//Correction: The article incorrectly states that this was AirAsia X’s first flight from Perth. They have been flying the route since 2008. Nevertheless, the rules of route launch marketing are still valid.

Imagine being served your in-flight meal by none other than Richard Branson – what would you do? You might ask for an autograph, or a photo with him perhaps. Then what would you do? Surely put it up on Facebook and tell your friends about it as soon as you land, isn’t it? Surely your friends would ask you where you were flying from, and on which airline? And the answer would be AirAsiaX’s launch flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.

Starstruck by a “lady” in Red

Two and a half years ago, Richard Branson and Tony Fernandes made a bet that whoever lost in the Abu Dhabi F1 (they both own teams), would serve as a flight attendant on the other’s airline. Branson lost the bet, and despite many previous attempts being thwarted due to bad luck, Branson kept his promise and turned up in AirAsia’s siren-red uniform, cross-dressed as a woman, and served on the inaugural flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur.

Some of those who were on the plane mention how humble Branson was, shaking hands with everyone, greeting everyone politely and posing photos. Most were dumbfounded and starstruck, “like a teenager in a rock concert“.

To add more drama to the proceedings, not only did Branson serve Tony Fernandes, but also managed to spill a drink on the AirAsia CEO! Of course, he was promptly fired by Fernandes! And all of this was caught in action not just by the throng of media and journalists, but other passengers too. Azran Osman-Rani, the CEO of AirAsiaX was posting updates on Facebook throughout his journey. The AirAsia Twitter account was constantly dishing out very-”re-tweetable” tweets. Even the Virgin Atlantic website had a blog post after the event.

All of this was done to raise funds for a charity- Starlight Foundation, which both Virgin Australia and AirAsia support. They managed to raise more than $300,000 dollars. All while getting good publicity for the new route.

A+ for route launch marketing!

When an airline launches a new route, its number one goal is to drive awareness, to achieve high load-factors in the first few months of operations. The key is not just to make potential fliers aware of where they fly and at what times, but why they fly and what the brand stands for. Those with whom the brand message resonates, will automatically gravitate toward the airline.

There are a few airlines that do this well – Singapore Airlines exudes a premium, caring image. Emirates portrays luxury in the premium cabins. Lufthansa stands for reliability. Indigo and Easyjet stand for on-time performance. Turkish Airlines stands for the network. And Virgin stands for chic and different.

AirAsia is not only a strong brand in South East Asia, it has been spreading its wings in various regions lately. And hence the need to establish a strong brand presence in a new market like Perth. So that the airline stands for something beyond price. And that’s what AirAsia X did so well by having Branson on-board!

AirAsia X has shown it not only knows how to think differently about aviation marketing, but also execute it well.  Nothing sums it up better than this safety memo given by Branson. Enjoy the laughs!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The post Want your new route to make headlines? Bring Richard Branson on-board, like AirAsia X did in Perth! appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Shashank Nigam

CEO at SimpliFlying

Shashank Nigam is the CEO of SimpliFlying and a globally sought-after consultant, speaker and thought-leader on airline branding and customer engagement strategy. He is also the youngest winner of the Global Brand Leadership Award and has addressed senior aviation executives globally, from Chile to Canada and from Sydney to San Francisco.

Shashank's perspectives have found their way into major media outlets, including CNN Travel, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg UTV, Mashable and in leading publications like Airline Business, ATW, Aviation Week, and others.

Shashank studied Information Systems Management and Business Management at Singapore Management University and Carnegie Mellon University. Hailing from India, he splits his time between Singapore and Vancouver, among other cities.

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The power of key influencers is well documented in marketing. And in the age of the connected traveller, it’s not uncommon to see airlines bringing influential bloggers on fully-paid FAM trips, or even engaging them as official brand ambassadors. Of late, such influencers have been getting real-world benefits too! Take Estonian Air’s much-feted social loyalty program, the first in the world for airlines – it leverages the power of influencer marketing. Social advocates get real-world rewards for online actions. Now, major airlines and airports have put good thought into targeting influencers.

Have Klout? Enter Admirals Club!

American Airlines has partnered with Klout to allow anyone with a score above 55 to access its Admirals Club, usually open only for ultra-frequent fliers and Business travellers. Those with a score lower than 55 get a $50 voucher to be redeemed. The effort has received over 21 million impressions on Twitter  in just the first few days, and it valid till the end of May. This is a little tougher to qualify than Cathay Pacific’s Klout promotion last year where anyone with a score above 40 could access their San Francisco lounge.

