Now, the airline has decided to further enhance its efforts to engage with people based on their location, by launching an Instagram campaign that allows communities of users to meet in person on trips sponsored by BmiBaby.

Instagram community meetings

Instagram is a free photo sharing application on iOS that allows users to take a photo, apply a digital filter, then share it on a variety of social networking services including Instagram’s own. BmiBaby was able to exploit a particular trend within the Instagram image sharing network: having “Instameets”.  Instameets are user-organized events where Instagramers take part in a “photo walk” and take pictures of a particular location or town, that are then shared on Instagram under a dedicated hashtag.

BmiBaby launched a campaign to celebrate the 4^th World Instameet Day by providing free travel to members of different Instagram communities, allowing them to meet each other. On 11^th March, members of the London Instagram community were flown into Amesterdam to meet with local Instagramers. The event was tweeted and blogged live using the #myamsterdam tag.

Increasing local engagement and destination awareness

Besides the obvious increase in positive buzz about the airline, the most interesting (and potentially rewarding) aspect of this initiative is the brand association that the airline creates with the place portrayed in the Instagram pictures. Furthermore, BmiBaby also benefits by creating a direct line of communication, and engagement with members of the local Instagram communities who become more aware of the presence of the airline at their local airport and of the other destinations they could visit by flying with the airline.

Overall, we’d say this was one of the most visually-appealing initiatives leading to community building and engagement to be carried out by an airline in recent times. SimpliFantastic, Team BmiBaby!

Curious about how new social technologies such as Instagram and Pinterest can help your airline or airport engage customers more profitably? Drop us a line here.

• [Infographic] How airlines around the world are using Instagram and what should you be doing
• Vote for the SimpliFlying Hero of April 2012: bmibaby vs JetBlue vs Virgin Atlantic
• Three ways airports can use social media for air service marketing and route development
• How BMI SimpliEngaged Customers with a Pinterest Visual Lottery
• KLM reaffirms its social media leadership with its innovative Stewardess Yourself app

In the world of social media Google Plus is currently the youngest and least understood (albeit, fast rising in popularity) kid on the block. Over its relatively short life it has earned its fair share of both lovers and haters, generating an interesting debate on what it will become when it grows up, and whether it is worth investing in it.

When Google Plus was finally opened to businesses with the launch of its business pages there was a rush from companies all over the world to get a G+ page, but as our CEO Shashank Nigam warned in an article about the potential pitfalls for airlines using Google Plus, few of these companies seemed to have a clear idea of what to do with this new platform.

Let’s get some hard data

To get some clarity and hard data SimpliFlying did what it does best: walk the talk! We got ourselves a brand page on Google Plus and sent one of our team-members on a data-finding mission. While signs of progress on this particular social network is admittedly slow, after a week of relentless searching, we have come up with the first ever snapshot of the airline industry on Google Plus.

The main finding were:

• There are now 70 airlines with brand pages on G+.
• The vast majority of the pages are in English – about 78.5%. But on average, pages in Spanish are “liked” more often.
• The airline with the highest number of “likes” (known as “+1″s) was Mexican low cost carrier Volaris with almost 3000, double that of the second most popular page.
• The most common type of content on G+ pages is brand-related.

If you are an airline executive eager to know more, please do contact us and we’ll offer you a customized consulting or training solution to suit your needs.

Download a larger version of this infographic here.

What are your thoughts about how airlines should use Google Plus? Where do you see Google Plus headed? Tell us in the comments below or tweet us @simpliflying. Or, better still, join us on Google Plus.

• Airlines rush to get brand pages on Google+, but why? 7 questions to ask before you join a new social media platform
• How to drive Facebook engagement like KLM? Start playing “destination hangman”!
• Top 10 Facebook Timeline Implementations by Airlines and Airports
• [Infographic] Airlines on Twitter – April 2011 data reveals the need to focus on Customer Service
• Episode 5 of SimpliFlying Podcasts: Interview with Vueling’s CEO Alex Cruz and Industry Updates

Even though he is no more, for marketers and air transport professionals alike Rico will live forever as part of our memories, presentations and as a source of inspiration for future strategies. What follows is a resume of his brief but well-lived life that, hopefully, will help us remember his best moments and better understand the marketing strategy for which he was created, due to which he thrived, lived and, sadly, was done away with.

