Once in a while, I get a chance to meet a person who totally knows what he’s talking about, and the world knows what he’s talking about too. Chris Brogan (@chrisbrogan on Twitter) is such a man.

In this exclusive interview, Chris Brogan, the social media mogul (yeah, not just any guru, but a mogul) is put in the hotseat of an airline CEO. He shares with us what he’d do to run the airline, how he’d implement Web 2.0 strategies at the airline to build the brand and how he’d make them work for the airline and for the customer.

As the CEO of an airline, Chris Brogan would…

Optimize customer service - by providing virtual concierge service

In the past, operational optimization has been the name of the game. But Chris has a different take on the running of an airline – focus on providing customer service.

“Now, there’s a need to understand that customer service is an opportunity house, not a cost center. Use social media to reach people where they are, to give them what they’re asking for, to forge a new relationship that goes beyond my gates, my dates and my planes.”

Tap on social media for short term and long term…

Though relationship building can be a long-drawn affair, it’s the “status updates” on various social networks that Chris sees as an opportunity. When someone Tweets that he “feels like going to Thailand for a holiday” or updates a Facebook or LinkedIn status about an upcoming business trip to New York, that’s an opportunity for an airline to reach out and engage this person. And engagement here means more than just selling.

Start by listening, acting fast, then engaging…

Chris believes that if he was an airline CEO, he’d start listening to what his potential customers are saying and where they’re saying it. He’ll then act fast to engage them, and experiment different ways to provide value to them. And that’s the benefit of using social media – its flexibility of use.

Chris Brogan dishes out very practical and implementable advice on how airlines can build stronger brands, provide customer service and drive sales using social media. Watch the full un-cut video below, for this very intriguing, yet entertaining interview on airline branding and social media. My favorite part of the interview is at 8:31 mins, where Chris tells us what he’d do tomorrow, to get started.

Let’s discuss if what Chris is talking about is do-able or not for an airline today. And if it is indeed practical, then why aren’t airlines doing it? Let’s discuss in the comments or over on Twitter (@simpliflying)

• Social media mogul Chris Brogan joins SimpliFlying’s Board of Advisors
• Richard Branson’s interview about Virgin America goes viral. But why?
• Chris Brogan tweets, JetBlue replies. Kevin Smith is upset. Southwest VP calls him. The common man speaks. The airline brand listens.
• So you work for an airline? Here are Eleven steps to lead the social media branding initiative, and become a rockstar!
• How can legacy airlines, airports or hotels make an entry into social media? Start from within

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Continuing my conversation with Randy Petersen – probably the world’s best known frequent flyer – we chat about the relevance of social media to airlines, the future of Flyertalk and Randy’s predictions for aviation in 2009.

Frequent Flyers + Web 2.0

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Traditionally, travelers have picked frequent flyer programs for convenience, not always because they are the best program.

But today, they choose a program because of its merits, because the Internet is open and it breaks down boundaries. “Self-selecting… is the biggest testimony of a good program”, Randy claims.

Randy believes that most of the current business travelers are going to retire soon and will be replaced by the next generation that lives and breathes social media. These customers are going to be totally immersed into it, and airlines need to adopt it sooner than later. Exactly the same point I’ve been trying to make in my recent articles on airline branding and social media.

Flyertalk as the next Web 2.0 powerhouse?

Flyertalk, a community for frequent flyers Randy started 11 years ago is one of the most popular of its kind out there. Though Flyertalk wasn’t started as a social media site, it has actually become that, though in a slightly different way. People go to leading social travel websites like Tripadvisor for choosing where to stay for a couple of days. But people go to Flyertalk to decide who to be loyal to. And that is a much more critical business decision in the long term.

Randy goes on to explain how frequent flyer models will evolve in 2009, given the new economic realities.

He also claims that has the best job in the world, and agrees that Mine is the second best (he said it!).

Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on social media and frequent flyer programs

So, do you think Randy have more followers than Aston Kutcher on Twitter? He probably will come close, given how popular he was at the Freddies! Let’s discuss your thoughts in the comments section, or on Twitter.

• Randy Petersen of Flyertalk on airline branding – Part 1 of 2
• Are location-based services a blessing for the airline brand?
• How airlines in the Middle East are enhancing brand value through their frequent flyer programs
• SimpliFlying, in the news…and more!
• Three economics tips for airlines, and why a baggage charge does not make sense

63% of airline executives think that ancillary revenues will be a major source of profits in the future. But are they getting it right with the short-term moves like charging for water and then reversing the charge? Probably not. And this was the issue I addressed in my webinar entitled “Airlines 2.0: 5 ways to unleash the potential of ancillary revenues in a downturn.” The webinar was very well received with some very interesting questions asked by the participants.

And I’m sharing the slides from that webinar here. The slides include a bonus video (see slide 14) which I couldn’t show during the webinar since it wasn’t possible to do it remotely. But I’ve integrated them here exclusively for my blog readers.

Here’s what you’ll learn from these slides:

• Make un-bundling work to suit your customers’ lifestyles
  
• Entice customers through “reverse-bundling” in the recession
• Maximize existing revenue channels, without compromising the brand
• Cultivate new revenue channels using Web 2.0 tools, like Facebook, Twitter and blogs
• Increase conversion rates for ancillary channels
• Keep the brand intact while earning more per customer

I’d love to have you feedback on the slides below and please feel free to share them with those you think would benefit from it.

• Ancillary revenue: A boon or a bane for the airline brand?
• Making ancillary revenue work with brand strategy – my interview
• Low cost airline brands get creative with ancillary revenues – lounges, shops and cargo!
• Airlines 2.0: Using technology for branding through the recession – webinar slides
• Exclusive webinar on airline marketing & branding: Registration now open

Lately, I’ve been talking a lot about how airlines can use Web 2.0 tools to connect with their customers. This is a re-post of an article first published on the NewMediaChatter website, where the author re-counted his experience with JetBlue and Southwest Airlines’ Twitter “agents” – and both of these airlines are at the forefront of using this technology. It’s a very interesting story, and offers many lessons to not just airlines, but also other companies looking to tap on this medium. Let’s discuss what you think JetBlue did wrong or Southwest did right.

Special thanks to David Peck, for the permission to re-post this article on SimpliFlying.

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Jet Blue, Swing and a Miss.. Southwest Airlines Hits A Twitter Homerun

I am back from SXSW. I had a blast. It was one of the best events I have ever been to. So many familiar faces, so many new faces. Im already looking forward to next year. So, let me tell you about my flight back  from Austin last night.

I arrived at the airport 90 minutes early to bard my Jet Blue flight to San Francisco.  I checked my bag, made it through security without setting off the buzzer. Which is always a good thing.  I waited patiently  for my flight to board, had some food from Salt Lick..waited…got a coke.. waited… waited… The flight was suppose to board at 6:30, leave at 6:56 and nothing.  At around 7:00ish I posted this to twitter:

I quickly got this tweet back from @JetBlue:

Oh and then @JetBlue got this:

Oh and this too:

Okay so you get the idea. I posted a frustrated tweet and got a quick response from Jet Blue via twitter.  Pretty cool, huh?

Well here is where the problem begins and I want to make something clear. My post  is not with the flight being late. Nor the “fix engine light” they were getting. I want them to take alllllllllll the time they need to make sure the plane is working. Check it five times for all I care. I just want to get home in one piece. My post is the lack of communication, service  and the fact that I am disappointed by @JetBlue.  If your going to place your brand on a site like Twitter, you need to be ready to react in a timely manner.  So back to the story with pretty twitter pictures.