American Airlines has been smart in keeping the process very, very simple. Once on the site, you can authenticate your Klout account, and right away download your lounge voucher if you qualify. It’s valid for use till the end of July too, across AA’s 40 international Admirals Club.

They have pointed out multiple times on the site, that people can share their lounge experience on Twitter and Instagram with the #AdmiralsClub tag. That should drive some good advocacy when these “influencers” arrive at a lounge to enjoy their Bourbon. And I can say from experience, that they are very likely to Instagram it!

I’d be curious to find out how many fliers switch to American Airlines due to this promotion…already there are telling signs on Twitter.

I haven’t flown @AmericanAir since I was 12 and took a trip to NYC to see the twin towers. But I’ll go out of my way to book with them soon.

May 8, 2013 3:30 am via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@JessaNaomi

Jessica Seale

Be a Facebook VIP at Eindhoven Airport

Across the pond, at Eindhoven Airport, travelers can sign up for their new Facebook VIP program where they’d get privileges like free parking at the Terminal entrance, personal escort and  even a free meal! Every month they plan to select new VIPs. Within the first day, the airport had already received over 80 VIP applications!

While Eindhoven may not be the biggest airport in Europe, this Facebook VIP program is a first of its kind for an airport. No spend required, but just a “Like” on Eindhoven’s Facebook page, to start getting real-world benefits.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How to make real-world influencers work?

Through Facebook, people normally get price offs or they are able to win tickets. But these influencer programs launched by American Airlines and Eindhoven Airport actually plug into the actual customer journey. They enhance the actual travel experience, and that’s unique. Many of the selected participants will be experiencing such a service for the first time. And they are highly-likely to share, spreading the word further.

While the buzz being driven seems very strong online, it is the real-world metrics both American Airlines and Eindhoven should seek to measure. Here are some questions they should be asking and metrics to be measured.

1. What’s the click-to-use ratio?
2. Do you have the contact details of all those who are participating, tweeting etc?
3. How many people who used the service spoke about it online?
4. Once they used the service for the first time, what was the follow up – a tweet, an email or a personal meeting?
5. So you gave them a service for free – is there anything you can offer that they’d pay for?
6. Now that you’ve got them to use the service for the first time, how do you get them again?

As the power of influence moves from online to real-world it will be critical that airlines and airports determine metrics that go beyond buzz, and drive real-world business goals. American Airlines and Eindhoven Airport have made a good start. Time to see how their competition responds!

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Author information

Shashank Nigam

CEO at SimpliFlying

Shashank Nigam is the CEO of SimpliFlying and a globally sought-after consultant, speaker and thought-leader on airline branding and customer engagement strategy. He is also the youngest winner of the Global Brand Leadership Award and has addressed senior aviation executives globally, from Chile to Canada and from Sydney to San Francisco.

Shashank's perspectives have found their way into major media outlets, including CNN Travel, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg UTV, Mashable and in leading publications like Airline Business, ATW, Aviation Week, and others.

Shashank studied Information Systems Management and Business Management at Singapore Management University and Carnegie Mellon University. Hailing from India, he splits his time between Singapore and Vancouver, among other cities.

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The real test of aviation marketing and communications is in how the airlines and airports respond in times of crises. This month, Helsinki Airport and JetBlue, SimpliFlying Award for Best Airport on Social Media and SimpliFlying Hero in 2012 respectively, were picked out as stalwarts in engaging the modern connected travelers of today.

On the airport front, SimpliFlying has also been recently announced a training alliance with ACI to provide its global airport members leading social marketing training. 3- 5 day masterclasses, 50 case studies and over 10 social media tools…

Below is a list of articles that SimpliFlying had been featured in this April. We hope you will enjoy reading them!

Quality Hunter

Airport World || 19 April 2013

Steven Thompson discovers that communicating with customers is key for Helsinki Airport as it aims to enhance its facilities and increase its appeal…And it is not only the Quality Hunters initiative which proves Helsinki is on the ball when it comes to online communication with its passengers – the airport also won SimpliFlying’s Best Airport on Social Media in 2012… Read more!

Top Social Media Engagement Lessons From JetBlue, Fab.com, Kirkland’s & Zappos

Business 2 Community || 17 April 2013

After hearing a lot about crisis communications case studies via social media for companies such as HMV and Burger King, I started thinking that there must be other cases out there of how companies got into some social media pitfalls and then used these lessons to improve their companies… JetBlue won first place in the consumer-decided Simpliflying Heroes, demonstrating the power of social media in turning potential disasters into PR wins… Read more!

