In marketing, we often talk about the value of brand associations, of being at the top of the mind of consumers and having the brand instantly connect with a feeling, memory etc. However, putting all this into practice is probably one of the hardest things in the industry. According to researchers, there can only be 3 brands in of a consumer per category… don’t believe me?

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

Our friends at Eezeer have analysed the Twitter habits of airlines as well as their fans/customers for the month of November and have produced the Monthly Twitter Report in continuation with their monthly coverage and analysis of the dynamic social media landscape for airlines.

At the close of the year, it’s worth pausing to consider how quickly the social landscape has evolved over the past year or so. Airlines have not only embraced Twitter but have also realised that there’s great value in using it to drive specific goals such as revenue, engagement and loyalty. Many innovative initiatives on Twitter have been captured in our Top 10 case-packs as well. It’s worth noting that as of November 2011 there were 198 airlines on Twitter with 90 actively tweeting. This, more than anything else, is a sign of changing times and even greater change to come.

A number of facts are immediately clear from this report:

1. Even though most airlines have jumped on to the Twitter bandwagon, the majority of the tweets are produced by a minority of airlines. 30 airlines provide more than 83% of tweets sent out by airlines.
2. Delta Air Lines is still the runaway champion, having been consistently been a Listening and Talking champion (in terms of tweets received and sent). Air Asia and Southwest make a belated, but expected entry to the list. However, American Airlines makes a surprise appearance on the Talking Champions list.
3. Airlines are definitely using Twitter more intensively with each passing day. Over the past 6 months, the number of outgoing tweets increased by around 38%.
4. As the weather begins to turn unpredictable, it’s that time of the year again when people feel hassled while flying. This was quite evident as “baggage handling” was a trending topic as the number of tweets related to it  increased by about 28% in the last month.
5. Over 1.2 million tweets have been exchanged between airlines and their customers on Twitter in the past six months. That’s a heck of a lot!

It’ll certainly be interesting to come back to this report at the end of the next year and see how things have progressed!

For more insights, check out the infographic below and let us know what you thought about it. Is there something ?that resonates with you? Or maybe it doesn’t? Comment or tweet us @simpliflying and let us know. You can view more airline infographics here.

(Click here to download a larger image)

Note: The airlines on Twitter report is produced by eezeerdatalab.

• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for July 2011 reveals that more airlines have Twitter accounts than loyalty programs
• Airlines on Twitter in June 2011: Delta Airlines is the breakaway “listening and talking champion”
• Airlines on Twitter Monthly Report for August 2011: Cebu Pacific joins the big league and scores high!
• Eezeer and SimpliFlying launch airline monthly twitter report – Delta leads Twitter use, and customer service is in!
• [Infographic] Airlines on Twitter – April 2011 data reveals the need to focus on Customer Service

In our latest top 10 case-pack we talked about the importance of social-media-based customer-service and how both bad and good experiences can be amplified and spread at incredible speed on it. We also mentioned that according to recent research, 25% of social media users expect a response within an hour and 6% expect something within 10 minutes!

For today’s post we’re looking at customer-service from a different angle and submitting to you the thesis that airlines having in-flight WiFi could possibly harness the power of social customer-service in radically new ways. For example,  some customers might post something on your Facebook page while in the flight, and expect you to do something before the plane lands.

But what if they ask you to do something you never expected? (Something good, of course!) Read on to see what a delighted customer wrote:

“If someone in the Southwest Airlines corporate HQ can see this – I’m on flight 913 currently en route to Phoenix and I want yall to know that our flight attendant Holly is perhaps one of the most remarkably kind and helpful people my girlfriend and I have ever met. If you can meet us at the gate with something remarkable for this remarkable woman (a promotion, a raise, a chipotle burrito, anything), I will sign a document pledging to only fly Southwest from here on out (unless you do not fly where I need to go). Of course – I request a “Keyman Clause” in this agreement stipulating the contract terminates if Holly ever leaves. People like her are why I fly SWA.”

