplicity and innovation. When the airline decided to diversify into the long-haul market he started a new brand called Air Asia X because, in Tony Fernandes view, you have to keep different brand cultures and business models separate otherwise “they contaminate each another”. Air Asia was voted best low-cost carrier in the world in 2009 and 2010 and Air Asia X recently won the ‘Best Network Performance’ award for its ability to open up new routes.

Kingfisher Airlines CEO, Vijay Mallya, took a different approach by betting on a five-star service model that went way beyond what any other airline offered. However, this required the market to grow steadily and remain relatively price-insensitive. Kingfisher got off a great start and gained plaudits for its quality product and excellent service experienced by what it calls its ‘guests’. Its cost base was high but it survived by targeting the top of the market.

But then it all started to go wrong. In an attempt to tap into the huge Indian budget market it acquired Air Deccan a low-cost domestic carrier and re-badged it Kingfisher Red. But, instead of keeping the business models and brands separate, Mallya upgraded Kingfisher Red until it started to offer similar service to the master brand but at a lower price. The result was that customers traded down and both brands were compromised- the classic ‘stuck in the middle’ strategy. In the de-regulated airline industry that exists today this is unsustainable because customers will always trade down to find better value if they can.

How to make a bad situation worse…

With costs that were too high and margins that were too low, Kingfisher started cutting and one of the first places it looked to do so was its employees. Over the past months the brand has from suffered low morale, damaging in-flight announcements given by disgruntled employees complaining to passengers that they have not been paid and a reported high-turnover of aircrew and top-talent.

Kingfisher is in a stall from which it may be difficult, if not impossible, to recover.

So what can we learn?

There are a number of principles that we can see reflected in this case study:

1. Don’t gold plate your customer experience

Customer experience is a neutral term and does not imply gold-plated service. Ritz-Carlton offers a great customer experience but so too does Premier Inn. Yet their business models and price points are very different and delivered in distinctive ways. Be careful not to upgrade your customer experience beyond the point that target customers want and are willing to pay for simply because it is what you value.

2. Treat your customer experience and employee experience as one and the same

It follows then that if your strategy is to be low-cost, innovative and simple, your culture and values must reflect that. If your strategy is to offer premium service then you need the very best people who are highly motivated and who want to stay with you. If you start de-valuing them they will leave and that will damage your reputation.

3. Be clear about what you stand for and stick to it

Be clear what you stand for as a brand. You cannot be all things to all people; that way lies mediocrity. So be clear about what you promise and stick to it. The reason that so many acquisitions fail is that organisations merge two strategically separate and distinct brands and then confuse customers and employees by ramming them together.

This also applies if you are growing and seek to expand through launching new products or propositions; make sure that they adhere to your core brand promise and values otherwise they will undermine what your brand stands for and create confusion in the minds of customers and employees. If you do wish to explore a new business model or market then do so by creating a separate brand and culture as HSBC did do successfully with First Direct.

3. Take a holistic view of the business

What you stand for, the operational choices you make, the culture you foster, the experience you deliver, and how you deliver it through your people and processes have to work in harmony to mutually support and reinforce the brand. Each element must work with every other in order for the strategy to work and when you change one element it can have a serious effect on the rest. This means that the business needs to be viewed holistically and strategy executed in the same way. In the words of Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 “It only works when it all works”.

A differentiating customer experience starts with having a big idea and clear strategy but it lies even more in executing it well so that you can sustain it long term.

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Ever since airlines exploded into social media through a multitude of platforms and services, there has been a half-hearted race to gain the proverbial “first-mover advantage”. And too often, airlines trying to one-up one another on follower numbers miss the point of these new mediums. It’s to drive specific business goals and then measure the results.

The two pillars of social media success for airlines

1. Getting into social media is critical, but not without a strategy

A few years ago, when social media was the new, hesitant, unshapely kid-on-the-block, it seemed to be yet another distraction for teenagers. Today, many airlines, big and small, have leveraged social media to gain access to a hitherto unreachable audience, both in terms of demographics and size.

