How is your airport driving results from the connected traveller of today? Are you driving non-aeronautical revenues from them? Or real-time customer service? The opportunities are endless. But maybe you need some guidance.

During my first 2 months with SimpliFlying, I’ve had the pleasure to speak with many airports at various conferences, airport visits or Skype calls. Airports that are prominent have already recognised the contribution that a good social strategy has to the business, meaning passengers travelling through their airport now have intentional, measured and thoughtful experiences at every touch point – even before they reach the airport.

Our ‘Digital Strategy Checklist for Airports’ has been designed to assist the hundreds of airports who are seeking direction.

What does the ‘Digital Strategy Checklist’ cover?

• Social customer service
• Brand and destination awareness
• Crisis management
• Non aeronautical revenue

If your airport understands the benefit of learning more about today’s Connected Traveller and this rapidly changing customer environment, but feel like you’re shooting blind – this is for you!

Download the checklist and gather your senior marketing & communications team today for your chance to invite SimpliFlying into your discussions. We are offering to conduct a ‘social assessment’ for a small number of airports, to help you identify your next steps in social customer engagement.

We’ll offer our deep understanding of the new marketing methodologies for the aviation industry and you will gain valuable insight into:

• Customer Engagement Strategy
• ‘Social’ Customer Service
• Non-aeronautical revenue Strategy
• Crisis Management for the Connected Traveller

Download the document now for the chance to invite SimpliFlying into your next (or first) social strategy discussion!

Featured Image: PassengerTerminalToday.com

The post The SimpliFlying ‘Digital Strategy Checklist for Airports’ appeared first on SimpliFlying.

Author information

David McMullen

VP, Airports at SimpliFlying

David McMullen leads global airport engagement projects for SimpliFlying as VP, Airports. Following 5 successful years leading the award winning Routesonline platform, working with airports of all sizes in route development strategy and marketing communications, he joined SimpliFlying at the beginning of 2013. Assisting hundreds of airports to develop their online presence, David's career has taken him all over the world and he has been lucky enough to meet some of the most amazing people and work in some of the most inspiring places. He has a real enthusiasm for social networking/social media, plus all things digital. His passion for sport, travel and learning about new cultures has enabled him to practice snowboarding throughout Europe and qualify as an advanced scuba diver on the Great Barrier Reef. You can connect with David on Twitter, @SimpliMcMullen, or on LinkedIn.

Twitter

When we meet with senior aviation executives (non-airline), we often get asked two questions:

1. How can social media work in a B2B context?
2. Can we really sell a plane (or an engine, or a wing or a blade…) by leveraging Facebook or Twitter etc?

To this question, we share case studies from Intuit, Ford and more. But we’ll no longer be doing that – because we finally have one case study from aviation itself, and what a story it is!

The back-story

As you might have learnt from our Twitter feed, SimpliFlying was recently invited to Toulouse, to address Airbus executives and senior management, sharing with them the latest trends in airline marketing and the rise of the connected traveller.

In the audience were also senior members of the Airbus sales team, who actively participated in the 40 min Q&A that followed my presentation. While we had a very good discussion, what I did not anticipate was how creatively the insights would be applied in the field!

I happened to meet the sales team once again last week, and they shared a story with me that I found to be a very innovative application of the new insights they had gained in Toulouse. I’m sharing the story here with their permission.

Stuck in the middle

In a meeting with VP of Fleet Management for an airline, the salesman and his team wanted to emphasize the importance of comfort on long haul flight. It boils down to differentiating with competition, by recommending a 3-3-3, nine abreast seating configuration.

The logic is that since most airlines don’t always fly full-capacity, there are bound to be empty seats. Airlines can then leave the middle seat empty, hence ensuring more comfort, because few people will be stuck in the middle on a long haul flight.

Bring in The Connected Traveller

To demonstrate his point to the VP, he takes three chairs and asks the poor assistant to sit in the middle, with not so much space to sit between the salesman and the VP, because they are slightly “heavy”.

The salesman asks, “How do you feel sitting like this on a 14 hour flight”?
Assistant says, “Not so good”.
He then asks, “How many friends do you have on Facebook?”, he answers “1000”.

The salesman then leads him into saying the first thing he does after a flight is to whip our his phone, to update his Facebook status, and won’t be telling that he had a good airline experience.

Then, salesman suggests, “What if just three unhappy people on the flight share their unhappiness on Facebook? And between the three of them, that’s 3000 potential customers who know that your airline is not good. That’s 10 times the number of passengers on the plane who may never buy a ticket!”

