Image via Wikipedia

Over the past few months, I’ve had a chance to interact with some of the brighest minds of the airline industry as well as key brand leaders. Though these were all individual interviews, there was a common question in all of them – “What’re your thoughts about airlines and branding in 2009″.

I’ve now compiled them in the video below and you can hear the expert views of Lisa Markovic – VP of Sales & Marketing at Jet Airways, Joe Crump – VP of Strategic Planning at Razorfish, Rodney Abbot and Randall Stone – Senior Partners at Lippincott.

Their predictions?
Fewer airlines at the end of 2009
Lisa  of Jet Airways feels that this is probably the most difficult of recessions for the airline industry. She believes that the year ahead will see a number of consolidations in the industry, and generally the larger airlines will emerge as dominant players globally.
Focus on customer service and the brand
Rodney from Lippincott believes that the fewer airlines that survive will have to focus on the brand …

…..

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption]

Jet Airways is relying heavily on ethnic marketing in the US to get in touch with its key target market of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), and tapping on distribution networks like grocery stores to allow access to tickets! In this part 2 of the exclusive interview with Lisa Markovic, the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Jet Airways in the US, shares with us ways in which Jet Airways is trying to trump the current economic crisis.
Flying through the current economy
Jet Airways has been targeting niche events such as Diwali celebrations and India Day Parade in the US to get targeted exposure with the people who regularly fly to India. Moreover, Lisa realizes that these customers “shop around a lot and do their homework before they make a purchase”, and hence Jet Airways offers a product that offers “great value”.
Alliances and more…
One of the mitigation strategies for the current crisis …