Rico’s character was originally launched in October 2010 to promote Air New Zealand’s premium economy space seats. Even though what sort of animal he was and where he came from always remained a bit of a mystery, his fluffy persona was apparently designed as an effort to differentiate the advertising campaign by not using a human being. As Rob Fyfe CEO of Air New Zealand explained in his interview with SimpliFlying “if you put a human into the ads, you stereotype people’s image of what sort of people you’re trying to engage with.”

Rico’s first video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

He quickly became an internet sensation and started interviewing celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, David Hasselhoff and even recorded a rap video with hip-hop signer Snoop Dogg.

Rico with Snoop Dogg

Click here to view the embedded video.

However he also stirred up a lot of controversies, and was often criticized for his sexual innuendo, south American accent and, according to some, for not having anything to do with New Zealand and being off-brand. The strongest controversies, at least amongst the general public, were clearly related to his manners, as one of his critics put it:

“Air New Zealand has kindly created a verbal rapist and let him loose upon the world. I can’t imagine anything worse than having to sit next to a pervert like Rico on a flight – even if it were only Auckland to Hamilton – and whenever I think about Air New Zealand now, I get a vaguely uneasy feeling”

Rico and “the intimate art of touch”

Click here to view the embedded video.

In response to his critics Rico often said that, while it was clearly not from New Zealand, he loved the country and its airline, more than any other thing in the world.  Unfortunately for Rico and despite his huge popularity on the internet, it seems that his explanations were never convincing enough, and amidst controversy over his effectiveness Air New Zealand decided to let him go.

On the 1st of December 2011 the news of Rico’s “demise” began to spread over the internet. According to the information released by the airline, the “crime” took place while Rico was hosting a party in his Los Angeles mansion where several celebrities had been invited.

With one last touch of class Air New Zealand used a smart strategy to ensure that even Rico’s passing away would generate favourable buzz for the airline. The airline teamed up with Hasbro to create a Cluedo-themed internet game where users were asked to find out which one of the celebrities who attended the party had killed Rico.

The hunt for Rico’s killer spread virally through Twitter and Facebook, reaching thousands of people, until finally the murderer confessed the crime during a Youtube interrogation where Rico’s puppeteer played the part of a policeman and the murderer, Richard Simmons, played himself.

The killer’s confession

Click here to view the embedded video.

We, at SimpliFlying, bid  goodbye to Rico and hope Air New Zealand copes with their loss (and the world’s) by doing what they do best: producing many more great campaigns!

• Viral videos on Youtube as airline marketing strategy – lessons from Air New Zealand
• For giving us funny safety videos and bringing us Rico, Megan Matthews from Air New Zealand is the SimpliFlying Hero for March 2011
• How Air New Zealand is using social media to create waves globally, online and offline [Video]
• Exclusive: Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand CEO talks about Rico – the airline’s brand mascot with an edgy personality
• The Very Best of SimpliFlyingTV – Celebrating One Million views on our YouTube channel!

While going through these, you’ll also realize that most of those that made the list aren’t one-off campaigns, but mature strategies made up of tactics that drive very specific business goals. So gone are the days of fluffy, one-off social-media campaigns with questionable ROI. Hope these inspire you for 2012!