(VP Fleet management gulps)

The salesman successfully brought home the realities of the connected traveller, and that may just help him to sell some planes!

Creative application!

I have to admit that this is by far one of the most creative applications of social media concepts I’ve come across. The connected traveller is a reality today – he/she is always connected, shares instantly and has an opinion on almost every aspect of his/her travel experience.

The VP of fleet management is not on Facebook. The salesman who led this creative campaign is himself not on Facebook. Only that assistant is. And that’s all that matters.

The management of airlines and airports needs to understand the behaviour of today’s travellers and cater to their needs. Otherwise, they will one day discover that they have been living in the dinosaur era while the world has moved on. You’ve got to be where your customers are. And you’ve got to speak to them in a language they understand. And that’s all that matters.

As for the Airbus sales team, I wish them all the best, and if they do clinch this deal, I’ll keep the world updated! Because that will be one hell of a return on investment!

The post Facebook CAN help sell planes! How a creative Airbus sales team brings the realities of the connected traveler to life 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.

TwitterLinkedIn

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.

LinkedIn

Welcome to a new year – a year full of hope, new beginnings and not least of all, free of Mayan predictions. At SimpliFlying, we’re excited to be back after a short break and kick off with something that will interest and enlighten our readers.

A couple of months ago, we released a short infographic accompanied by a premium report that elaborated on the results of an extensive survey we did with about 30 airlines that have been extremely successful in engaging today’s Connected Travelers profitably. The issues explored ranged from budgets to ROI to staffing and more! In the new year, we’ve gone a step further and created a short videographic that summarises the findings of our survey in a highly engaging and entertaining format. 

In just around 3 minutes you will get to know the key trends and insights that we have gleaned from the best airlines on social media. In short, this video and the numbers within will inspire, inform and get you ready for your planning, brainstorming and strategy sessions for 2013! Excited? Sit back and click below to watch!

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hope you enjoyed the video. Click here to view the infographic that has a quick overview of our findings. Or you can also download the premium report that contains the detailed findings of our extensive survey along with our analyses and strategy recommendations. (For additional reference, you could watch the previous year’s videographic to appreciate how quickly social technologies are being adopted by airlines. And seriously at that!)

BONUS: You can download this video on your mobile devices as well – click directly on the iPad version, iPhone version, other mobile phones to view/download this videographic.

[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 [Videographic] Airlines and the Connected Traveler: SimpliFlying Social Media Outlook for 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.

LinkedIn

I had the pleasure of delivering the opening keynote presentation at the Eyefortravel Social Media in Travel Asiasummit, in Hong Kong. The region is different, and while there’s lots to learn from airlines around the world, marketing efforts need to be catered to the cultural nuances. In addition to sharing lots of case studies from airlines and hotels from around the world, I made a few key observations and recommendations for travel brands targeting Asians:

1. Be open to local practices – I share case study of a person in Indonesia who has over 450 Foursquare badges! Asians love to be “jumpers” on Foursquare, checking-in at locations they are not physically at, just to collect badges. Tap on these!
2. Collaborate with other brands – 360buy.com not only changed their own Weibo profile pic for an anniversary sale. And, they paid five figure sums to leading Chinese brands to change their profile pics to 360buy’s as well! It’s the norm, and travel brands should look to collaborate as well. Hotels with airlines and DMOs with tour operators.
3. Learn from other industries and adapt - Tesco in South Korea used QR codes at train stations to boost sales by over 100%. Gatwick Airport is now doing the same. So can you!

Here are some tweets from the audience in my session.

Interesting Q from @simpliflying: if looking for flights & find a friend on a more expensive flight, would you pay more to take that flight?

November 20, 2012 9:57 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@winglets747

Will Horton

“Introverts are extroverts online in #China on #socialmedia ” @simplifying #smasia @EyeforTravel

November 20, 2012 10:02 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@edwardperry

Edward Perry

“75% of airlines plan to increase their social media budget in 2013″ -Shashank Nigam #smasia

November 20, 2012 9:47 am via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@madalkatiri

Achmad Alkatiri

RT @wegoid: “52% Facebook user said their friend’s photos inspired their holiday choice and travel plans” -Shashank Nigam #smasia

November 20, 2012 10:01 am via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@TravelDivaRita

Rita Goh

The post [Presentation] How travel marketing is changing in Asia with the rise of social and mobile #smasia 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.

TwitterLinkedIn

Last month, we released the inaugural edition of the Monthly Airline Marketing Benchmark Report comprising 15 of the most innovative marketing and advertising campaigns by airlines across the world, in partnership with our good friends over at airlinetrends.com. Now, we have released the October edition of the report and will carry on releasing new editions each month.

