Airlines are in a unique and somewhat enviable sector when it comes to social media. They all fly to exotic destinations, are able to sponsor the biggest events, use amazing machinery, have huge amounts of glamour and produce reams of interesting facts. The sector is literally bursting with potential for engaging Facebook posts.

According to Unmetric’s data (based on secret sauce technology and kept as confidential as Coca Cola’s recipe), the average engagement score for the airlines sector is 33. Interestingly, European airlines tend to be well ahead of their American competitors when it comes to engaging their customers. However, if there is one unifying factor for all the airlines, it is that above everything else, photo posts are the driving force behind getting fans to “SimpliEngage” with a brand.

We have selected 10 worldwide airlines for this short article, but our research shows that the results are the same across the sector: if you want engagement, post photos. Below you will find a screenshot of the average engagement scores for the 10 airlines based on posts in the last 30 days.

If we take a quick peek at Virgin America’s Facebook page you’ll notice a dearth of specific photo posts. Infact, even though Virgin America are the most prolific airline when it comes to posting with 79 admin posts in the last 30 days, only 9 were photos. Most tellingly, the photos they have posted result in engagement way above average.

Air New Zealand and Air France take a less is more approach to posting on Facebook with just 9 and 10 posts respectively in the last 30 days. However, in a clear case of quality over quantity they had amongst the highest engagement scores for the whole airline in the last 30 days. Air France has a very clear content strategy: 70% of their posts were photos and post equally between current events and brand related content.

The chart below illustrates just how stark the difference is between the average engagement score and the engagement score when the airline posts a photo. Airlines are seeing 500% or more increases in engagement scores when they post interesting photos.

Clearly, Virgin America and others should consider posting more photos if they want to drive up their engagement scores. Lufthansa is already posting plenty of photos but not all of them are striking a chord – something for their social media team to look at perhaps!

Find out more about how Unmetric can help your airline benchmark its social media prowess here. Or drop us a line directly at unmetric@simpliflying.com. Among Unmetric’s list of illustrious clients are are Citibank, Nestle and AirTel. Look out for even more exciting stuff from our collaboration with Unmetric in the days to come.

• An analysis of how KLM is winning the social media battle among European Airlines
• The most successful engagement strategy on Facebook is _____.
• A Tweet by Tweet Analysis of US Airlines
• [Infographic] How airlines around the world are using Instagram and what should you be doing
• Eight steps to driving results for travel brands from the new Facebook timeline

Inside the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabin

The launch of the 787 Dreamliner has been one of the most exciting aviation landmarks of the past few years and our readers will remember that our CEO Shashank Nigam and Senior Innovation Officer Shubhodeep Pal were recently able to fly on one of these aircraft at the Singapore Air Show. Long before that however, back in 2009, Shashank was able to obtain an exclusive interview with Boeing’s Colleen Rainbolt and tour the inside of a 787.

The video below was published back in 2009 and has been viewed over 670,000 times.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bombardier CSeries Cabin Tour

Staying with the “cabin” theme, the second video we’ve selected for you is an exclusive visit to another innovative aircraft, the keenly anticipated Bombardier C-series.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Air New Zealand’s CEO talks about Rico

Remember Rico? The Air New Zealand mascot to whom we waved goodbye a few months ago ? Right after it was launched, we were able to briefly interview ANZ’s CEO Rob Fyfe and ask him about this very controversial but equally memorable mascot.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Videographic on How Airlines Dedicate Resources to Social Media

And finally, one of my personal favorites, the first ever SimpliFlying Videographic. This video was part of a SimpliSpecial series published last summer and is a unique and entraining way to learn about airlines and the resources that they allocate to social media. You can also check out our infographic and presentation on the same.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We hope you enjoyed this selection of some of the best videos from SimpliFlyingTV which, in total, features almost 100 videos!

If you dig Pinterest, you can also follow a great Pinboard of our videos here. (Curious about how airlines and airports can profit from Pinterest? Read this!)