So then I went to add @JetBlue. I couldn’t… I was blocked by them for some reason. I was a blocked user. So I posted these tweets:

Seems for some reason I couldn’t follow them to send a DM as they asked. Now this might be where the story ends, then I posted this:

Anyone want to bet what happened next? Right! I got this:

That is right! @southwestair who was at SXSW, at around 9:00ish at night, with very little mobile internet service,  was trying to help me! So after some Direct Messaging chatting and such it came to this:

So how awesome was Southwest Airlines? Offering to help, giving me flight options, even offering help the next day if I was stuck!  I was not even flying their airline! Oh and what about @JetBlue?

They did get back to me 5 minutes before we boarded with this Direct Message:

So my point here? Twitter is about real time customer service if your a brand. It is not about posting links all the time, cool videos or such. It is about dealing with your customer and creating positive brand awareness at that moment.   If you are a company, you see an unhappy customer out there,  you need to move quick  and communicate! @JetBlue could of said “got your tweet, will follow up soon” something to let me know they were working on it. Something..just let me know you have not forgot about me. Cause if you do not  your competition will do this:

Or worst..  people will talk about your brand on Twitter like this:

You Get the idea. Oh, here is a video I made while this was all going on..I did not even get into the TV issue, how the Jet Blue folks do not know about their Customer Service on Twitter, (it would of been cool  if they knew a little something about it) oh and check out the end where a passenger mentions  the headset issue. Oh and yes.. this was my first trip on Jet Blue.

So I did make it home about 3 hours later then planned..in one piece.  Oh and get this, two ladies say to me in the airport “Are you Dave Peck? We have been following you on Twitter.” Pretty cool huh? Things like that still blow my mind!

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Some comments (read the rest on the original article)

• Engaging the customer through Web 2.0: lessons from JetBlue Airways
• Here is why JetBlue is the most loved airline brand on Twitter
• Chris Brogan tweets, JetBlue replies. Kevin Smith is upset. Southwest VP calls him. The common man speaks. The airline brand listens.
• Is Southwest Airlines model the future for full-service airlines?
• A Southwest Airlines employee goes out of her way to help a distressed passenger

A picture speaks a thousand words, isn’t it? I’ve included two here, this Sunday, and I think they speak more than 2,000 words when put together. The first graphic shows the bad state of the airline industry, and the second shows what traditional forms of marketing mean.

The good thing is that social media combines the benefit of all of the traditional marketing aspects, and may very well be what puts airlines back in the black. I’ve discussed this in much greater detail in my case studies on airlines using Web 2.0. What do you think? Have a great Sunday!

• Tearing apart airline lingo, great laughs ahead
• Virgin America smartly combines Twitter and social media with email marketing
• Five lessons in crises handling from the Facebook war between Ryanair and SAS Scandinavian Airlines
• Three reasons why JetBlue’s eBay store is a genius move and why other airlines will follow
• Ancillary revenues and airline branding Special in March at SimpliFlying

In my recent webinar on airline branding, I used the examples of JetBlue Airways to demonstrate how an airline can successfully adopt a holistic Web 2.0 branding strategy. A number of webinar participants wanted to learn more about it, so I got to the heart of the matter.

So that you could hear it from the horse’s mouth, I got in touch with Morgan Johnston, who leads the Twitter initiative at JetBlue Corporate Communications. This is the same Morgan who famously started “following” the popular blogger Jonathan Fields, who got freaked out and wrote a story about it.

Here is an email interview with Morgan, regarding JetBlue’s digital branding strategy and a good behind-the-scenes look at how JetBlue does it.

SimpliFlying: Who’s the driving force behind the technology initiatives at JetBlue, and how big is the team?

Morgan: Responsibility for our online initiatives span many groups, from our brand, sales, or web teams, to corporate communications, or customer service.  We each have different requirements and ideas that we bring forward to create an overall strategy.  Our eBay sale, for instance, was brought up by someone on our sales team, while our Twitter presence was an idea I worked on.  It’s easy to get tied into one goal and one drive for an online presence. Having the checks and balances of multiple departments, and outlooks keeps us moving forward in sync and broadly distributed.