The New Wave

Low Cost & Regional Airline Business || April Issue

Billboards are no longer enough to attract well-connected travellers. Social media and the internet have moved the goalposts – and airlines need to be far more savvy, writes Shubhodeep Pal, head of operations and innovation at consulting firm SimpliFlying… Read more!

News Announcement: SimpliFlying to Provide ACI World Members…

Network Africa || 12 April 2013

Provide three-day and five-day MasterClass to ACI’s airport members; Share over 50 real-world digital marketing case studies and over ten social media tools; Train airports in the development of strategic roadmaps and key performance indicators for both the aeronautical and non-aeronautical sides of the airport business… Read more!

SimpliFlying to Provide Social Media MasterClass for ACI Members

Airport World || 9 April 2013

SimpliFlying is set to provide ACI members with social media training.
The official ACI training provider will provide its three-day and five-day MasterClass titled Airport Marketing 2.0 to help airports leverage social media to achieve meaningful goals… Read more!

Jo Brothers – SimpliFlying Hero for March 2013

The Flying Social Network || 5 April 2012

The SimpliFlying award was “For being the driving force behind Air New Zealand’s quirky brand, Jo Brothers is the SimpliFlying Hero for March 2013″. A few words from Jo – “I am very happy to have received an award from SimpliFlying. I have an amazing team and colleagues who make all of this possible, so thanks to everyone in Air New Zealand Marketing around the world and in my team; Nick McCabe and Hayden Ricketts. Thank you.”… Read more!

SimpliFlying Hero for March 2013

Jo Brothers || 4 April 2013

I am very happy to have received an award from SimpliFlying “For being the driving force behind Air New Zealand’s quirky brand, Jo Brothers is the SimpliFlying Hero for March 2013″. Thank you… Read more!

If you would like to interview SimpliFlying or involve us in your next article, please feel free to contact us at media@simpliflying.com

The post SimpliFlying in The News – April 2013. Airport World, B2C, The Flying Social Network and more… appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Li Guen

Li Guen heads the communications and marketing functions at SimpliFlying where she drives corporate branding efforts and industry research initiatives. A PR enthusiast, Li Guen returned to SimpliFlying after a stint with Weber Shandwick working with clients including Rolls-Royce, Changi Airport Group and P&G. In her free time, Li Guen likes trekking mountains in Asia. You can tweet her at @SimpliGuen or email her at guen@simpliflying.com.

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SimpliFlying and Airport Council International collaborate on training

Like any start-up, SimpliFlying has come a long way from its humble beginnings, today having worked with over 30 leading airports and airlines around the world on customer engagement strategy. Today, we are very proud to announce a training alliance with Airport Council International (ACI) to help airports leverage social media to achieve key business goals.  

In this collaboration, SimpliFlying will:

• Provide three-day and five-day MasterClass to ACI’s airport members
• Share over 50 real-world digital marketing case studies and over ten social media tools
• Train airports in the development of strategic roadmaps and key performance indicators for both the aeronautical and non-aeronautrical sides of the airport business

Over 1000 aviation professionals have attended SimpliFlying’s MasterClasses in the last four years. And our partnership with ACI complements one we already have with IATA, in taking our reputed courses to the best of aviation boardrooms around the world.

More information can be found in our press release below. In the meantime, if you wish to find out more about this partnership or about SimpliFlying MasterClass for Airports, please contact us at airports@simpliflying.com.

Here’s a video of a SimpliFlying MasterClass in action:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Singapore, 9 April 2013 – Airports Council International (ACI) is proud to announce its collaboration with SimpliFlying to provide social marketing training to ACI’s airport members worldwide.

SimpliFlying, an official ACI training provider, will provide its three-day and five-day MasterClass titled Airport Marketing 2.0 to help airports leverage social media to achieve meaningful goals. During the MasterClass, ACI members will gain invaluable insights from over 50 real-world digital marketing case studies. Course attendees will also learn the ins and outs of over ten social media tools and receive training in the development of strategic roadmaps and key performance indicators for the aeronautical and non-aeronautical sides of the airport business.

According to Kevin Caron, Assistant Director, Global Training, “Digital marketing and engagement is critical to the success of any airport in the 21st century. SimpliFlying is an internationally acclaimed leader in this field and ACI is pleased to collaborate with them to further promote excellence in this area among ACI airport members worldwide.”