• Exclusive Video: Bombardier CSeries cabin tour – a glimpse into the future of flying
• What makes the Boeing 787 Dreamliner a brand differentiator? Video tour
• [Video Tour] Bombardier CSeries cabin and cockpit setting new standards at Dubai Air Show #avgeek #dxb11
• A Walk in the Clouds: The 787 Dreamliner Experience
• Latest photos: Inside the Boeing 787 Dreamliner cabin!

A short brand-recognition exercise

Let’s do a little exercise: name 3 brands of Cola.

Now let me guess: The first one that you thought of was: Coca Cola? And maybe the color red? The second one was: Pepsi, perhaps? And the third one?  Maybe you struggled a bit with this one, but probably it was the top selling “white label” brand from your local supermarket

Let’s do one more:

Think of good times (or more specifically, the recent holiday season) and name a brand of soft drinks.

I guess that you probably thought of something similar to the image below:

One last test:

Can you think of the holiday season and an airline/airport in the same breath?

Having troubles? Well it’s understandable since no airline brand has managed to “own” this idea yet, at least not in the minds of the general public. However some have managed to execute some “wow” campaigns aimed at associating their brands with positive emotions such as the ones associated with the holidays and Christmas seasons. As a result, they have ended up delighting customers, driving brand engagement and building loyalty.

In the spirit of the holiday season just gone by, with this Top 10, we have shown how some airlines and airports have spread smiles and goodwill amongst their customers.

• Top 10 Route Launches: How Airlines and Airports engage customers in new destinations through social media
• Toronto Pearson Airport sings you a Christmas carol if someone tweets you’re flying out – and they sang one for me
• Five airlines (and an airport) that surprised passengers this Christmas with Wow campaigns
• Oman Air’s re-branding effort – worth it?
• Vueling Business Class drives awareness creatively: The cloud that fell from the sky

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!

With about a day still to go for voting (and trust us, a lot of votes come in on the last day), the total number of votes has already crossed 30,000. Moreover, votes have come in from 4500+ cities across the world. How incredibly awesome is that?

1. Freshness and innovativeness are the keywords you need to keep in mind if you wish to drive a really successful social media campaign.
2. If you’re able to engage the interest of the customer, it’s possible to overcome certain price-point barriers. e.g. KLM’s new Economy Comfort option was a hit due to the viral video of a levitating magician.
3. People are looking for instant engagement online – if you’re looking to provide customer service online, don’t do it half-heartedly. Throw everything you’ve got into it and your customers will appreciate you for it. eg. AirAsia’s AskAirAsia.
4. To a certain extent, building emotional bonds with customers will drive long-term loyalty and revenue. eg. KLM Surprises and JetBlue’s glass half-full video.
5. Being “controversial” or disruptive is also a great way of driving buzz, receiving eyeballs and getting new customers as long as it is done right. eg. Air New Zealand have been brilliant in their “provocative” social media endeavours such as “Nothing to hide” etc.
6. Leverage the latest technology as and when it becomes available to engage more customers and to appear to be at the cutting-edge of innovativeness. eg. the Chrome web app by Virgin America, Groupon route-launches etc.

With that said, here’s the case-pack. We hope you enjoy going through it!

• The Best Airlines Driving Revenue Through Social Media – Introducing the Top 5 nominees for the 2nd SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence
• Best Airports in Social Media: Top 5 Airports nominated for the SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence 2011
• The Best Airlines Driving Customer Service & Crisis Management Through Social Media: Top 5 SimpliFlying Awards nominees
• SimpliFlying-Airline Business Awards for Social Media Excellence for Airlines – Vote now!
• 2nd Annual SimpliFlying Awards in Social Media Excellence – Vote NOW for best airlines, airports, hotels

1. 99.8% of all tweets are about service item issues – like flight delays, baggage inquiries and other customer service issues that’d typically go to the call center
2. While the number of airlines on Twitter has increased 10% to 184, 27 of all airlines make up 80% of the tweets (this number stood at 30 last month)
3. While Delta still remains the airline receiving and sending most tweets, it only replied to 11% of the tweets it received, as compared to 18.2% last month
4. While there’s a 250% increase in tweets about Timeliness, it is also the worst rated item in terms of satisfaction, with a score of -81.6
5. Air New Zealand has the highest global satisfaction score of 107.6 this month, unseating Cathay Pacific, which scored 107.7 last month

More interesting data and facts in the infographic below. Enjoy!

