SimpliFlying

Few airlines are known to have embraced the latest technologies to connect with their customers - specifically blogs. Southwest’s “Nuts about Southwest” is probably the only prominent blog by an airline that comes to mind.

Now, Malaysia Airlines has opened up and started a blog named “Living Malaysian Hospitality“, or Living MH for short - MH being the airline’s IATA code (nice play on words). Given that Malaysia Airlines is a government-linked company, this is a remarkable effort, and may do wonders for the brand. For a start, the airline has shown some guts in showcasing actual customer letters on the website. They also claim to accept and share both positive and negative feedback. Such transparency is sure to build trust among the customer base.

Moreover, there are about thirty bloggers from across the airline’s divisions who’ve been regularly blogging since April 2008. Reading blog posts with personal perspectives from specific people will allow the customers to connect a face to the brand - which again creates a warm feeling and fosters trust, ultimately leading to brand loyalty.

So kudos to Malaysia Airlines for daring to be different. It is such efforts that ultimately help companies leapfrog the competition, especially when the CEO of AirAsia is known to often comment on blogs.

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Airlines are coming up with innovative ways to engage the customer, like SIA’s first flight to London graphic design competition we mentioned in this post. The next step into virtual user interaction would be to tap on the cutting edge of virtual worlds, which is led by Second Life.

A number of leading corporates have found interesting ways to tap on the bustling virtual communities on Second life, including Cisco, Adidas, ABN Amro Bank , MTV and even Toyota. Insead Business School has held MBS classes there. The hit CBS show “CSI: Crime Scene Investigations” plans an episode later this month where a killer is pursued into Second Life. One of the few industries not yet represented on Second Life is the airline industry - and herein lies a great branding opportunity for first movers and fast followers into the realm. Read the rest of this entry »

The first A380 lands in London today. A perfect example of pro-active customer engagement is the latest campaign by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to involve the customer prior to its first A380 flight to London.

Some SIA customers have received an email recently inviting them to come up with creative portraits that show the A380 near a famous London landmark. Every week, the top voted submission gets featured on the frontpage of SIA’s A380 Gallery. To top it all off, customers are also being encouraged to share their A380 experiences on the same website.

Read the rest of this entry »