Although social media provides a fantastic platform for instant interaction and driving buzz, the platforms employed can become banes if there isn’t a specific strategy (linked to business objectives) in place. For airlines especially, there needs to be a focus on which key goals are to be met via social media as well as how to scale up in the long-term. Otherwise, you might end up like Jet2, which had to shut down its Twitter account when they couldn’t deal with the excessive traffic it was receiving.

And this brings us to the next, more crucial “pillar”.

2. You must know which metrics to measure, and how

In many business circles, a common assumption is that it is enough to “enter” or “place yourself” in social media. The rest will happen on its own when fans and followers are acquired. That is a myth.

Although fan- and follower-numbers are good metrics to measure the awareness your airline has generated, solely depending on a specific number of fans to measure success can be fatal.

Can your social media team answer these questions?

1. How many of your Facebook fans have flown you at least thrice in the last 3 months.
2. How many of those in your Frequent Flier program have more than 5000 followers on Twitter?

The key take-away from this point is that the buck doesn’t stop with follower numbers: look beyond them, there’s a wealth of information those numbers can provide if you know where to look and what to look for.

If you didn’t have the answer to either of the above questions, you need to attend our webinar on driving social media ROI for airlines on March 1.

Webinar on driving social media ROI for Airlines

In the webinar, Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying will walk airline executives through a detailed roadmap of how to establish benchmarks, select metrics and translate social media initiatives into numbers. Sign up today for the webinar at http://bit.ly/airlineroi and learn how to use ROI Dashboards to determine success.

If you’d like to win a free pass to the webinar, just give one of the two best answers to the following question:

What is the best way for airlines to measure success on social media, a.k.a ROI?

You can answer on Quora, Twitter (@simpliflying) or in the comments here to qualify.

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Many other airlines and airports that caught the wave of excitement about social media last year and started Twitter and Facebook accounts didn’t have a strategy behind scaling their efforts. They simply went with the flow, and either ran out of resources, or couldn’t convince senior management of the value in their efforts to the overall brand. Examples include Middle East majors like Emirates (last tweet in Jan, 2010) and Qatar Airways (last Tweet in Feb, 2009). So, what does this reflect?

Don’t let the tail wag the dog!

Airlines and airports that are already into social media should look to build a sustainable engagement strategy, as well a resource strategy. It shouldn’t become a case of the follower numbers exploding due to a viral video or giveaway, and the Marketing team having to double the team’s size all of a sudden.

Rather, by planning ahead and tying social media efforts closely to overall brand goals and setting up KPIs, airlines and airports will not allow the tail to wag the dog – it’s a situation nobody wants to be in.

Some questions to think about scalability…

• Should an airline (or any business) set some boundaries for their involvement in social media, or will their customers continuously expand the scope of the conversation?
• Who manages that scope – the customers or the airline?
• And what happens if the customers want to go beyond the scope that the airline wants? (Scope can mean volume, expectations for responsiveness, content of the conversation, etc.)

Even if you don’t have answers to these questions right now, it’s important to think about them and prepare ahead of time. Look at how Jetblue has a 12-person team dealing with customer service and marketing issues on Twitter (surely a well thought-out plan). Look at how Delta Airlines has set up a social media lab to slowly but surely scale up their efforts.

You don’t want to start digging the well when you’re thirsty right?

What do you think? How should airlines tackle scalability? Any good examples you can share?

P.S: I will be answering these questions and more in my upcoming webinar on social media ROI for airlines. Register now! http://bit.ly/airlineroi

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These travel agents can now seek inspiration from Kmart, the discount retailer. Kmart is launching a new program where online reviews of video games will be displayed on store shelves,  an initiative aimed at building ties between the chain’s online and in-store gaming fans.

Travel agents can start printing airline reviews from sites like air-valid.com, ezeer.com or SkyTrax, to share with those who walk in for reservations. This would provide a value-add to the customer as he feels assured of his purchase and knows what his fellow travelers are saying about an airline. The travel agent also benefits as this becomes a competitive advantage, and a service through which a commission seems more justified.