1. Estonian Air social loyalty program: AirScore, the airline’s groundbreaking, yet simple, loyalty program rewards travelers for online advocacy. You earn virtual points on Facebook for sharing a trip report or booking through the airline’s Facebook app. And these can be redeemed for simple privileges like fast-security lane access. In 10 days, the program generated over a million impressions on Facebook, more than the number of passengers carried by the airline in a year! It’s now won three global awards in three months. Read more… (airlinetrends.com)
2. SpiceJet Bombardier Q400 launch: Imagine launching new destinations between secondary and tertiary cities in a market that is scared of flying turbo props. SpiceJet did just that with Bombardier’s Q400 this year and educated the customers about the superior product and new destinations., primarily through social media. The result? 88% load factors for the five newly launched destinations in  just three weeks. Read more…
3. Finnair launch Helsinki-Singapore with Angry Birds: Route launch marketing is critical to fill up the plane (see our Top 10 case studies). And Finnair this year tapped on the most famous Finnish brand (no longer Nokia) – Angry Birds – to drive awareness of the new route. They filled up the plane full of Angry Birds fans who were not just passionate about the game, but really good at it too – who played throughout the 15 hour flight! And while at that, got the world to know about the new route. Read more…
4. KLM Miami route launch and customer service: KLM changed the dates of their new route to Miami after a Twitter challenge with Dutch radio host to fill up the plane. They have also set the standard for customer service through Twitter and Facebook, where all requests are addressed within 60 mins. No wonder they won the best airline in social media award this year! Read more…
5. Delta Assist: Delta Airlines goes a step ahead of even KLM, by promising to answer tweets within 10 mins, and resolving the situation within 24 hours! Now that 88% of all tweets from travelers to airlines are about customer service issues, this is certainly needed. Read more…
6. Air New Zealand’s safety videos and Rico: Think about an airline with a personality, and it’s Air New Zealand that pops into your mind today. Their quirky safety videos are complemented by their edgy and furry mascot, Rico – who had almost of a cult following. You wither loved him or hated him! Interestingly, he was recently “killed” by the airline through a murder mystery. Read more…
7. Virgin America GiltCity giveaway: 2011 was the year  of group-buying deals. But Virgin America launched the mother of all giveaways where not only could you charter a full plane but also get to name the plane for $60,000 (about $410 per person for a round trip). The deal generated a ton of buzz for Virgin America, and was grabbed by a group of Stanford Alums. Read more… (Gadling.com)
8. Airline booking on Facebook uses the social graph: A year ago Delta Airlines introduced their Facebook booking engine. Then this year, Malaysia Airlines started allowing booking through Facebook and allowed you to sit next to your Facebook friend too (or avoid one!). Recently, Alaska Airlines started allowing you to make a booking by clicking on your Facebook friend’s profile photo! Certainly lots happening in the travel distribution space. Read more…
9. SAS Scandinavian crowd sourcing a new route: SAS became the first airline to get its social media followers to decide one of the new routes for Summer 2012 through online suggestions and voting. Turkish city of Alanya became the clear winner by the end of the contest. All decided by fans alone! Read more about crowd sourcing initiatives…
10. Indigo Airlines’ uber-chic brand campaign: India’s Indigo Airline started flying international in 2011 and launched a brand campaign through YouTube, featuring a Chicago-musical styled advertisement that generated a tremendous amount of interest, given how different it was from the typical airline marketing efforts in India. Read more about their campaign…
11. AirAsia’s leading marketing through social: AirAsia was one of the finalists for our best airline in social media award this year, and for good reason too. They’ve pushed the envelop for driving key business goals through social media – they’re handling customer service through AskAirAsia, launching new routes through Chinese social networks and driving revenue through BIG sales on Facebook! The result? They’re the first airline outside the US to get a million fans. Read more about the AirAsia story…

So, there you have it! The 11 best marketing initiatives by airlines in 2011. Do you feel we have the complete list? If you have a favorite we missed out, please feel free to add it in the comments section or Tweet us @SimpliFlying.

Meanwhile, we’re working on the 12 key airline marketing innovations to look out for in 2012, which will be out in the first week of Jan. Do check back then, or subscribe to SimpliFlying, if you already haven’t done so!

Full Disclosure: SimpliFlying worked with Estonian Air and SpiceJet/Bombardier to bring the above-mentioned projects to reality.