• Cebu Pacific creates a safety demonstration to rival the rapping flight attendant at Southwest!
• Three lessons in customer service for airline brands, from Ron Kaufman
• Cathay Pacific reveals the faces behind the brand, in an interactive way
• Airline Humor: The charges that never end
• Air New Zealand’s in-flight concierge has all the answers in the air

Yes, you read that correctly. I did not write Web 2.0. Of course, that’s not because it’s not relevant – it’s terribly relevant – but because this newer term encompasses Web 2.0 and then some. So what exactly do I mean by Mobile 2.0 and why is it important? Cutting to the chase, here are some things we all know: first, ordinary feature phones are dying a fast death and smartphone shipments are rising as iOS and Android become increasingly popular with others, such as Windows Phone 7, hot in pursuit. Second, people are increasingly using their phones to do tasks they earlier used their laptops or desktops for: hotel search, ticket bookings, banking, emails, etc. Third, smartphones are creating an all new category of the always connected traveler – a web-savvy, social-networking geek who isn’t afraid to declare to his virtual networks what he’s thinking or doing.

The future is mobile

Given the rapidly changing interactional/behavioural habits of the traveler, it has become important for airlines to target them where they can be found. Close your eyes and think for a moment about what the word mobile phone means to you: I’m quite certain that most of the readers here will at once think of an iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry or a similar device. It seems that the growth of social media – Facebook and Twitter primarily – as a valuable engagement tool to drive business goals has only helped create a more complex landscape. The growth of iOS and Android (especially iOS which is not just available on phones but on iPods and iPads as well), coupled with the ability to create custom apps to target customers and offer them value-added services right on their cellphones has changed the way airlines are thinking about customer engagement and driving revenue, customer service etc. In the past we’ve illustrated how mobile has been an important part of various airline initiatives in the social era: travel distribution, social loyalty and location-based-service initiatives. However, this case-pack deals purely with how airlines have specifically created mobile apps (in particular, on the iPhone and iPad) to engage customers while driving revenue and customer service as well.

Before we move on to the case-pack, here is a checklist of ways in which airlines have tried to differentiate their apps while offering value to their customers:

1. Booking: Some airlines, such as Turkish Airlines, have made it ridiculously easy to book tickets from within the apps in a crazily small amount of time. Customers love it of course: the easier and quicker you make the booking process, the more likelihood that the sale will be completed.
2. Convenience: British Airways allows boarding by flashing the QR code powered boarding passes that can be shown directly from an iPhone. Way to go paperless!
3. Travel inspiration: Lufthansa and KLM have created apps that are excellent at making the users of their apps drool at the prospect of travelling to delicious destinations on these airlines.
4. Complimentary travel services: A number of airline apps now allow customers to rent a car, know the weather and do more at their destination that is not strictly airline-related.
5. Augmented reality: A new player but one with huge scope for engaging the customers who’re usually more than happy (and mostly fascinated) to use the service for things such as navigating an airport or finding places to redeem loyalty points (Qantas).

That’s it, for now! Enjoy the case-studies!

Do let us know what you think of this Top 10 case-pack. Comments, suggestions, brickbats are all welcome in the comments section below. Alternately, you can tweet us @simpliflying.

• Top 10 Travel Distribution Initiatives by Airlines: Reinventing the booking cycle to drive revenue (from #eftamerica)
• The Always Connected Traveler – how mobile will transform the future of travel [Infographic]
• The Top 10 Viral Videos by Airlines (plus bonus videos)
• [Infographic] How mobile is re-shaping travel distribution (gasp!)
• Customer Service 2.0: Top 10 Airlines and Airports performing Customer Service through Social Media

Yes, you read it right – Fred Taylor doesn’t work in the Customer Service Deptartment at Southwest Airlines – he works with the Proactive Customer Service – and that makes a pretty big difference, as you’ll realize in the interview we managed to grab with him recently.