What do you think? Let’s discuss on Twitter (@simpliFlying) and in comments

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How do you think Air Asia permeates a market and wins it? Some interesting anecdotes?

When it comes to new market launches, AirAsia is one of the most innovative, not just in the region, but in the world. And I can say that confidently, having worked with a lot of airlines around the world. They don’t just have advertisements, but connect with the customers at a deeper level, having conversations about topics relevant to them, and yet creating a splash.

Take the recent Mumbai flights launch, for example. Not only was there pomp and show during the first flight, and even Bollywood was invited, at the same time, over the last couple of months, AirAsia built up a lot of interest about Mumbai and India through candid articles on its very popular blog, Planely Spoken, like “Mumbai in 3 days and 2 nights“. On the day of the launch, there was even a special Twitter hashtag #AAroxMumbai where followers could participate in the happenings.

Moreover, when AirAsia enters a market, it tries to dominate it, first by entering multiple cities, then by adding frequencies to those cities such that it is the dominant player. Trichy, AirAsia’s first Indian destination has three flights a day to Malaysia. The airline will have almost 150 weekly flights to India before the end of the year, which will make it the 2nd most dominant airline in India, after Emirates.

It is this out-of-the-box marketing strategy, coupled with complete route dominance that makes AirAsia a formidable player in any market.

They have openly admitted loss in Middle East market entrance. Do you think all other next door markets are pretty exhausted by them so India will be key to there future?

Personally, I don’t think they’ve “admitted loss”. What they’ve done is retracted out of the market – for now. That because just a single route to Abu Dhabi couldn’t be sustained on its own, without dominating other nearby destinations. They will probably re-enter when their new A330s arrive. So, it’s not really exhaustion, but the opportunity that’s leading them to India. They’ve already conquered Southeast Asia, China and even the Australian cities they’re in.

India is the next logical choice, with AirAsia’s destinations like Bangkok, Singapore, Bali and Kuala Lumpur already popular among Indian tourists. The Indian tourist is price sensitive, and time insensitive. This means they will hunt down the cheapest bargains, even if the journey takes a little longer. This fits in very well with AirAsia’s model.

How can the Indian government promise a level playing field?

I think AirAsia entering India is a double-edged sword. While its entry is a boon for the Indian traveler and tourism in India, it might spell doom for some of the Indian airlines. Already, Air India and Jet Airways have had to slash prices to destinations AirAsia flies to. The onus now lies not on the Indian government, but the individual airlines themselves, to innovate and come out on top.

Two airlines I have confidence on are SpiceJet and Indigo. Especially the latter, given its grandiose growth plans for the next couple of years. Both airlines can soon fly internationally, and though SpiceJet is muted about its destinations, Indigo has expressed clear desire to head down to Southeast Asia – where Air Asia and Tiger Airways loom. On the west, it’s the threat of Air Arabia and FlyDubai.

A smart move by the Indian budget carriers would be to forge some sort of an alliance with AirAsia. Though code shares to India are a remote possibility, assuming the purist LCC models, a much more likely scenario would be to synchronize timings of their flights, or have a marketing tie-up for destinations beyond those the Indian carriers will fly to. For example, a passenger might fly Indigo from Delhi to Singapore (a route AirAsia is not authorize to fly), and AirAsia from Singapore to Bali. This becomes a win-win situation then.

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A reader passionately shared his ideas with me, which culminated in this guest post. Thomas Evans is a Marketing and Social Media professional in Seattle, Washington; and a loyal Alaska Airlines fan. And here’s what he feels about Alaska Airlines’ social media execution.
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Meeting the basics…

Currently, if I had to describe Alaska’s use of social media I would describe it simply as, decent. They have an online presence, but they are not providing a ‘north of expected’ experience for the consumers.  Sure, they have a Facebook page (in my opinion, one that is need of a major makeover). And yes, they have a Twitter account that is managed and updated regularly. But they could be doing so much more.  As a loyal Alaska Airlines flyer and fan, I am curious as to why a company who focuses, emphasizes and does such an exceptional job with their customer service does not put forth a greater effort to build and keep relationships with their customers online.