• How SpiceJet launched Bombardier Q400 in India through social media and achieved 88% load factor
• The Big Flight: How Malaysia Airlines is using social media to launch their new A380
• Vote for the SimpliFlying Hero of February 2011 – Finnair vs Delta Air Lines vs Malaysia Airlines
• Delta Assist brings airline customer service to Facebook
• Socializing the airline booking process – Germanwings follows Alaska Airlines’ lead

The benefits of crowdsourcing, and its effectiveness for problem solving, are well-known. The power of the social web is being harnessed by airlines more than ever (in fact, a cargo-carrier has recently got into the game as well). Crowdsourcing initiatives are now being used not  just to engage customers but also to find ways to improve their product and services, as well as at the same time building their brands. Hence, “crowdbranding”.

With today’s Top 10 case-pack we would like to highlight some of the best examples of airline crowdsourcing. At the same time, we also invite our readers to have a look beyond the surface and into the deeper strategic goals that drive each of these strategies. In some cases it will be clear that the end game was indeed solving a problem or finding an innovative way of addressing existing issues, but in others it will also be clear that the stated goal of the crowdsourcing campaign wasn’t the only goal.

Most of the airline examples included in this Top 10 used crowdsourcing to solve problems related to visible parts of their product such as in-flight meals or routes, and did so in very “socially active” ways, using their social media pages and often creating dedicated websites where participants could interact.

Looking deeper into the reasons that drove these airlines to choose crowdsourcing, we found that the most common goals were:

1. Solving a particular problem
2. Reducing costs
3. Associating their brands with a specific concept (for example: quality or low prices)
4. Obtaining first hand-data from their community of users
5. Promoting a new feature/product/route

With this teaser, we’ll leave you to discover how some of the best airlines in the world harnessed the power of the web in the most tantalizing and innovative ways possible.

• Loyalty 2.0 | The Top 10 Social Loyalty Initiatives by Airlines
• Top 50 case-studies of airlines and airports excelling in social media
• The Top 10 Viral Videos by Airlines (plus bonus videos)
• The Top 10 Twitter Initiatives by Airlines
• Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines: Reinventing the booking cycle to drive revenue (from #eftamerica)

The future is mobile

Given the rapidly changing interactional/behavioural habits of the traveler, it has become important for airlines to target them where they can be found. Close your eyes and think for a moment about what the word mobile phone means to you: I’m quite certain that most of the readers here will at once think of an iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry or a similar device. It seems that the growth of social media – Facebook and Twitter primarily – as a valuable engagement tool to drive business goals has only helped create a more complex landscape. The growth of iOS and Android (especially iOS which is not just available on phones but on iPods and iPads as well), coupled with the ability to create custom apps to target customers and offer them value-added services right on their cellphones has changed the way airlines are thinking about customer engagement and driving revenue, customer service etc. In the past we’ve illustrated how mobile has been an important part of various airline initiatives in the social era: travel distribution, social loyalty and location-based-service initiatives. However, this case-pack deals purely with how airlines have specifically created mobile apps (in particular, on the iPhone and iPad) to engage customers while driving revenue and customer service as well.

Before we move on to the case-pack, here is a checklist of ways in which airlines have tried to differentiate their apps while offering value to their customers:

1. Booking: Some airlines, such as Turkish Airlines, have made it ridiculously easy to book tickets from within the apps in a crazily small amount of time. Customers love it of course: the easier and quicker you make the booking process, the more likelihood that the sale will be completed.
2. Convenience: British Airways allows boarding by flashing the QR code powered boarding passes that can be shown directly from an iPhone. Way to go paperless!
3. Travel inspiration: Lufthansa and KLM have created apps that are excellent at making the users of their apps drool at the prospect of travelling to delicious destinations on these airlines.
4. Complimentary travel services: A number of airline apps now allow customers to rent a car, know the weather and do more at their destination that is not strictly airline-related.
5. Augmented reality: A new player but one with huge scope for engaging the customers who’re usually more than happy (and mostly fascinated) to use the service for things such as navigating an airport or finding places to redeem loyalty points (Qantas).

That’s it, for now! Enjoy the case-studies!