Who is Fred Taylor?

Keeping a finger on the pulse of Southwest Airlines’ daily operations and making sure their Internal and External Customers are on the same page is a way of life for Fred Taylor. As the Senior Manager of Proactive Customer Service Communications, Fred is charged with shepherding a unique approach that has its roots firmly embedded in one of the Company’s Core Values—The Golden Rule. Fred and his Proactive Customer Service (PCS) Team of four are responsible for coordinating timely information, guidance, and support during disruptions of Southwest’s scheduled service.

Working with 14 other departments, the PCS Team explores new ways Southwest can operate more efficiently; provide more-effective communications; and implement better Customer accommodations.

To Fred, being proactive means practicing what you preach. As such, through effective internal and external communication/action, Fred and his Team helps Southwest Airlines prudently manage its information, services, and available resources.

Proactive Customer Service – what’s that?

One of the things that Fred mentions towards the end of his interview is that not only do you need a dedicated team, but also have them deliver the same standard of service each and every time. And I think that’s a very important point.

Let’s hear it directly from Fred (click here if you can’t view the video).

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, what do you think? Can what Fred is doing at Southwest Airlines be replicated in other airlines? Do you know of examples of airlines that handle customer service well? Let’s hear it in comments and over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Southwest Airlines’ success secrets on social media revealed by Paula Berg
• 68 love marks from Southwest Airlines’ Paula Berg that can help British Airways prevent a future strike by Unite
• Five ways airlines can tame Twitter – Jesse Engle of CoTweet shares his expertise
• What makes Volaris from Mexico the world’s happiest airline? Interview with COO, Andres Fabre
• Is Southwest Airlines model the future for full-service airlines?

Spanair delights holiday travelers

Just around when thousands were stranded at London’s Heathrow Airport and missing Christmas gatherings, Spanair had delightful surprise in store for their customers.

On Dec 24, Spanair’s flight from Barcelon to Las Palmas arrived close to midnight. And when the passengers reached the baggage belt upon landing, they were surprised to see that instead of their luggage, out came beautifully wrapped Christmas gifts, each specially packed for each passenger and tagged individually too. Now, wouldn’t you be delighted if this happened to you? Just see the reaction of the passengers in the video below, and you’ll see what I mean.

KLM Suprises digital travelers

By now, you must have heard of the KLM Surprises campaign. Here’s how it worked: KLM started delighting digital customers at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam before they boarded their flight.

After travelers announced their presence  on Foursquare or Twitter, KLM staff contacted online them to learn of their departure gate and time (1st surprise). Then, after doing some online research about the person, they got a very small gift for the passenger (2nd surprise). A NYC city guide with sports bars highlighted, for a soccer fan. A glass of champagne for someone who had his 18th birthday on that day.

And the campaign worked wonders – receiving accolades from experts around the world, getting a ton of press mentions and of course, social sharing love from the travelers themselves . See the video below and you’ll see what I mean

Surprises as airline brand strategy?

Just last week, as I enthusiastically shared the KLM and Spanair adventures with a senior airline executive in Miami, he asked me a question about the applicability of such ideas to overall brand strategy. And I thought that was a very good question, which I should address here.

Think about scalability…

To create a memorable brand experience, airlines need to go above and beyond what’s expected. And a surprise delivers the punch. Remember the rapping flight attendant at Southwest Airlines? Or the dancing flight attendants on Cebu Pacific? Those were all surprises that the passengers didn’t expect – but are they scalable? Can they be repeated again and again? Consistently across the network? Scalability is the key to using “surprises” as a brand strategy for airlines.

Start small and make sense of the data…

These days, airlines have a data overload – they know a lot about their customers, though all data may not be at one place. The key is then to start small and try something fresh. And see whether it works. Measure and monitor the response. If passengers liked it, then try it again.