• Airlines on Twitter in May 2011: AirAsia and TAM Brazil hot on the heels of Delta Airlines
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”
• Eezeer and SimpliFlying launch airline monthly twitter report – Delta leads Twitter use, and customer service is in!
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs

However, it seems that aircraft furniture of the future is changing to address the need for more comfort, better support and more groovy hi tech gadgets and gizmos for those who love their in-flight entertainment. In fact, in a recent survey done by Devesh Agarwal, more people thought seat comfort was more important in making a ticket purchase decision, than punctuality or frequent flier benefits for long haul travel.

Airlines are changing the way we travel. International flight comparison site Skyscanner.net are here to prove it by looking at five of the most exciting new seat designs of the future, in this guest post.

Skycouch – Air New Zealand

Nicknamed ‘Cuddle Class’; Air New Zealand’s cosy new Economy Skycouches are set to take off from an airport in London. To be ‘sky tested’ in the B777-300 aircraft, the Skycouch features three seats that have been designed to create a flexible seating option. The seats lie completely flat, creating a space where kids can play and adults can relax or sleep. While over in Premium Economy, the Spaceseat has been developed to give passengers more privacy and flexibility. Seats angle out to seclude their occupier but can also be combined to enable couples to cosy up closer or even dine at the same table. Window seats angle towards the window not only offering complete privacy but a better view.

Air New Zealand has some nice extra little details too like pillows that slip over the headrest then don’t budge and neat little beanbags for under your feet. You may not want to get off the plane!

Gaming Seats - Germany

Currently a prototype, the ‘Not for Wimps’ (NFW) Gaming Seat was only a reality at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg in early April.

With a design idea that possibly came from the ‘carrot dangling from a stick in front of a moving donkey’ scenario, an extendable plastic arm reaches over a rather cosy bucket seat dangling in front of the passenger a state-of-the-art monitor and gaming and docking station. Technophiles will be in their element in this comfy seat with endless gaming options, oblivious to the many hours of a long haul flight as they whiz by. The lightweight design could even save the airlines money on fuel.

They’re not available for order just yet but watch this space…

Entertainment Stations - Emirates A380

On the Emirates A380 aircraft, the future has definitely arrived. Extra space, private suites, showers in first class, and a thousand channels of entertainment are just the tip of the iceberg. (remember, we brought you the Live coverage from the inaugural A380 flight to JFK?)

Business Class passengers can now enjoy fully reclining massage beds complete with their own mini bar, privacy screen and widescreen TV. Economy Class passengers will also benefit from more space with seats that recline further, hopefully increasing the chances of getting some shut-eye on a long haul flight.

Emirates has so far placed the largest order of 58 new Airbus A380 superjumbo planes, that will incorporate these state of the art luxuries, giving lucky passengers on flights to Bangkok, flights to Dubai and flights to Auckland and Sydney a chance to try them out!

Lumbar Support – Virgin Atlantic

The new Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy seats are currently the biggest in their class and offer passengers advanced ergonomic design that delivers additional lumbar support, an adjustable headrest and a dual position footrest.

The seats will mean passengers can stretch out even further while enjoying all the lovely little luxuries that Virgin provide from bowls of fruit and chinaware to newspapers and an after dinner brandy!

Ryanair Standing ‘Seats’

The lure of cheap flights is strong but maybe not quite strong enough to get on board the latest brainwave from Ryanair’s Chief Executive Michael O’Leary. The proposal is for an area at the back of the aircraft to be reserved for ‘standing seats’ that would mean passengers could pay as little as £4 for a flight. That said, travellers should remember to bring their loose change as plans to create coin-operated toilets could also be coming into effect.

The Civil Aviation Authority have raised their doubts over the vertical seats meeting necessary health and safety requirements so, with any luck, Ryanair will stick with tradition and opt for seating of the more comfortable horizontal variety.

About Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a travel search site providing online comparisons on flight prices for over 670,000 routes and on over 600 airlines, including flights to India as well car hire, deals and holidays. You can follow Skyscanner on Twitter and Facebook

(All images courtesy of the individual airlines)

• Which airline has the best First Class product?
• Is Premium Economy here to stay? A brand review of All Nippon Airlines
• SPECIAL FEATURE: An exclusive look at Cathay Pacific’s new Business Class seats
• Lufthansa Airbus A380 from Frankfurt to JFK inaugural flight: The Best aircraft, Best Airline, to the Best City?
• How will Emirates ensure high levels of service across its A380 fleet? VP Nigel Page explains

But it seems that the smart folks at Air New Zealand are bent on proving me wrong!

Fun safety videos as a marketing strategy?

1.2 million views in 40 hours. That’s what Air New Zealand’s latest safety video “Fit To Fly” has achieved.  It is high energy, 80s retro, Lycra clad fun hosted by that era’s exercise guru Richard Simmons, who is having a renaissance, and featured on Ellen recently. The video also features a few high profile cameos, including one from Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan. But the key point to note is that this is not the first of Air New Zealand’s safety videos that’s gone crazy-viral!

The Bare Essentials safety video, with crew (and CEO) in just body paint, has over 6 million views (and once caused this site to crash!). The safety video featuring the New Zealand All Blacks safety videos have over a hundred thousand views put together.

As we shared in the brand lessons from Air New Zealand previously, the airline loves to do the unconventional. And this time, they’ve taken the mundane safety demonstration and made it something people would want to watch over and over again (hopefully making the flying safer too!)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Viral videos – again and again and again!

The latest safety video has come on the back of a recorded a music video of Rico, the airline’s mascot, with superstar Snoop Dogg. That video is approaching a hundred thousand views too!  There is a bit of cross pollination going on, too, with Snoop wearing an All Black jersey for part of it and Adidas gear. Rico is already lined up to be interviewed by MTV about it.

For those who may be unaware, Rico is Air New Zealand’s furry mascot who is known for his infamous (if controversial) and exceptionally flirty viral ads promoting the airline’s new Skycouch, was recently flown to Los Angeles to collaborate on a new hit track launching a week before the release of Snoop’s new album, “Doggumentary.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

We’ve seen airlines produce one-off viral hits, like the rapping flight attendant on Southwest, or the Cebu Pacific dancing flight attendants.

But Air New Zealand has left most industry observers dumbfounded with their success on Youtube, and the ability to produce videos that go viral not by luck, but by design!

And that’s a great marketing strategy that’s difficult to replicate. For sure. Kudos to the Air New Zealand marketing team!

What’re your thoughts? do you think more airlines should use such a strategy? Do you know of other examples? Let’s hear it in the comments, and on Twitter.

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

When Mary Kirby first told me about Rico on Twitter, I was totally kicked – watching videos of this edgy, furry, lovable character chilling in one of Air New Zealand’s new seats. This is the same airline that brought us those body-paint safety videos and flatbed seats in Economy. Given that I was scheduled to speak at the Aviation Outlook Summit, where Rob Fyfe was present as well, I couldn’t help but corner him for a quick chat about Rico. You heard him first, on SimpliFlying

So, what do you think about Rico? A brand icon, or hot air? Let’s discuss in comments, and over on Twitter

• Viral videos on Youtube as airline marketing strategy – lessons from Air New Zealand
• How Air New Zealand is using social media to create waves globally, online and offline [Video]
• For giving us funny safety videos and bringing us Rico, Megan Matthews from Air New Zealand is the SimpliFlying Hero for March 2011
• The Air New Zealand brand bares all – CEO and staff go nude in latest TV advertisement
• Cebu Pacific creates a safety demonstration to rival the rapping flight attendant at Southwest!

Arun is a creative supervisor with Wunderman in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. He is an award-winning copywriter, a co-author of the marketing book ‘The Age of Conversation’ and blogs at www.arunrajagopal.com. His interests include airlines, travel, marketing and social media.

And here’s how Arun explains Air New Zealand is re-defining the flying experience (first published on his blog)

Pic credit: Flickr – source

1. Be bold in your marketing
Air New Zealand is not shy of stirring a little turbulence in your teacup. Bold, edgy and provocative – that’s how I would describe their recent marketing.