SimpliFlying:  What does JetBlue see as the biggest merit of using new technologies?

Morgan: Certainly there are a number of advantages in engaging online.  We’re a company founded on the idea of innovation.  We were the first airline to provide live DirectTV and XM radio to every seat, we pioneered the idea of electronic ticketing, and last year we were the first US carrier to have free wireless email and messaging connectivity with BetaBlue. 

Bringing that same innovation to our online activities is a natural progression for us, and our customers respond favorably to that tech-forward thinking.  The more we can do to engage with our customers online with the same dedication our Crewmembers engage with them when they travel, the better we can understand the desires of our customers, and work to provide them with a level of service they’ve come to expect.

SimpliFlying: How is it decided which technology is to be used for which purpose?

Morgan: Ultimately, we look to the community for the best use of the tools.  When we first launched our Twitter account, we went through several iterations of our ‘voice’ there.  A standard marketing voice announcing new routes or fare sales just didn’t work in that environment of hyper-transparency and conversation.  When we opened ourselves up to the group and asked quite plainly, what THEY would like to see from us in that space, the response was overwhelming.  Twitter is made for conversation, and informing, not pitching or promoting.  In any of these online spaces, the informal ‘rules’ of the community may seem counter-intuitive to the promise of the tool, but those rules are what dictate the dynamic.  It’s important to work within those boundaries.

SimpliFlying: What are the challenges in “selling” new initiatives internally, given most senior people tend to be averse to such experiments?

Morgan: Leadership at JetBlue has always been open, and encouraging of innovation.  When I first moved to the corporate communications team in February of 2007, my very first suggestion was to have our founder and then CEO David Neeleman address our customers directly via YouTube in the wake of a massive ice-storm that hit the Northeast.  I shouldn’t have been at all surprised at how readily everyone all the way up to David himself agreed that this was an idea worth exploring – even when it came from ‘the new guy.’

SimpliFlying:  How much can you “control” the brand, in the new world of consumer generated media?

Morgan: Can you control your brand in the new world of consumer generated media?  I think the best way to positively affect the perception of your brand, is to make sure your product is top notch.  To that, our Crewmembers on our planes, and in the stations are our front lines in a number of ways.  Augmenting that by making ourselves available to customers in places they are comfortable means a great deal to them, and to us.  We’ve always relied on word of mouth to spread our brand.  Online tools just further enable that existing drive.

SimpliFlying: First a CEO blog, then Live blogging, then Twitter, Flickr, eBay….what’s next? Online communities like Facebook?

Morgan: We won’t join a community in any ‘official capacity’ simply because it exists.  The responsibility to maintain the relationships built in online communities is too great and the tendency could easily become one of, set-up a presence and let it go, hoping a community will spring up around the straw man. 

We’ll certainly continue to monitor all the spaces we can, and will work to engage with individuals when we see an opportunity. But we’ll continue to look at communities on a case by case basis to understand the degree we should or could be involved.

So, what did you think of JetBlue’s digital branding strategy? Is it something easily duplicatable in other airlines? What are some other things JetBlue can do to engage its customers online? Let’s discuss.

• So you work for an airline? Here are Eleven steps to lead the social media branding initiative, and become a rockstar!
• Five ways airlines can tame Twitter – Jesse Engle of CoTweet shares his expertise
• Virgin America’s online community – bull’s eye, or a flop?
• How can legacy airlines, airports or hotels make an entry into social media? Start from within
• Alaska Airlines’ brand strategy on Twitter, revealed by Elliot Pesut in exclusive interview

The first webinar of the Airlines 2.0 branding series has been a roaring success. Thanks to everyone who attended the webinar. I’ve been getting some very positive feedback about it already. Here’s what one participant had to say:

I will be posting up the Q&A during the session from the participants in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, I’m happy to share with you the slides presented during the webinar. You can view them below, or download them for later viewing. Incidentally, the slides were chosen by Slideshare.net as the “Pick of the day” yesterday, alongside a Google Talk! I will be posting the actual webinar recording for the benefit of those who missed out.