To date, SimpliFlying has delivered its MasterClass to over 1,000 aviation professionals and executives from airports that include Toronto Pearson International Airport, Kuala Lumpur International Airport, London Gatwick Airport and Copenhagen Airport.

“SimpliFlying’s vision is for every airport to seamlessly engage the connected traveller, driving key goals like customer service and retail,” said David McMullen, Vice President of Airports at SimpliFlying. “Our partnership with ACI gives us the scale to continue pushing the frontier of airport marketing in today’s digital day and age.”

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About SimpliFlying

SimpliFlying is a leading consulting firm that has advised over 30 airlines and airports on customer engagement strategy. Headquartered in Singapore, SimpliFlying has staff in the UK, Spain, US and Canada. One of the Top 5 most influential on Twitter, SimpliFlying is also recognised by FlightGlobal for having one of the Top 2 leading aviation blogs. For more information, please visit http://simpliflying.com.

About Airports Council International

ACI is the only global trade representative of the world’s airports. Established in 1991, ACI represents airports’ interests with governments and international organizations, develops standards, policies and recommended practices for airports, and provides information and training opportunities to raise standards around the world. For more information, please visit www.aci.aero.

The post News Announcement: SimpliFlying to Provide ACI World Members with MasterClass on Airport Social Media Marketing appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Li Guen

Li Guen heads the communications and marketing functions at SimpliFlying where she drives corporate branding efforts and industry research initiatives. A PR enthusiast, Li Guen returned to SimpliFlying after a stint with Weber Shandwick working with clients including Rolls-Royce, Changi Airport Group and P&G. In her free time, Li Guen likes trekking mountains in Asia. You can tweet her at @SimpliGuen or email her at guen@simpliflying.com.

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The topic of customer experience in the airline industry captures more interest in the mainstream media as the Huffington Post and Fox News respectively picked up on Etihad’s global TV campaign and the soaring trend trend of airline customers using Twitter to fast track their feedback.

In the latest issue of Low Cost &Regional Airline Business, SimpliFlying casts light on how low-cost carriers leveraged social media to engage modern travelers through the newly evolved five-part travel lifecycle – dream, plan, book, travel, share.

Below is a list of articles that SimpliFlying had been featured in this March and we hope you will enjoy reading them!

The New Wave

April Issue || Low Cost & Regional Airline Business

Billboards are no longer enough to attract well-connected travellers. Social media and the internet have moved the goalposts – and airlines need to be far more savvy, writes Shubhodeep Pal, head of operations and innovation at consulting firm SimpliFlying… Read more!

Etihad Makes Big Promise in Global TV Ad Campaign

The Huffington Post || 29 March 2013

For a story I wrote for the New York Times in the summer of 2011, I spent a week training to be a flight attendant with Emirates… Pitching the inflight experience is more important than so many other items on which airlines compete, or so I am told by Shashank Nigam, an airline marketing strategist and CEO of SimpliFlying… Read more!

*This article is also published in Seattle Post Intelligencer, “Etihad Ad Shows Beautiful People Doing Beautiful Things”, on 6 March 2013 and APEX, “Etihad CEO says new TV ad shows confidence in carrier’s ability to exceed passenger expectations”, on 6 March 2013.

Airline customers are using Twitter to fast track their grievances

Fox News || 20 March 2013

Keith Pape was not in a good mood on a recent Tuesday. Who could blame him – the Los Angeles-based ad agency exec needed a fast flight out of Austin, Texas… According to aviation industry consulting firm SimpliFlying, 213 airlines were on Twitter as of this month. With millions of followers, many of them have discovered that the faster they stop negativity in its tracks, the better… Read more!

*This article is published in The Huffington Post, ‘Have An Airline Complaint? Tweet Away’, on 19 March 2013.  

Airlines on Pinterest: in-depth look reveals a bit of a graveyard

Tnooz || 15 March 2013

Pinterest was one of the star social networks of 2012. Countless articles and reviews and paeans were written about it and, notably, unlike Google Plus, it never received much criticism. When we started analyzing how airlines are using this social network, we quickly realized that things were not as rosy as it might have been expected… Read more!