Their ‘Nothing to Hide’ campaign was an excellent take on low cost airlines adding hidden fares. Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe even made a cameo appearance in full body-paint as a baggage handler in this campaign. It was extended to airline safety where crewmembers went bare naked in in-flight safety videos.

However, Air New Zealand recently flew into a bit bad weather with their controversial ‘Cougar’ campaign. But there’s really no thing such as bad PR.

In October 2009, Air New Zealand flew probably the first matchmaking flight in the world from Auckland to Los Angeles, complete with its own social media networking site, pre-flight airport party, loads of in-flight merrymaking and a ticket to a gala post-flight mixer attended by 150 single Kiwis.

All these activities fit Air New Zealand’s vision of “putting the fun back in flying”.

Lesson: Let your marketing be bold, unconventional and spoken about.

2. Your product matters MOST

No marketing or promotion can save you if you don’t have a good product or improve your existing product offering.

Today, Air New Zealand is in the news for their newly launched ‘SkyCouch’ flatbed seat in Economy Class.

While it’s too early to predict its success, Air New Zealand can be hailed for bringing innovation to the back of the cabin.

Like an enthusiast commented: “The SkyCouch is up there with EK’s A380 showers and SIA’s double beds. Gotta love the Kiwis!”

Lesson: Never stop working on improving your product/service.

3. Be different to be better

If you are doing something different from the pack, recognition follows you.

The airline industry usually witnesses a “McDonald’s” approach of doing things. If someone is launching a Low-Cost Carrier (LCC), everyone else does the same thing. If you start charging for check-in baggage, everyone else follows suit.

Air New Zealand’s SkyCouch is a daring innovation in terms of product, price and positioning. But this is just one of the many innovations they have been up to in the recent times.

No wonder, the Air Transport World magazine  recently named Air New Zealand Airline of the Year.

Lesson: What are you doing differently to be better?

4. Leadership begins from the top

Positive change begins from the top and flows down the ladder. Under the leadership of Rob Fyfe, Air New Zealand seems to have galvanized itself and embraced ‘an authentic Kiwi can-do style’ of getting things done.

“We operate this airline in a New Zealand way – we’re not trying to emulate a Singapore Airlines or emulate a McDonald’s. We’re trying to go out there day in and day out and trying to be authentic Kiwis and give people a real genuine New Zealand experience,” says Fyfe.

Lesson: Are you the Fyfe of your organization?

5. Innovation Quotient

Air New Zealand recently made the world’s first flight using a sustainable biofuel. It also attempted sending a rocket into space. These are innovations at work.

One of the greatest assets in any organization is its people, their knowledge and attitudes. Harness them well and you have a strong culture of innovation.

Air New Zealand has an interesting programme called Test Flight where employees pitch ideas to the executive team. If the idea is chosen, the person suggesting the idea can get to work on the project itself and get a share of the profits.

Air New Zealand also looks outside its own industry for ideas. “We don’t just look at other airlines, at airports. We look at shopping centres, we look at universities, we look pretty much anywhere to get ideas that we could potentially use at Air New Zealand,” says Julia Raue, Chief Information Officer at Air New Zealand.

Lesson: What’s your organization’s innovation quotient?

6. People make the difference

As a company, Air New Zealand is known to create a work environment that values and recognizes people for their enthusiasm and ingenuity.

So it doesn’t come as a surprise that the airline gave its 11,000 staff an extra day off to celebrate their part in winning the Airline of the Year award.

Lesson: How well are your people contributing to your growth? Are there ways to energize them better?

• Viral videos on Youtube as airline marketing strategy – lessons from Air New Zealand
• The Air New Zealand brand bares all – CEO and staff go nude in latest TV advertisement
• For giving us funny safety videos and bringing us Rico, Megan Matthews from Air New Zealand is the SimpliFlying Hero for March 2011
• Goodbye Rico: a collection of the best moments of Air New Zealand’s furry mascot
• How Air New Zealand is using social media to create waves globally, online and offline [Video]