What’s in October’s Report?

The October issue features 15 great campaigns from airlines such as JetBlue, Air New Zealand, ANA, American Airlines and more! There are four categories of campaigns in the report, which begins with a campaign of the month, with an in-depth analysis of Virgin America’s #myVXeperience campaign.

We then feature case studies from around the aviation world, focusing on experiential marketing campaigns, social media campaigns and traditional marketing initiatives. From Air New Zealand seeking “walkers” to come experience Kiwi hikes, to Lufthansa’s “Future of Hand Luggage” contest that helps design the optimal hand-luggage experience.

If you’re already drooling, you should go ahead and grab the report right away!

About the Report

Jointly produced by SimpliFlying, and industry and consumer trends research agency, airlinetrends.com, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Report analyses a wide range of airline marketing case studies each month.

The monthly report contains a selection of the 15 most innovative marketing and advertising campaigns launched by airlines around the world and assesses their impact. If you are a numbers person, you’d love our report too!

How will it help you?

This monthly report is indispensable for airline executives, specifically in marketing and communications, who wish to understand how their organizations are performing with respect to competitors and can perform better.

Creative agencies working with airlines (or looking to pitch to airlines) will also find this monthly report useful for staying on top of the latest trends and best practices in airline marketing.

Pricing and Sample Report

• USD 4950 per year  | Annual subscription  - 12 issues, starting from the month of order.
• USD 495 per month | Monthly subscription - Same as above, but charged monthly.
• USD 550 per report | Single monthly issue  – For a one-time purchase

Questions?

Click here if you have any questions about the report.

You can also contact Shubhodeep Pal directly at shubhodeep@simpliflying.com for queries regarding the reports.

The post Airline Marketing Benchmark Report Oct 2012: Feat. JetBlue, Air New Zealand, American Airlines & more! 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.

LinkedIn

Last week, I had the opportunity to deliver a presentation at the Eyefortravel Online Marketing & Social Media Summit, Europe, in Amsterdam. The topic was the road ahead for social media for airlines. Having spoken on the topic previously, I thought about giving it a new spin. Since in our recent annual outlook report, we saw airlines struggling to prove ROI – I decided to delve into that.

The presentation sheds light on how airlines around the world are driving key results through social media, like revenue and visits to their website. Rather than just engagement. Hope you enjoy it as much as the audience did (tweets bel0w).

The Road ahead on social media for airlines on Prezi

.@simpliflying‘s is crushing his presentation at #smeurope. Great insights into airline industry marketing + he is giving out chocolates.

October 3, 2012 6:47 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@robertpatterson

Robert Patterson

80/20 seems about right // RT @jonnorp: Of 100 airlines on twitter, 88 tweet regularly, 23% make up 80% of tweets @simpliflying #smeurope

October 3, 2012 7:21 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@nickjayres

Nick Ayres

#smeurope over 75% of airlines plan to increase budget dedicated to social media @simpliflying

October 3, 2012 6:38 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@markkellyirl

Mark Kelly

The post [Presentation] The Road Ahead for Airlines on Social Media – driving results 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.

TwitterLinkedIn

The big day is here at last! Earlier today, the winners in each category of the SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence 2012 were announced at the EyeforTravel Summit in Amsterdam. Amidst a lot of fanfare, excellent presentations and a glittering awards ceremony, five deserving winners walked away with sparkling trophies that marked their triumph in their respective categories.

This was the culmination of a long and arduous journey. We began almost two months ago by opening nominations in 5 categories – three for airlines and one each for airports and travel solution providers. Over 50 high-quality nominations were received, of which overall 21 candidates across 5 categories made it to the shortlist. These finalists went on to compete for public votes - of which about 30,000 poured in – while also impressing our judges who scored the finalists on presentations submitted privately to the judges. The winners were chosen based on the combined scores from the votes and judges’ scores.

Today, the ultimate winner in each category was announced. As usual, we have some usual suspects who scored big. Nevertheless, there are some pleasant surprises as well. (Please click on the category title to see the finalist presentations.)

Best Airline on Social Media

KLM has stood out by consistently being one of the most innovative airlines on social media with multiple world-renowned initiatives. Their commitment to engaging the connected traveler is unparalleled and the persistence has paid off well.

Best Airport on Social Media

Helsinki Airport’s emergence, as noted by one of our judges David McMullen, has been one of impact and delight. Their creativity has definitely shined through and we anticipate more from them in the sphere of airport engagement.

Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service

American Airlines stands out with its sophisticated strategy and execution, especially on the customer service front. A lot of thought has been put into service and customer engagement, and it shows. We look forward to seeing them continuing to push this frontier.

Best Use of Social Media to Drive Revenue

WestJet was able to cleverly show how viral content can be used to drive an airline’s bottom line. The presentation and statistics in the Kargo Kids campaign used was strong and impactful. They truly have established themselves as an innovative leader in using social media to drive revenue.

Best Social Media Solution Provider for Travel

Satisfly has enabled a better and smarter traveling experience for the customers by choosing seating zones and seat buddies, while also benefiting the airline’s bottom line. It’s a real innovation and we look forward to seeing it push the frontier.

Surprise Category: Most Popular Airline on Social Media 

Nasair managed to get the most votes for the awards, across all categories. For shouting from their rooftops asking for votes, and getting 7610
votes in two weeks, Nasair gets a special recognition for being the “most popular airline on social media”.

Thereby ends the journey of this year’s awards. We’ve been awed, enthralled and sometimes even exhausted by the sheer scale of the awards process. The number of quality competitors keeps on increasing year upon year and we hope to see an ever greater turnout and even stiffer competition during next year’s awards.

We hope you enjoyed this year’s coverage. See you in 2013! Meanwhile, keep flying. SimpliFlying.

Here are some more photographs from the event.

The post The Best Airlines, Airports and Travel Solution Providers in Social Media – Winners of the 3rd SimpliFlying Awards, held at Amsterdam 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.

LinkedIn

In an industry whose purpose is moving people and things, staying in one place might seem like a paradox. But it is an everyday reality for an essential part of the aviation industry: airports.

Changing Times

Unlike airlines, airports do not have the flexibility of adapting their network based on the market’s demands and are entirely dependent on people who are willing to travel to or from their local area. Furthermore, with the ever increasing liberalization that is taking place in the aviation industry, competition has intensified among airlines and subsidized routes have almost completely disappeared.

In this new environment, many airports have started to realize the importance of marketing themselves both as destinations for incoming travelers and convenient friendly environments for local and transit travelers.

Interesting initiatives

In this month’s Top 10 we’ll have a look at how a large airport like Amsterdam was able to help children in need while at the same time helping its restaurants get noticed and Gatwick airport found a way to keep its youngest travelers busy using a sound based social network.  Furthermore you’ll also discover the power of crowds with Helsinki Airport, how Dublin takes pride in its identity and much more. (You can also view the 2011 edition here.)

The post The 2012 Guide to the Top 10 Airports Engaging Customers Profitably on Social Media 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.

TwitterLinkedIn

As airlines equip themselves with the tools and know-how to conquer the Digital Marketing revolution, we are witnessing increasingly innovative campaigns from airlines around the world to engage their customers and drive results from social media. More ostensibly, we are witnesses to an ever-more competitive arena where brand-conscious airlines are utlizing the power of digital media to build unique brands and develop strong online customer engagement initiatives.

About the Report

In such a fast-moving environment, it is important not just to be creative and innovative yourself but to be more striking than your immediate competition as well. However, given the speed at which things move in digital media, it is no easy task to stay on top of the latest trends, fads and innovations. But fear not, with the launch of our Airline Marketing Benchmark Reports, help is finally at hand!

Jointly produced by airline branding specialist, SimpliFlying, and industry and consumer trends research agency, airlinetrends.com, the Airline Marketing Benchmark Report analyses a wide range of airline marketing case studies each month.

The monthly report contains a selection of the 15 most innovative marketing and advertising campaigns launched by airlines around the world and assesses their impact.

How will it help you?

This monthly report is indispensable for airline executives, specifically in marketing and communications, who wish to understand how their organizations are performing with respect to competitors and can perform better.

Creative agencies working with airlines (or looking to pitch to airlines) will also find this monthly report useful for staying on top of the latest trends and best practices in airline marketing.

Pricing and Sample Report

• USD 4950 per year  | Annual subscription  - 12 issues, starting from the month of order.
• USD 495 per month | Monthly subscription - Same as above, but charged monthly.
• USD 550 per report | Single monthly issue  – For a one-time purchase

Get the latest report

The September issue is out now. It features 15 great campaigns from airlines such as JetBlue, American Airlines and more!

Questions?

Click here if you have any questions about the report.

You can also contact Shubhodeep Pal directly at shubhodeep@simpliflying.com for queries regarding the reports.

A free sample report is available here.

The post SimpliFlying and airlinetrends.com launch monthly Airline Marketing Benchmark Report featuring 15 of the Most Innovative Airline Campaigns from across the world 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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