Do let us know what you think of this Top 10 case-pack. Comments, suggestions, brickbats are all welcome in the comments section below. Alternately, you can tweet us @simpliflying.

• Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines: Reinventing the booking cycle to drive revenue (from #eftamerica)
• The Always Connected Traveler – how mobile will transform the future of travel [Infographic]
• The Top 10 Viral Videos by Airlines (plus bonus videos)
• Q&A: How Brands Can Perform Real-Time Customer Service on Social Media
• [Presentation] How airports can track passengers, throughout the Evolving Traveler Life Cycle

Behind the Scenes

In more than a year of being with SimpliFlying in various capacities, helping get the Awards machine up and running has been by far the grandest enterprise I’ve been involved with. The first and most immediate challenge that faced us was to ensure that we received a fairy representative roster of nominations. In this we succeeded most handsomely, getting almost 70 nominations over 4 categories.

Then came the greater challenge: actually getting votes for the top nominees. In this endeavour, we pursued three diverse methods: first, we constantly promoted #SMAwards on the SimpliFlying Twitter channel that has close to 8,000 followers. By means of numerous retweets and mentions on Twitter, we reached a wide audience. Second, we used our SlideShare channel to promote the top nominees in each category by producing 4 individual case-packs – revenue, engagement, airlines and airports – illustrating the campaigns for which they had been shortlisted in the 4 airline/airport categories. Last, and perhaps most importantly, the SimpliFlying Awards were even featured prominently on the homepages of airlines such as Air New Zealand and Malaysia Airlines. That certainly gave a push to voters across the globe.

Stating all this as matter-of-fact is perhaps understating the actual effort that went into ensuring that everything was running smoothly: getting word out, preparing slide-decks, writing articles, shortlisting judges, emailing numerous stakeholders, following up and following up again. Even choosing attractive trophies was a detail we paid attention to. Sleepless nights, numerous conversations, innumerable revisions, incessant planning… The list continues!

Some stats to blow your mind:

69 nominations

30,000+ votes from 4500+ cities

10 articles on SimpliFlying.com receiving 4000+ likes on Facebook

5 case-packs on SlideShare receiving 16000+ views.

The Real Show

On a cold, rainy morning in Amsterdam on October 10, after rushing to ensure that everything was finally in place, we held first the awards presentations and then the ceremony later in the evening. Top airlines, airports and hotels had flown their representatives in to present strictly 10-minute pitches in a bid to impress the judges and take home the trophies. Our live-blog and tweetstream covered the event as the audience was blown away by the innovativeness of various campaigns.

In the evening, a glittering presentation ceremony ensured that the SimpliFlying Awards received a fitting end to what was a long-drawn effort that lasted over the course of 3 months. Having previously wrapped up the harder part of preparing for the Awards, I had a good time simply taking photographs and basking in reflected glory!

Looking Ahead

As a complex whirlwind of emotions – pride, satisfaction and of course, quite a bit of exhaustion – unravels over the next few days and weeks, you can be sure that our minds are already at work to plan our next grand venture. A huge thank you to all those who participated so enthusiastically in the nomination and voting process; kudos to all airlines, airports and hotels for promoting the bejesus out of their nominations and flying down their presenters to Amsterdam; the warmest round of applause to the winners; last but not least, thanks to our partners EyeForTravel, Hotel Marketing Strategies blog and our three judges who made great decisions in what was undoubtedly a very  close contest.

For all that has been – Thanks!

For all that will be – Yes!

See you next year!

