I saw this advertisement on four different websites today. So, Mexicana and OneWorld are doing a great job with banner advertising. But I’m not really sure whether it gets any points across the viewer. Why do I say that? Because an airline brand is no longer what you [the airline] say it is, it’s what they [the customers] say it is.

First impressions matter
When I first saw this advertisement, these questions would come to the travelers’ minds:

Why is Oneworld the “most important” alliance in the world?
And whose claim is that? The alliance itself? Or an independent third party?
Who is Mexicana? A new airline from Mexico? Or an old one?
Are they any good?
Do they fly anywhere other than Mexico?
Oh..and which of those logos is Mexicana? The first or the last… they both look similar!

None of those questions were answered. And from a marketing standpoint, what’s the “call to action”? Being the curious type, I clicked on the advertisement anyway, and I came to a “Promotions” landing page, which didn’t quite make sense.
Repetition doesn’t work anymore
The page I was led to repeated …

Think of what an ideal airline would be like, one you’d love to fly. It will have the best on-time performance in the world. It will serve Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. It will have rock-concerts and fashion shows in the air. It will have the happiest employees in the world, who go out of their way to help you travel well. Stop thinking. Welcome to Volaris Airlines, from Mexico.

I believe this is bound to go down as one of the most inspirational interviews on SimpliFlying, with the Chief Operating Officer of Volaris, the fastest growing Mexican airline. Late last month at the low-cost carrier conference in Miami, I caught up with Andres Fabre, who is also the first employee of the airline, to learn how he and his team has built from scratch an airline with astonishingly happy employees, satisfied customers and performance that even other airlines are talking about.

Watch the interview with Andres (7.43 mins) to hear him explain:

How the culture inside the company makes all the difference in performance (1.09)
How operational excellence can be achieved when by “enjoying life” (1.45)
Why the money-back guaruntee is an investment …