Rise of social loyalty programmes – BalticMiles Brainstorm recognised for innovation

Web in Travel || 8 March 2013

Multi-partner loyalty programme BalticMiles, owned by the Latvian airline airBaltic, has been recognised as one of the best loyalty programmes worldwide, winning the Loyalty 2013 award alongside Virgin America and Virgin Australia… The BalticMiles Brainstorm programme has been conceptualised under the guidance of SimpliFlying, an aviation marketing strategy firm that has advised over 30 airlines and airports on customer engagement strategy, and actualised on Facebook in June 2012 through an application developed by NapkinLabs… Read more!

*This article is also published in 4 Hoteliters.com on 13 March 2013.

The Real Deal

Airport World || 7 March 2013

The Trinity Forum – where airports, retailers and brands get together to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry… contributions included a rallying cry from OTG Management’s CEO, Rick Blatstein, for the industry to be “spectacular” and use interactive technology to innovate, while a lively and highly entertaining presentation from SimpliFlying’s CEO, Shashank Nigam, left airports in no doubt that they would miss out on revenue and passengers if they failed to embrace social media… Read more!

If you would like to interview SimpliFlying or involve us in your next article, please feel free to contact us at media@simpliflying.com

The post SimpliFlying in The News – March 2013. Fox News, The Huffington Post, LCRAB, Airport World and more… appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Li Guen

Li Guen heads the communications and marketing functions at SimpliFlying where she drives corporate branding efforts and industry research initiatives. A PR enthusiast, Li Guen returned to SimpliFlying after a stint with Weber Shandwick working with clients including Rolls-Royce, Changi Airport Group and P&G. In her free time, Li Guen likes trekking mountains in Asia. You can tweet her at @SimpliGuen or email her at guen@simpliflying.com.

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This February, in addition to sharing our insights on engaging the Connected Traveler for airlines to improve branding and revenue opportunities, our CEO, Shashank Nigam was invited by two major media outlets; Channel News Asia (read here), to give his take on SIA’s earnings outlook and on keeping up its premium offerings and looking for partnerships to enhance passenger experience; and BBC (watch here), on his thoughts about the outlook of Indian aviation industry.

We hope you enjoy the following reads!

Online with Markus Haapamäki
Route News || 21 February 2013
Markus Haapamäki, communications specialist and head of social media at Finavia, talks to Routes News about the group’s award-winning social media strategy… Read more!

IN FOCUS: Airlines must adapt to social media evolution
Airline Business || 20 February 2013
Airlines will need to stay ahead of the competition by identifying key business goals, such as loyalty. They need to engage the traveller in a specific manner, often via mobile phones, rather than social media alone… Read more!

A review of Airline Mobile Applications
The Travel Marketing Digest || Volume II
We came across this excellent presentation on SlideShare submitted by SimpliFlying. It features mobile applications case studies from a number of leading airlines. The integrated use of applications in combination with web sites and social media channels is clearly the strategy that many travel companies are taking. The case studies include Delta, American Airlines, Air France, KLM, Cathay Pacific, Jet Blue and others… Read more!

Possible SIA revamp on the cards
Channel News Asia || 7 February 2013
As the aviation industry continues to be plagued by rising fuel costs and weakness in the global economy, Singapore Airlines has seen its profits being squeezed as more travellers turn to cheaper alternatives… “Their premium sector is what holds them up. They’ve high yielding passengers and if they try to reduce that, they will lose them to other premium carriers like Cathay, Qantas, (or) Emirates,” said Shashank Nigam, CEO of Simpliflying… Read more!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Indian Airlines, clipped wings?
BBC World News || 8 February 2013
Are airlines in India Simply-Flying? Shashank Nigam, the CEO of SimpliFlying addresses financial challenges and more on BBC World… Watch here!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jet Airways- moving forward in wrong direction?
ET NOW || 10 February 2013 

Has Jet Airways of India lost its charm? Is the brand moving in the wrong direction? Those were the questions asked of our CEO, Shashank Nigam, in his interview with Economic Times Now (ET NOW) feature in New Delhi, India. Watch the full video here.

The Moodie Report e-Zine Special Issue: The Moodies Awards
Moodie Report || 6 February 2013
Welcome to a special issue of The Moodie Report e-Zine, where we celebrate the winners of the inaugural The Moodies Awards for Airport Digital, Social and Mobile Media… Combined, the ideas discussed by Brown-Forman Managing Director Global Travel Retail Jim Perry, OTG Management CEO Rick Blatstein and Simplifliyng CEO Shashank Nigam map out an interesting future for travel retail and social media… Read more!