I’ll give you an example. If I’m sitting in the boarding lounge before my next flight, and I tweet that I feel like an orange juice, imagine my delight if I actually get an orange juice upon boarding? Or if I’ve been inconvenienced on an earlier flight, what if I get a business class meal during the next leg of my flight? Airlines already have this data, and someone just needs to make sense of it.

But then of course, there’s the concern that if they do it too often, people come to expect it, and when it’s not delivered, the effect is reversed.

So, what do you think about airlines surprising passengers? Is it a sustainable strategy, or just a gimmick? I’d love to hear your thoughts, over in the comments or on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Next time you’re at an airport, don’t be surprised if you’re surprised!
• Five airlines (and an airport) that surprised passengers this Christmas with Wow campaigns
• Three ways air ticket re-design can increase brand value
• Toronto Pearson Airport sings you a Christmas carol if someone tweets you’re flying out – and they sang one for me
• How can an airline create a viral video? Learn the power of surprise from TAP Portugal’s Christmas dance at Lisbon airport

Lots of you must be familiar with the rapping flight attendant at Southwest Airlines – who gave a brand new twist to the decades old safety demonstration. Then we had the safety video at Air New Zealand where flight attendants wore nothing but body-paint.

Now, from the Philippines come the Cebu Pacific flight attendants dancing on Lady Gaga’s music during the safety demo. This video has received over 5million views just over the weekend, and certainly gets the passengers in the groove for the flight.

For the unaware, Cebu Pacific has a history of being quirky – like the crew performing magic tricks if the plane sits on the tarmac for too long. So yes, the dance video has gone viral, and I think it’s also well deserved – as it epitomizes the swanky brand. Great job, Cebu Pacific!

Enjoy the video! (click here if you can’t see it below)

• Surprise Dance on Finnair Flight to celebrate India’s Republic Day – it’s better than a flashmob!
• Now, Pegasus Airlines creates an irresistible safety video, featuring cute Turkish kids
• Viral videos on Youtube as airline marketing strategy – lessons from Air New Zealand
• Engaging the captive customer – Airlines and airports sitting on a gold mine of engagement opportunities
• Virgin America takes in-flight experience to a new level

This is a guest article by David Doctor, Director of Airline Distribution at Amadeus. Amadeus is the leading transaction processor and provider of advanced technology solutions for the global travel and tourism industry.

—–

The latest study from Ideaworks, sponsored by Amadeus; shows that airline ancillary revenue is on the increase, up 45% on last year to €11 billion ($13bn), and that in order to be in the top 10 ancillary revenue generators an airline must drive €300 million in ancillary sales. Airlines cannot afford to ignore the rapid development of this trend but strategies to take advantage of ancillary revenue will need to vary according to each airline’s brand positioning, and this involves careful decision-making.

Unbundling translates into cash

As can be seen from the graphic above, LCCs have moved full steam ahead with unbundling, selling exit-rows, extra legroom and priority boarding. However, the story of the last couple of years has been the entry of the U.S. majors – United and American now generate around €1.5 billion each. Even Singapore Airlines has started charging up to $100 for exit-row seating on their long haul flights.

There are compelling reasons for an unbundled market position:

1. Unbundling enables completely new revenue streams as customers select services ‘a la carte’
2. In the world of price-centric internet searching, airlines are under pressure to advertise a low base fare
3. An unbundled approach enables greater customer choice, although airlines need to ensure transparency to avoid confusing and misleading their customers.

To unbundle, or to preserve the brand?

For airlines that have built brands on premium service the decision to impose charges is a big one. Emirates, for example, is resisting the trend and even Southwest airlines has bucked the LCC tendency by not charging for baggage fees. If an airline opts for this approach, it is essential that customers are informed at every point of sale because consumers are beginning to expect baggage fees and additional charges.

What’s certain is that brand consistency is a must. If an airline’s offer is unbundled in one channel but not another, the resulting customer confusion will hurt sales and defeats the object of brand differentiation. This requires careful thought and the integration of ancillary services within the selling process, including the travel agent booking flow in order to drive adoption.