Please feel free to send me any thoughts or questions on the presentation.

Special thanks to Jeff Ogden for inviting me to lead the seminar. He’s been my best “remote working” experience till date.

• Ancillary revenues and airline branding webinar slides (with video!)
• Exclusive webinar on airline marketing & branding: Registration now open
• Airline branding: Keynote video from Abu Dhabi, and CNBC Arabia
• Keynote from IATA Commercial Symposium 2009 – Driving revenue for airlines from real-time customer insights on social media
• Keynote on airline branding at Aviation Outlook Middle East

…

In my first post of the year, I had collated predictions from industry experts for the future of the airline industry in 2009. Here’s my own analysis on the current situation, and I feel, among other things, 2009 presents an opportunity for airlines to tap on technology to build stronger brands.

Allen Adamson, MD of Landor Associates, made a statement in a recent article he wrote that resonated with me completely.

“Conventional wisdom says that in tough economic times you take out the scalpel. You cut jobs, budgets, and programs, especially in the areas of advertising and brand-building. Well, for the first time in marketing history, there’s an option that will increase rather than decrease your horsepower.”

Allen was referring to digital branding – or using technology to build the brand. And as you’d have realized from some of my previous articles, I’m a die-hard fan of this emerging field. Branding through technology allows not just airlines, but all companies to leverage on a tool that not just creates buzz, but is often free or cheap compared to traditional marketing means.

Before I dive into why and how airlines can build a digital brand, let me address why airlines are shying away from digital branding.

Uncharted waters may be risky, and what about ROI?

Airlines, of all industries, tend to be very risk averse, due to the high cost environment that they operate in. It’s only natural to take calculated risks, especially in this environment. But the essence is to take calculated risks. If the risks are well defined and counter-actions thought of in advance, then they’re certainly worth a shot. The best way to beat fear is to define it.

The other factor that often comes in while taking a marketing investment decision is that of Return on Investment (ROI). In some cases, Web 2.0 initiatives can be directly linked to revenues, but many of the times, soft ROI metrics need to be employed. For example, the purpose can be to engage a new target market, like students, by building an online community like GenFlyLounge by Lufthansa. Another aim can be to engage the employees better, just like Malaysia Airlines does with their blog. The key is to have a well-defined ROI metric before embarking on the project.

Now that I’ve settled some nerves about venturing online with your brand, the question is why do it? For that, let’s revisit what branding actually is.

Brand Building 101

Here’s my own very simple definition of what airline branding is all about (feel free to quote me on this!).

An airline first needs to define itself and know what it stands for. Next, it needs to communicate this message effectively to its target markets.

I believe all airlines will be able to build a brand through the above two-part process. But to really stand out, a brand needs to be unique (something others can’t offer), it needs to be genuine (and often personal) and it needs to be buzzworthy (worth talking about). And this is exactly what I believe technology can help airline brands achieve with relative ease.

Advantages of building an airline brand online

There are four key factors I feel airlines can benefit from, which come with building a brand online.

1. Interaction without interruption – Airline brands are able to reach their target audience without disrupting the flow of their normal activities. Instead of having distracting (and expensive) billboards or advertisements, they can seamlessly integrate the message with a medium well suited for engagement. Virgin Atantic’s Facebook page is a great example of this.
2. Co-creation: Consumers these days like to have a say in the product and marketing strategy. And online tools like Twitter to gather feedback and use of sites like Suggestionbox.com gives consumers a stake in the game.
3. Building a personality: It’s much easier to build a personality online, rather than offline. For example, having employees blog about the airline, or having the CEO maintain his own blog suddently adds life to a faceless airline.
4. Ease of experience: Airlines can use online tools to allow passengers to experience the brand without even stepping on-board the plane. Cathay Pacific’s online experience site is a great example of this.