If you would like to interview SimpliFlying or involve us in your next article, please feel free to contact us at media@simpliflying.com

The post SimpliFlying in The News – February 2013. BBC, Channel NewsAsia, Airline Business and more… appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Li Guen

Li Guen heads the communications and marketing functions at SimpliFlying where she drives corporate branding efforts and industry research initiatives. A PR enthusiast, Li Guen returned to SimpliFlying after a stint with Weber Shandwick working with clients including Rolls-Royce, Changi Airport Group and P&G. In her free time, Li Guen likes trekking mountains in Asia. You can tweet her at @SimpliGuen or email her at guen@simpliflying.com.

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What all crises share in common: they catch brands unaware 

It’s often said that an airline or airport can never be fully prepared to deal with a crisis. When SimpliFlying advises its clients, we advocate for learning from others and being mentally prepared to ascertain similar crises – especially in this age of social media where information and opinion spread more rapidly than ever before, for better or for worse.

14 Case Studies of airline and airport crises, with SimpliFlying’s Expert Recommendations

To help airlines and airports recognize the risks and opportunities offered by the new playing field, SimpliFlying is publishing “Crisis Management, in the age of the Connected Traveler“. This ebook takes a look at five different types of real-world crises, namely 1) Accidents and Incidents 2) Terrorism and Sabotages 3) Natural Disasters 4) IT Failures and 5) PR Disasters. 

Throughout the 14 case studies presented in this e-book, we take a look at how the public reacts to each situation, what is to be expected, followed by recommendations on how such situations should be handled. Case studies include: 

• Qantas ‘Flight 32’
• Warsaw Airport ‘LOT flight 16’
• Vueling ‘Flight 8366’ 2010
• European Ash-Cloud
• Akron-Canton Airport Flooding
• Virgin America ‘A troublesome switch’
• Delta ‘Military Luggage’ 

‘Crisis Management, in the age of the Connected Traveler” will be a very useful resource for airline and airport executives on the know-how for dealing with crises. We hope you enjoy the eBook! Click any of the images below to download. 

For more information, please feel free to email us at letstalk@simpliflying.com.

The post [eBook] Crisis Management for Airports and Airlines, in the age of the Connected Traveler appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Marco Serusi

Engagement Executive at SimpliFlying

Marco is an Engagement Executive at SimpliFlying. He’s Italian, but has lived in several countries since he was 18, earning an Air Transport degree in the UK, a pilot license in Florida and an MBA in Spain. He now lives in Valencia, Spain where he previously worked as a Marketing Director.

You can talk to him in Italian, English or Spanish. You can also tweet him at @simplimarco, e-mail him at marco@simpliflying.com.

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As we enter 2013, the expectations from airlines and airports to live up to the new realities of an increasingly connected world are ever more. Passengers are more vocal and connected to their friends and family. They have higher expectations in terms of online engagement and interaction, and are not hesitant to instantly share a negative opinion online when displeased. On the other hand, rapidly evolving social technologies are enabling airlines and airports to reach and engage their customers in more innovative ways than before. As such, the potential for better customer service, speedier crisis management, building loyal online brand advocates and driving revenues has increased manifold.

Hence, while planning your social engagement strategy for 2013, you need a head-start. The 25 resources presented below, categorized for your easy reference, will give you ample inspiration and information to start swimming from the deep end of the pool itself! 

Engagement

• What your audience expects and what you should be doing to engage them. Or risk falling behind your competition (read here).
• Creating an immersive brand experience for your airline (read here).
• How airlines and aiports can use Pinterest to engage customers through visual cues (read here).
• How COPA Airlines drove 50x ROI via a Facebook app (read here).

Strategy Planning and Research Reports

• Presentation – Driving results from Customer Engagement. The road ahead for airlines on social media (get the presentation here).
• Airline Social Media Outlook 2012-13: Research based on a survey conducted with the 30 most social-savvy airlines on issues such as staffing, budgets and ROI (get the report here).
• Monthly Airline Marketing Benchmark Reports – Produced every month by SimpliFlying in partnership with airlinetrends.com, this report has 15 fresh case-studies covering the most innovative marketing campaigns by airlines across the world (get the latest report here).

Case-Studies

• Top 30 Airline Social Media Case-Studies featured on SimpliFlying in 2012 (read here).
• Re-branding Royal Brunei Airlines – the journey behind-the-scenes (read here).
• Ryanair learns the power of social media. Profits dip 29% despite a 600% increase in marketing budget (read here)!
• Local pages and hyper-localization on Facebook (read here).

