Laura Reis of Reis & Reis feels airline social networks are “ridiculous”

Shashank Nigam — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:02:55 +0000

In Part 2 of this exclusive interview, Laura Reis discusses her frank opinions on how airlines should (and shouldn’t) be using technology.

Laura is the president of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm that she runs with her father Al Ries – the branding guru. Together, they have written four books on branding, with a fifth one coming out in February. She is also a frequently quoted marketing expert in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Advertising Age, and other publications. Finally, she shares her thoughts on airline branding at SimpliFlying.

Social networks? Airlines are “kidding themselves”

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“Who’s going to be on an airline’s social network? People will go to Facebook or MySpace if they want to socialize online.” This is what Laura feels about airlines’ foray into the social networking world. She believes that exceptions like Virgin might just pull it off, because of Richard Branson’s PR genius and bravado, but for any other airline, it’s “just ridiculous and doesn’t make any sense at all”.

As you must have realized from my previous articles on the topic, I’m a believer in the use of latest technologies to build the brand further. Yes, it’s important to maintain focus and cater to a specific group of people – but it’ll be a grave mistake to ignore the medium completely.

Why CEO’s shouldn’t blog?

We all know that blogging is time intensive. There have been examples of airline CEOs and key executives pulling off blogging successfully, like David Neelman (former CEO of JetBlue) and Randy Tinseth (VP of Marketing at Boeing). But Laura feels differently.

Laura believes that traditional PR outlets are better for CEOs to concentrate on, as it gives them a better leverage for their time, as opposed to investing that time in blogging. Moreover, PR events anyway get a lot of attention from other bloggers – so that should more than make up for it.

Again, I’m personally on a different page. I feel that having a top-level executive blog online creates a personal rapport with the company – not just among the customers, but also among employees. Malaysia Airlines and JetBlue are good examples of this.

In the interview, Laura and I also talk about proving ROI for online efforts, ways of controlling the brand online and airline brand benchmarks. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this interview. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

Laura Reis on airline branding – it’s all about focus and simplicity

Laura Reis on airline branding – it’s all about focus and simplicity

Shashank Nigam — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:43:43 +0000

Canadian playwright Raymond Hull is famously quoted as saying that “he who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.” Laura Reis has aptly applied this concept to airline branding, and concluded that airlines need to “do one thing and do it well” to build lasting brands.

Laura Ries is a world renowned branding guru and is the president of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing strategy firm that she runs with her father Al Ries – the person who coined the term “positioning”. Together they have consulted with many Fortune 500 companies, including leading airlines. Hence, it is an honor to feature her exclusive interview on airline branding at SimpliFlying.

The power of focus

In this Part 1 of 2 interviews, Laura and I discuss the importance of laser-sharp focus for airlines. She shares the example of American Airlines – whose latest campaign is “we know why you fly”. “Who doesn’t know why a person flies!”, Laura exclaims. American Airlines is a textbook example of unfocused and diluted branding, where a company is trying hard to please everyone, and in the end achieving little.

On the contrary, airlines like Southwest and AirAsia know very well the segment they serve and cater their product and brands specifically to this group – budget travelers. At the other end of the spectrum are airlines like Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic, which have a strong focus on high-end travelers. All of these are extremely successful.

The value of simplicity

Something else Laura points out is that very often the “complicated price structure infuriates the passenger”. They might see a $29 airfare, but adding taxes makes the figure balloon up to over $150. In addition to that, they might still end up paying baggage fee and for other peripheries at the airport. Laura believes that unless the passengers understand the cost logically, and are told about it upfront, their trust in a brand decreases over time. Hence, it’s in the airlines’ favor to keep things simple, especially ticket price structures.

I shall not dive into more details, and let you listen to the first part of SimpliFlying’s exclusive interview with Laura Reis. Part 2 will be out on Friday, 12 Dec (where she talks about deriving brand value from mergers and why no one will join social networks by airlines).

What do you think? Is focus a good thing or bad? Will airlines lose out if they focus too much on a niche? Will having simplistic pricing structures result in a loss of profits? What can really enhance the airline brand? Let’s hear it in the comments section.