• 2nd Annual SimpliFlying Awards in Social Media Excellence – Nominations now open for airlines, airports and hotels
• The Best Airlines Driving Revenue Through Social Media – Introducing the Top 5 nominees for the 2nd SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence
• Best airlines, airports and hotels in social media – SimpliFlying Awards Live from Amsterdam
• 2nd Annual SimpliFlying Awards in Social Media Excellence – Vote NOW for best airlines, airports, hotels
• Best Airports in Social Media: Top 5 Airports nominated for the SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence 2011

Navigating an increasingly connected world

The internet has ensured that the times we live in are constantly changing. Everything about the world, even the beacons we hold sacred on the internet are restless, dynamic, shape-shifting. At the heart of all this change lies the virtual socialization of human society: more than ever before we are interacting with each other and with businesses online. And the most important part of this change is the growth in two-way conversations instead of one-way advertisements; the instant and spontaneous back and forth between a company and its customers rather than force-feeding pre-determined messages; most of all, the ability of social networks to amplify a distressed customer’s voice has shaken up the historically cold company-customer relationship.

What has changed

Let’s get a few things straight before we move on to the presentation.

1. By now, there really should not be any argument about why loyalty is important. It is quite well-known that a loyal customer is worth more to a company (in this case, airlines) in the long-run than a new customer. For airlines, the future of airline loyalty is now a pressing question given the growth of social technologies.
2. Traditionally, loyalty programs have never been good at addressing the issue of how to drive loyalty. Sure, if you’re a frequent-flyer, you might want to fly your preferred airline and get lounge access etc. However, what if you’re not a frequent flyer but do fly occasionally all the same? Or what if you’ve flown only a couple of flights with a particular airline? Do traditional loyalty programs provide incentives to drive repeat business for most customers?
3. Increasingly, airlines are finding various ways on social media to drive loyalty. And, here’s the catch: they’re finding ways to make air travel more attractive and rewarding for even those who aren’t frequent flyers. As such, many airlines are now rushing to find ways of driving social loyalty. Some of these have been covered in our slide-deck on the Top 10 Social Loyalty Initiatives by Airlines.
4. Social loyalty becomes especially important once airlines realize that some of their most ardent flyers are also its most vocal brand advocates. Hence, it becomes easier for airlines to target the most high-value customers in terms of not only miles flown but also in terms of their social influence online: in other words, Cult Relationship Management. What does this say of future loyalty programs? Yep, it says Opportunity in all-caps.
5. Lastly, given the ways in which airlines can emotionally connect with customers and engage them on social media, we can safely say that the next generation of loyalty programs won’t be restricted to just coupons, reward points and cabin upgrades. In fact, given the instant fame social media can often provide, recognition might be a key feature of loyalty programs in the future (as they already are in some cases at present). So, is social loyalty the future of frequent flyer programs? It certainly seems so!

Given the growing importance of social loyalty programs, a survey of frequent flyers was done determining their social network usage behaviour, booking preferences as well as what makes them loyal to a particular airline and what they’d like to see in social loyalty programs.

We’re sharing detailed insights from it below and including those that made it to the infographic as well. Enjoy!

Do let us know what you thought of this presentation. We’re listening! Leave a comment below or tweet us @simpliflying.

• [Infographic] The future of loyalty programs will be powered by social media
• Redefining CRM – Cult Relationship Management is in, and how loyalty marketing can benefit – keynote presentation
• Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on social media and frequent flyers – Part 2 of 2
• [Infographic] How travel brands are using social media to achieve ROI
• Driving loyalty for low cost airlines – presentation from Low Cost Airlines World Asia Pacific

For airlines, the future of frequent flyer programs programs is now a pressing question, given the growth of social technologies. As such, many airlines are now rushing to find ways of driving social loyalty. Some of these have been covered in our slide-deck on the Top 10 Social Loyalty Initiatives by Airlines.

To dig deeper, we partnered with Cranfield University in the UK to conduct a study on how frequent travelers (who travel at least five times a year) use social media. And here are some highlights of what we found:

1. There are more airlines on Twitter than there are airlines with frequent flyer programs (191 vs 179)
2. Almost 90% of frequent flyers use Facebook regularly, and over 65% “Like” at least one airline on Facebook
3. To frequent fliers cheapest fare is the least significant loyalty factor among customer service, earning loyalty points and onboard experience
4. 72% of frequent fliers would join a social loyalty program
5. Over 65% of frequent fliers would like to earn social loyalty points via check-ins or by contributing ideas to an airline’s Facebook page.
6. Over 80% of frequent fliers would like to earn social loyalty points by recommending the airline to a friend or providing positive feedback.