Social media a competitive differentiation?

If you want to make yourself stand out from competitors you have to be willing to go the extra mile. On Twitter, don’t just sit and wait for someone to reply to a previous Tweet or ask you a question. Go out and look for individuals to interact with. Just the other night I took a look at Alaska Airlines’ Twitter page. It was 11 pm and there were zero responses or signs of interactions with customers all day. I then searched for mentions of the airline. One individual complained about damaged bags and said “Sorry Alaska, you just lost a customer.” As I’m writing this, more than 48 hours later, this person still hadn’t been responded to publicly. Perhaps this individual was dealt with through a DM, but still, the overall lack of interaction is confusing.

Mentioning new flight deals once a day and responding to customer questions that other followers honestly don’t care about is not going to make you stand out.

• Engage in conversations, ask questions that will provide free and valuable feedback and data, point followers to interesting or useful posts even if they are not Alaska Air related, engage in casual fun chit chat.
• Make it easy and interesting for customers to interact and feel like they have a relationship with the airlines.

Building a sustainable strategy

It could be that a single individual or small team handling the social media efforts simply do not have enough time to dedicate solely to Twitter and Facebook because they have so much else on their plates. If this is the case, more people need to be hired. Much of an organization’s social media efforts are simply extensions of their customer service team. Would you want one individual in charge of answering all of your company’s phone calls and emails from customers? I know I wouldn’t.

Finally, we have all heard by now that Alaska Airlines will soon be providing Wifi on all of their flights.  While this is a big deal for obvious reasons, it also could provide huge opportunities for the airline to catch up to its competitors in the social media game.  This previous Simpliflying post provides simple, yet great ideas of how an airline can obtain valuable information, form relationships and improve customer experience thousands of feet in the air. Among other things, it would be wise for Alaska to start planning ahead.

What do you think about Alaska Airlines’ efforts? How do you think they can do things better? Let’s hear it in the comments, and over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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Wait….let me rephrase that. Kulula.com – THE South African Airline.

And why do I say that they’re the most “fun” airline in the world? Remember their really cool airline 101 livery? Or their quirky advertisements?

But the best testimonial is that from a customer. To substantiate what I’m talking about, let me just quote the user’s story here, which is about Brand eXecution at 35,000 feet.

The highlight of any flight has to be the announcements from the crew; when landing in Port Elizabeth after a short hop from Cape Town, a booming voice came onto the PA system, saying “welcome to Zimbabwe!”, which had everyone in the cabin briefly looking a bit surprised before all bursting into laughter.

On the return hop to Cape Town, a hard bounce on the runway which turned into a go-around resulted in the first officer apologising over the PA, and asking if any of the passengers wanted to have a go instead.

And even the pre-flight safety announcement on another hop to PE whereby passengers were told that in the event of cabin depressurisation, masks would drop from the compartments above – to use the masks, let go of the passenger next to you, stop screaming and pull the mask over your face.

Now that’s what sounds like a truly fun airline to fly with isn’t it? And I think a lot of airlines around the world have been able to build in this element into their service. Remember the rapping flight attendant at Southwest Airlines? Or the in-flight safety videos of Air New Zealand? A happy traveler is a loyal traveler. At least that’s what I believe. So, why not make everyone happy?

And to re-kindle some Kulula.com memories, here are the livery photos again!

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What the AirAsia and Jetstar “budget alliance” means

The most significant difference is the departure from Star Alliance – type marketing or revenue driven alliances. Air Asia and Jetstar have formed a cost alliance, or what I’d call a “budget alliance” (pun intended). Here is the nitty gritty.

1. The airlines will pursue joint procurement of aircraft – This means that they will be able to leverage economies of scale while buying from Airbus.
2. Joint design specifications – since they’re going to order a lot of planes, they can demand from Airbus things like a twin-aisle A320 or more efficient engines suited for their own operations. I think this is HUGE!
3. Pooling of inventory and spare parts – both airlines operate only A320s and A330s, so this was an easy one
4. Combining Airport passenger and ramp handling services – this is crucial for cost savings as during an emergency, the airlines can use one another’s planes to carry passengers.
5. It’s a non-equity partnership – so both will work on reducing costs together, but will not share revenues.
6. There is no maintainance involved – this can get tricky, with different safety regulations in different countries and result in safety lapses. And I think Qantas has learnt its lessons with the failed partnership with Malaysia Airlines last year.