Social Customer Service

• Q and A – How brands can perform real time customer-service on social media (read here).
• Lessons from customer service in social media (read here).
• Statistics and Charts – How US Airlines are providing customer support on Facebook (read here).
• Two tales of customer experience – AirAsia X vs Kingfisher Airlines (read here).

Crisis Management and Handling Bloopers

• Why Korean Air’s #primitiveenergy campaign angered Africans and how they could have managed the crisis better (read here).
• How Royal Brunei Airlines handled the emergency landing of their plane superbly on social media (read here).
• Southwest Airlines finds out whether a campaign can be too successful for its own good  - A cautionary tale for those looking to run competitions (read here).

Social Loyalty

• A New Era in Airline Loyalty – The Rise of Social Loyalty Programs and Social Advocacy (read here).
• Free eBook – How Airlines Can Drive Loyalty on Social Media (read here).

Expert Insights

• Interview – Jonathan Pierce, Director of Social Communications at American Airlines sheds light on how social media drives results for American Airlines (read here).
• Interview – Azran Osma-Rani, CEO of AirAsiaX talks about how the low-cost, long-haul modeal can be made to work in Asia Pacific (read here).
• Podcast – Mary Kirby, Editor-in-Chief of APEX Magazine sheds light on a industry in flux (click here).
• Interview – Heidi Brauer, Kulula’s Marketing Head tells us why Kulula is the world’s funniest airline (read here).
• Interview – Gary Wicks of Boeing shares how Boeing’s commercial airplanes division takes the social media bull by the horns (read here).
  

Revenue

• Mango Airlines CEO attributes 50% growth in revenues to social media (read here).

Airports

• Airport Social Media Outlook 2012-13: Research based on a survey with over 50 of the most social-savvy airports on issues such as staffing, budgets and ROI (read more).
• Presentation – How Airports can Engage the Connected Traveler (read here).
• A 4-part special series on how Airports are engaging the Connected Traveler in a number of ways – from crowdsourcing to social customer service (read here).
• The Road Ahead for Airports in 2013: Why Real-time customer service and non-aeronautical revenues will be the keys to success (read here).

[Write to us at engage@simpliflying.com if you wish to learn more about how your airline can profitably engage the Connected Traveler in 2013.]

The post 30 Essential Resources for Airlines and Airports to Effectively Engage the Connected Traveler and Drive Results in 2013 appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

Shubhodeep Pal

Head of Operations and Innnovation at SimpliFlying

Shubhodeep Pal is the Head of Operations and Innovation at SimpliFlying and has been leading Product Development, Marketing and Business Development since December 2010 from the headquarters in Singapore. His writings have appeared extensively on SimpliFlying as well as revered industry outlets such as Tnooz, Airlinetrends and Loyalty360. He has considerable experience working in the social media sphere, having also conducted a workshop at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore. He has written an introductory e-book for social media newbies and has previously interned at the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) as well. His wide range of interests include startups, programming, economics, geopolitics, film-direction/criticism and literature. His first collection of poems, Interruptions was released in 2009. He can be reached at shubhodeep@simpliflying.com.

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PR and Route Launches in The Realm of Social Media

In the recent Airline Social Media Outlook 2012 by SimpliFlying, over 65% of the airlines surveyed use social media metrics for new products or route development.

The same way social media is used to develop insights into new product and route development, social media can also be harnessed to deliver results for the launch of new routes. With over 20 airline case studies, SimpliFlying is launching a new MasterClass on how airlines can use social media not only for PR, but also to create viral buzz around new route launches. The MasterClass series uniquely merges theory with practice through interactive group exercises, simulations and case studies. Participants walk away with a detailed strategic implementation plan for launching new routes on social media at the end of the class.

Case Study: SpiceJet launches new routes and new planes on social media

End of last year, SpiceJet launched its Bombardier Q400 aircraft for the first time in the India. Besides the fact that the Indian market typically have not been the most keen to fly turbo-props, it was an uphill task as the newly launched destinations that SpiceJet was flying these planes on were not major routes within India. 

Over a period of 6 months, SimpliFlying helped SpiceJet to specifically target niche segments through social media and leverage on a customer-to-customer education model. As a result, SpiceJet achieved 88% load factor for 5 newly launched destinations, all within the first two weeks of launching the Bombardier Q400 in India. 

