“Use the recession as a catalyst to build strong airline brands” – Joe Crump

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In the last part of his three-part interview, Joe Crump,  the VP of Strategic Planning at Razorfish, reveals that instead of fearing the recession, airlines around the world can use it as a catalyst to build strong brands. Joe believes that “incredibly narrow constraints usually present the biggest opportunity for innovation”. I couldn’t agree with him more.

Companies like Apple, GE and Toyota have emerged stronger by just doing that in the past. In fact, the airline industry is full of success stories from the recession as well, like AirAsia and JetBlue. Right now, Virgin America in the US is doing a fabulous job at building a strong brand by offering great value in the recession.

Digital investments = greater ROI

Joe makes a startling revelation in his interview below. He shares that contrary to popular belief, investments in product upgrades on-board an aircraft, as well as other “hard” invesments like frequent flier lounges seldom match the return possible from “soft” investments like online media and a solid SEO (search engine optimization) strategy.

As I’ve stated in my previous articles on the topic, investments in building a strong digital brand presents a tremendous opportunity for airlines in a recession. Just the effeciency of the medium is often far beyond traditional mediums and investments that Joe mentioned. It’s something airlines should be seriously considering. Joe states that “airlines can use digital to drive loyalty, by using the medium to add a voice to the airline”.

Predictions for 2009

As shared in my first article of the year, Joe is looking forward to surfing the internet on-board airlines and is curious to see what opportunities arise from this developement. Moreover, he believes that “transactions” and “advertisements” will become much more seamless than they are right now, in 2009.

Here’s Joe Crump, un-cut. You can view all three parts of his interview here.