So, doesn’t it make sense to venture online with your airline’s brand?

These are just very brief points on the advantages of building a strong airline brand online. If you’re keen to learn more, I’d like to invite you to register for a free educational webinar being led by me tomorrow, Janurary 8, entitled “Airlines 2.0: Using technology for innovative branding through the recession.”

Remember, you can still win a 2GB Apple iPod by commenting on any of the articles and subscribing to SimpliFlying by emailRSS for regular updates. The deadline for the contest is this Saturday, 10 Jan 2008. Hurry!

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P.S: This article first appeared as a guest post at Bangalore Aviation.

• Airline brands need to emerge from the “jurassic era” – Joe Crump
• Joe Crump of Razorfish predicts doom for airlines that don’t build digital brands
• “Use the recession as a catalyst to build strong airline brands” – Joe Crump
• Emirates engages employees through self-composed music video
• Exclusive webinar on airline marketing & branding: Registration now open

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”

….

“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.

Related articles

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

• Laura Reis on airline branding – it’s all about focus and simplicity
• Building a strong Indigo Airlines brand, and outlook for 2009
• Airlines: Smile more so flyers “pick” you. In conversation with Patrick Hanlon of Thinktopia
• Airline industry and branding outlook for 2009: Experts speak
• Engaging the customer through Web 2.0: lessons from JetBlue Airways

Image via Wikipedia

Virgin America is the latest airline to foray into Web 2.0. It follows hot on the heels of similar initiatives by AirFrance-KLM, Lufthansa and sister-airline Virgin Atlantic. The big question is whether the effort is worth it, or is it yet another futile attempt? Will it help the brand? What else can be done to improve the website’s effectiveness?

What’s good about the “community” website?

…
Well… firstly, I think it’s a move in the right direction, and Virgin America has got a number of things right in their online community. Let me quickly review what’s good about the site, which will help the brand:

Reviews and stories: Site visitors are able to submit their stories of flying with Virgin America. There is also a section called “The Scoop”, which not only displays these stories, but also offers integration with leading online tools like Facebook and  Twitter. This is certainly good to get the customer warmed up to the Virgin America brand.

Engaging: The site has interactive features like the “toy box” where they can play games like “Voyage Simulator”. There is also a contest they can take part in, to be the “President of the Community”. These and other features are good for engaging the customers with the brand.

Tickets everywhere: The website has a panel on the left of the screen, which is essentially a flight booking form. Moreover, special offers sprout all over the website. This is a good strategy of inducing sales from visitors who have already “bit the bait”.

Now that Virgin America has already done a neat job with the website, how about some interesting ideas about increasing site adoption?

How abut engaging the passenger, in-flight?

Now that Virgin America has wi-fi on-board its planes, the airline should capitalize on this capability to engage the customer in-flight too. What better way to do this than by setting the community website as the homepage on the in-flight entertainment (IFE) system?

Those accessing the site from on-board the plane can have their personal details automatically added from the booking they would have made earlier (this can then be used to provide a custom homepage too!). They should be able to create an account online, and automatically be prompted to write a review for the flight they are on. After all, stories are best shared when fresh! Passengers should be able to store contact details of people they meet on-board while “chatting” through the plane’s entertainment system.  This would offer complete integration with their offline and online experience.

What do you think about these ideas? Do you think Virgin America has hit jackpot or is this another dud? What are some risks pursuing such an active online strategy? Let’s hear it in the comments section.

Related articles

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• Zagat’s 2008 best airlines survey
• More improvements to Virgin America’s operations

• Three ways the Cathay Pacific brand can come alive by infusing social media into the People site
• Virgin America takes in-flight experience to a new level
• Richard Branson’s interview about Virgin America goes viral. But why?
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• What makes Virgin America an outstanding airline brand? The delivery.