For the consumers, this means lower costs for both the airlines and benefits for all of us. Hurray!

Though, if I was working at Tiger Airways right now, I’d be worried. Especially with the upcoming IPO!

Why it’s a genius move, as shared Live at CNBC studios in Singapore

I spent this morning with CNBC’s Martin Soong & Sri Jegarajah sharing my thoughts about the joint venture Live on SquawkBox. The interview now available on CNBC’s website and I’ve embedded it here for your convenience. (Click here if you can’t view the video interview).

So, what do you think about this budget alliance? Is this the beginning of a new era for airline alliances? Will other LCCs or legacy carriers follow? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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I had never flown Air India till yesterday – intentionally. And I had my good reasons.

Last year, I booked my mom on a Singapore-Delhi Air India flight and the A310 was delayed by over 3 hrs, ensuring that she missed her onward connections. Moreover, a lot of friends who tried to save money had horror stories to tell. One of them once asked for water and the stewardess replied in Hindi, “This is not my lane. Ask the other woman“. That ensured that I never tried the Indian national carrier even though I had the opportunity to, multiple times. So I had really lowered my expectations.

Why I finally flew Air India – the new plane and the new partnership

This time I had the choice of flying from Toronto to Greece either on LOT Polish’s ageing B767 via Warsaw, or Air India to London and then Aegean to Athens. I went for the latter option, because I could fly the B777-300ER of Air India and then the brand new A321 of Aegean. Moreover, I could earn Singapore Airlines Krisflyer miles on Air India due to their recent partnership. May be if CrankyFlier had tweeted me his recommendation to try LOT earlier, I’d have probably given that a shot.

Getting on-board the plane is part of the experience

Air India had the most stringent security process I’ve been through – separate security personnel just for the airline, in addition to the airport security officials. All of whom spoke English, Hindi, Punjabi and probably French! Every single electronic device had to be turned on in front of them. Old ladies had to take out achaar (Indian pickels) and laddoos (milk-flour sweet round dumplings) from their handbags, regretfully. But trust me, I felt REALLY safe. So did others.

The most intriguing take-off ever!

I was in a plane full of Indians. And it was very fascinating. Ladies praying, some closing their eyes (in fear!), children clapping and adults joining in. All just as the plane took off. I had fun watching all this. And it was an on-time departure.

As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off, people started congregating in different sections of the plane, mostly near the toilets (I was glad I didn’t choose the bulkhead seats!). Soon, dads were standing up in the aisle and feeding the kids. Literally a quarter of the flight was kids less than 5 years old. And a third of the passengers were elderly – over 55. The lady next to me spoke to me only in Punjabi. Luckily, in my recent trip to India, I was able to brush up mine while in Chandigarh, and could carry on a conversation with her. Made up for an interesting mix!

Air India’s new 777s rock!

The product was world-class. The economy seats second to only Singapore Airlines’ A380 product. They had a good pitch, felt very wide (I even squeezed my Macbook next to me!). They even had USB ports, newly-designed remotes and a dual IFE which had a touch-screen operation too. If you’re an Indian, I think you’d love the IFE. There were tons of Bollywood movies, both Classic and the latest hits. I just passed my time with some bollywood music videos – wasn’t ready for a 3hr melodrama at 2am! So, the hardware was well beyond my expectations.

But bad habits are hard to change…

Let me clarify. The service wasn’t bad. But it was very basic and functional. Like that of a United. Children were served first, and I could see urgency. And that’s where the good stuff ended. The rest of the service was lethargic. Some of the male flight attendants looked like they had run out of razors a month back. Doesn’t Gillette still produce them?