In the infographic below, we have summarized the findings of the study, and will soon release a detailed presentation of these findings too. Special thanks to Gavin Tan and Prof. Keith Mason from Cranfield University for their tremendous help with this study.

UPDATE: You can find a detailed presentation with some more exclusive insights gleaned from the survey here.

(Click here for a high-resolution image for printing and pinning on your desk)

Do let us know what you thought of this infographic. Does it resonate with you? Is it contrary to expectations? Would you like some other stats covered? If so, which ones? Would you like to suggest ideas for future infographics?

Do speak up We’re listening! Leave a comment below or tweet us @simpliflying.

• [Presentation] Why the future of loyalty programs will be social-media based
• Three keys to making loyalty programs work for the airline brand of the future
• Virgin Atlantic’s Vtravelled gets into social gaming – Interview with Lysette Gauna
• The future of airline loyalty – here is what it looks like
• Is social loyalty the next phase of development for frequent flyer programs?

The innovations begin

When airlines initially began their adventure on the socialscape, it was all about about feeling their way about on the social platforms of their choice. The primary focus at the outset was first, discovering how to drive traffic and building a fan-base, followed by the more important aim of utilizing the platform for customer engagement and provide them a real-time medium of information-dissemination and customer service. Slowly, however, they realized that social platforms could also aid them in driving revenue. Flash sales, deals and contests became popular to attract more customers. However, the real innovations were still some time away.

A changing landscape

That time, it seems, has finally come. Airlines, more than ever before have realised that the social web can be utilized to change and influence the booking behaviour of patrons by incorporating their preferences, habits and social circles into the booking cycle. Slowly, we’re beginning to see the true emergence of the New Traveler Life Cycle which can be split into 5 parts: dreaming, validating, booking, travelling and sharing. Airlines have begun to recognize that the booking portion of the cycle alone might not be sufficient to draw customers to themselves. Hence, they’ve begun to incorporate the other portions, in various combinations, to their travel cycle. Our latest case-pack illustrates how airlines are effectively doing this.

Some key points about Travel Distribution emerging from this case-pack are:

1. Online Travel Agents (OTAs) are slowly losing ground as airlines increasingly attract customers to book through their own portals. eg. Delta’s Facebook booking engine is a neat “push strategy” to get customers to book without moving away from their favourite social network.
2. Immersive apps that aid in the dreaming, planning and booking process will not only be addictive travel planning tools but also great brand-builders by wowing patrons. eg. Virgin America’s chrome app.
3. Mobile (and tablet) apps are set to go huge. Whether it is managing bookings or redeeming frequent flyer miles or even checking in without a paper boarding pass, mobile apps will rule the next wave of social airline strategies. eg. British Airways’ cool iPhone app and Lufthansa’s iPad app.
4. Incorporating customers’ social graphs into the booking cycle could pay rich dividends by unleashing a “social multiplier effect”. Knowing which friends are in cities you could fly to (Alaska Air) and choosing seats alongside friends (Malaysia Airlines) are just some of the ways in which booking behaviour of customers can be influenced.
5. Flyers will always be deal hunters looking for the best (in other words, cheapest) fares. LAN Airlines’ Fall Sale, JetBlue Cheeps and Melbourne Airport’s cheap Twitter fares are prime examples. Also, even though the jury is still out on this one, Groupon type sales will continue to be effective in the short-term at least (ie, until they can be sustained).

Without further ado, here’s our case-pack on the Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines. Enjoy!

You can find more of our Top 10 case-packs here.

• Mobile 2.0 – The Top 10 Mobile Apps by Airlines
• Socializing the airline booking process – Germanwings follows Alaska Airlines’ lead
• The Best Airlines in Social Media: the Top 7 nominees for the SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence 2011
• [Presentation] How airports can track passengers, throughout the Evolving Traveler Life Cycle
• Top 50 case-studies of airlines and airports excelling in social media