Another potential brand and revenue pitfall is delivery –it is one thing to sell a service, quite another to ensure it is delivered, on time, every time. Imagine if there is a disruption and customers are moved to a smaller plane with less exit-row seats, but the airline has already sold too many! Issues such as this require planning upfront.

Integration with an airline’s CRM and revenue management system also help to track and operate ancillary services according to customer value, whilst ensuring maximum revenue capture.

At Amadeus we are working with airlines of all shapes and sizes to deliver ancillary revenue strategies across multiple channels and in line with industry standards.

Editor’s Note: Horses for courses

While the dilemma for choosing between unbundling to drive ancillary revenues or to preserve the brand is a very real one, the best solutions would be customized to individual airline’s specific needs.

For example, while almost every airline in the US is charging a bag fee domestically, Southwest has made it a competitive advantage by not charging one. Similarly, Delta Airlines charges a bag fee for domestic sectors, but none on cross-Pacific flights. Because no other competitors do. It’s horses for courses.

So, what do you think? How far can airlines push the un-bundling argument before seriously compromising the brand, hence loyalty? Let’s hear it in the comments, or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Ancillary revenue: A boon or a bane for the airline brand?
• Ancillary revenues and airline branding Special in March at SimpliFlying
• Low cost airline brands get creative with ancillary revenues – lounges, shops and cargo!
• King of ancillary revenues, RyanAir offers €1,000 for best idea on making money!
• Ancillary revenues and airline branding webinar slides (with video!)

SimpliFlying has earned its reputation over the years by offering thought provoking insights into the world of airline branding. And nothing has been as instrumental affecting airline brands as social media.

As airlines become more active in this sphere, we attempt to answer a crucial question: Has social media truly benefited any airline? If so, how? To answer this question, we put together a series of case studies. In this set of six case studies, top executives from airlines such as Qantas, Volaris, airBaltic, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, and of course, Southwest, talk about how their social media strategies are pushing their airlines into the next era.

Recently, Facebook announced that its user base now exceeds 500m. Twitter, on the other hand is still lagging in numbers, but the growth rate of users easily outstrips that of Facebook. As our case studies will show, both of these platforms offer their unique advantages in terms of customer engagement and information sharing. However, more importantly, each requires its own unique strategy.

The heady growth of social media has brought its own advantages and ills. While platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis offer unprecedented levels of engagement and information sharing with customers, there are perils as well. For instance, a clear line has to be drawn between what is “too little” and “too much”. This is not always an easy task. Our case studies will show why and much more!

We’re sure you’ll find these case studies inspiring and useful. Please click here to download the PDF containing all of the six case studies.

Special thanks to Shubhodeep Pal, Li Guen and Matt Brennan – all of whom have put in a lot of effort in helping bring these to shape. All feedback welcome at feedback@simpliflying.com

• Top 10 Airports on Social Media – case studies of the airports best at driving engagement
• 52 Airline Marketing Strategies to engage today’s traveler: A walkthrough of our free iPhone app!
• The Best Airlines Driving Customer Service & Crisis Management Through Social Media: Top 5 SimpliFlying Awards nominees
• Airlines, stop putting lipstick on a pig!
• The SimpliFlying Social Media Cheatsheet for Airline Marketers

I have received an enthusiastic response to my article written late last week, about why the social “we”b is about the real-world relationships, just as much as it is about online interaction. In that, I recollected how the best side-effect of Twitter has been the number of highly talented individuals I’ve been able to meet around the world.

I’ve got a bunch of emails, tweets and comments over the last couple of days asking me how this observation applies to airlines. Firstly, let me address why airlines need to have real-world interaction with their online “fans”.

Why is real-world interaction needed to complement social media engagement?

Online interaction is good, because it allows the airline to connect with a lot of people across geographies, and allows those people to connect among themselves too.