The MasterClass on Launching New Routes on Social Media features 20 in-depth airline case studies. Find out more from our info sheet or contact us at masterclass@simpliflying.com

The post New MasterClass from SimpliFlying – Social Media for PR and New Route Launches appeared first on SimpliFlying.

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SimpliFlying

At SimpliFlying, in everything we do, we believe in thinking differently about aviation marketing. Having worked with over 30 airlines and airports across 5 continents, we understand the intersection of aviation and marketing better than anyone else. We have the most experience. The most clients. The most success.

SimpliFlying.com is one of the Top 2 blogs on aviation, and the Twitter handle (@simpliflying) is one of the Top 5 most influential on airlines, with over 12,000 followers. If you're keen to tap our expertise, email us at helpmesoar@simpliflying.com

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Editor’s note: Recently, Royal Brunei Airlines unveiled a new livery on their aircraft, which received a passionate reaction from aviation enthusiasts and travelers the world over. But the new livery is just one aspect of a well-thought re-branding strategy for the airline.

Global brand consultancy, Interbrand, was hired to lead this process and in this guest article, Anne Donohoe, a Director at the company and the strategy lead for Royal Brunei, takes us behind the scenes of this re-branding process.

With the launch of their new brand this month, Royal Brunei Airlines is redefining the way they think about flying.

The last two years have been a time of restructuring for RBA – building a solid foundation with the right people, routes, fleet, and technology. In April 2012 RBA hired Interbrand, a global brand consultancy, to create a brand identity that would help position them in a highly competitive industry.

Reflecting Brunei’s culture

Upon meeting the people at Royal Brunei we quickly realized this is a special brand. You can’t help but be charmed (and a little envious), by how Bruneians view life. In a fast moving world, one with conspicuous materialism, they truly believe the most special moments in life are the simplest. They believe in the magic of a genuine smile, the delight in unexpected acts of kindness, faith and the importance of spending time with family. These timeless values are at the heart of who RBA is as an airline.

The airline industry is filled with airlines positioning themselves based on rock bottom prices, quality service, or the latest technology – jostling for leadership in the “LCC” or “Premium” race. What has been forgotten is that travel is ultimately about real people, not load factors or hash tags, who want a great experience. Happiness is just as much about the journey, as the destination. It is with this philosophy in mind that Royal Brunei embarked on its journey of redefining the flying experience.

The Unveiling

Non-branded teaser campaigns began mid October in Brunei, with advertising supported by friendly RBA staff going undercover as the “Smile Squad”. They handed out chocolates, balloons and smiles while reminding curious bystanders to stay true to their values and enjoy the small pleasures in life.  Great buzz was created on Facebook and Instagram leading up to the big reveal.

On October 30^th Royal Brunei revealed the new brand proposition of “Simple Pleasures”. A promise to truly delight everyone they meet, through genuine welcomes, thoughtful yet unexpected gestures and unique Bruneian touches. A promise to help people from around the world rediscover timeless values. 

With over 700 staff and VIPs watching, a freshly painted Airbus A319 pulled into the airport hangar, showing off the new livery and logo. The classic design, including the new RB monogram, expresses the simplicity and timelessness of the brand promise. Staff were truly delighted with the livery, with emotions running high in the audience.

As part of this journey, Royal Brunei is now working on creating a distinctive experience at the most important touch-points such as in-flight entertainment, ground service and online interactions, including social media. Staff are engaged at all levels, creating a sense of excitement and optimism. New experiences will be rolled out over the next year, with the launch of the first 787 Boeing Dreamliner in South East Asia as the key highlight.

Great brands evoke emotion. They have the power to touch us. I am excited to see Royal Brunei share its magic with the world. An airline that stays true to its values and creates simple yet special moments is truly delightful.

Full Disclosure: Royal Brunei is a valued SimpliFlying client (see Press Release).

The post Redefining the journey – behind the scenes in the re-branding of Royal Brunei Airlines appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

SimpliFlying

At SimpliFlying, in everything we do, we believe in thinking differently about aviation marketing. Having worked with over 30 airlines and airports across 5 continents, we understand the intersection of aviation and marketing better than anyone else. We have the most experience. The most clients. The most success.

SimpliFlying.com is one of the Top 2 blogs on aviation, and the Twitter handle (@simpliflying) is one of the Top 5 most influential on airlines, with over 12,000 followers. If you're keen to tap our expertise, email us at helpmesoar@simpliflying.com

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