The food was not bad. But out of the 10-12 flight attendants, only one managed a smile. That too, occassionally. When I intentionally beamed at the one serving me, she avoided eye contact. As if they’d be fined for smiling at passengers! Later, when I went to the galley, I saw them having a ball of a time among themselves, talking about the latest Bollywood movies. Their policy seemed to be to get out of sight as soon as possible. With an Indian crowd of 377, I think that’s understandable.

By the time we landed in London, the toilets were filthy and wash-basins flooded. I wonder what would happen on the next London-Delhi leg of the flight. The software just met my (already lowered) expectations.

Even disembarking was not normal

One word to describe it. Chaos! It’s not the clapping that I was disturbed by. But the moment the plane pulled to the gate (not stopped), stow bins were pulled down and some men even climbed on seats to get their stuff out! It was as if they were going to jump out of the windows! Just see the photo for yourself.

In conclusion, Air India has a brand new product worth experiencing – but in isolation. Go check out the plane at an air show or something. It’s nice. Unless it’s an overnight flight (like mine was) and you can sleep over what’s going on around you, I’d suggest you fly others like Jet Airways, Continental or one of the Middle-East carriers from North America to India.

How’s your experience with Air India been? Yes, they’ve got new planes on international routes, but has anything else really improved? Can it be improved? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments, or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

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A little girl’s hand was held by an elegant SpiceJet stewardess dressed in striking maroon. As the two ladies headed towards the galley, I saw tears rolling down the little one’s cheeks. Her ears were probably hurting as we started descending into Jaipur, India. The stewardesses in the galley started playing with her and then opened up one of the carts for her too! She was given a few packets of biscuits and a SpiceJet kids’ coloring kit. The little one was soon beaming from ear-to-ear and ran back towards her parents full of joy.

You must be wondering I’m telling you this story? Not just because the kid in me got excited and requested for one (see pics below), but because such instances of brand execution are an inherent part of every successful airline’s brand strategy.

Something else that happened on my SpiceJet flight was that an elderly lady who was seated in the bulkhead row was reluctant to put on the seat belt because she was hurting around the waist as the belt was too tight. Instead of shouting orders (which often happens on US-based airlines), the stewardess calmly explained to her the importance of the safety belt, got her a belt extension and helped her securely fasten it. All the time, I sensed a dash of patience and graciousness, and not outright exertion of authority.

Now, the next time parents of that young girl fly, or the elderly lady travels alone – which airline do you think they will pick? The answer is obvious – SpiceJet.

Creating emotional bonds – a hallmark of great airline brands

A crying baby. An aching grandmother. A young dad stressed out with his one year old. All these may sound like annoyances to the typical air traveler, but these are exactly the instances where airline brands that have their act together create a long lasting emotional bond with the customer. Singapore Airlines is famous for taking special care of parents with young children, even helping them carry the child and playing with the child when needed (I’ve witnessed this a number of times myself!). And it was great to see one of the most successful airlines in India deliver service that matches the best.

Matters of the heart go a long way in building brand loyalty

When I spoke with SpiceJet’s CEO Sanjay Aggarwal last year, he emphasized that India is becoming an environment where it’s increasingly difficult to differentiate the brand. And emotional connectivity can go a long way in driving loyalty. For example, the fare on a Bangalore to Mumbai domestic flight in India differs by less than $5 for most of the carriers. In that case, if I have a special memory of being treated well by SpiceJet, or even watching someone else being attended to, I will choose them.

Customer mindsets are actually quite simple to understand. You offer + deliver great value, and the customer will happily become loyal, and recommend the brand to his friends too. In the LCC world, JetBlue, Southwest and now SpiceJet and Indigo are doing it. Among full service carriers, people happily pay a premium to fly Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific. It’s not what expectations the brand sets, but more importantly whether the brand execution exceeds the expectations – which makes a successful airline brand.

What do you think? Is it worth for airline brands to put in the extra effort to create emotional bonds? Do you have stories to share where an airline made you happy? Share it in the comments or on Twitter (@simpliflying).

Special thanks to Deepa Dey, Bijender Singh and the Mumbai Duty Manager of SpiceJet for making my flight from Mumbai-Jaipur extra Spicy!

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