Where online engagement falls short is often the creation of a long-lasting emotional bond, which comes only through real-life meetings. Imagine a Facebook fan of an airline, who has never flown them before, but has always taken part in online contests or discussions. Wouldn’t the relationship be cemented only if he flies that airline at least once? Or if he gets to meet in person with some of the people behind the airline? Or be invited to an event organized by the airline? The chances of turning a loyal online fan into a loyal customer increase dramatically when real-world interaction complements online engagement.

So, how can airlines foster real-world interaction?

Here are 10 simple-to-execute ideas, that work

1. Organize a Tweet-up – It’s as simple as sending out a Tweet, or going to http://twitvite.com/ to create an event for your followers. If your airline doesn’t have a Twitter account, then create a Facebook event and invite your fans to hang out together. The value you’re offering is to connect them with one another in the real-world. The benefits of such events can be far beyond expected, as we experienced with the Bombardier Tweetup on-board a Q400 at the Singapore Airshow 2010.
2. Translate ideas sought online into real-world action – Full fledged ideation communities are popular with brands. Starbucks is famous for My Starbucks idea, Dell has Dell Ideastorm. Airlines need not do something as extensive – but anything that gives their customers and online fans a sense of ownership of the brand can do wonders. AirTran very successfully introduced wifi on all its flights after running a competition on Everyflight.com. More recently, airBaltic [Disclosure: SimpliFlying client] painted the flags of the EU nations on its planes after seeking suggestions on its Facebook page.
3. Invite your online fans to your facilities – AirAsia ran a competition on their blog last year, where the winners would get to come down to their training center in Kuala Lumpur. The event generated a lot of excitement among the fans, who got to check out what goes on behind the scenes – certainly fostering stronger bonds with the brands.
4. Have a gathering in each of your major cities – Alaska Airlines is very good at organizing such meetups, especially with their loyal fans and frequent fliers. I’ve been to one of them myself, in Seattle, and it was a revelation. These meetings really help!
5. Get senior executives to have candid conversations with fans, online and offline – Malaysia Airlines did a fascinating job when it got its CEO, Idris Jala, to meet with some of the selected Facebook fans from the airline’s Fanpage. And the event ended with Mr Jala playing a song on the guitar, himself. That connection was hard to achieve otherwise, and made the “CEO of an airline”, very human. It helps bridge the gap.
6. Complement new route-openings with online events tied with offline ones – Southwest Airlines opened up a cafe in New York’s Bryant Park, to commemorate opening its flights to LaGuardia! And for the launch, they invited again – their Facebook fans and Twitter followers. I was there as well, and it was the first time I interacted with so many Southwest “fans”. Feels good to be part of the family
7. Recognize your most loyal online fans – Just like FourSquare Mayors get free coffee at certain cafes. Boston Logan Airport sent me a black hat with the words “I’m a followers of @bostonlogan”. And what did I do? And I told everyone about it on Twitter and even posted up a photo. “Real love” always helps spread the brand further.



8. Drive awareness about your online efforts, in-flight – I’ve always believed that airlines have that unique advantage that few other brands have – they hold their customer captive for long periods of time. Brand engagement in an airline’s case is much longer – in-flight, and this can be leveraged upon, for interacting with the customers at a new level. How about giving your Facebook fans free on-board wifi-access? Or giving your Twitter followers priority boarding on their birthdays? Little gestures can go far. Very far.

So, what do you think? How crucial is real-world interaction in making airlines’ social media strategy a success? Do you have examples to share? Let’s here it in the comments and on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Three ways the Cathay Pacific brand can come alive by infusing social media into the People site
• #FollowFriday realization: It’s about real-world relationships, stupid! That’s what the social “we”b is about
• The Point (or Secret) of Social Media for airlines
• Alaska Airlines’ brand strategy on Twitter, revealed by Elliot Pesut in exclusive interview
• Airlines on Second Life – 5 ways to dramatically increase brand value