5 Airline Marketing Lessons from MailChimp and “Serial”

If you’re reading this and have no idea what “Serial” is, then you should imagine some admonishing words from me and read more about it — or better still, listen to it. If you already listen to it, and are wondering what airline marketing has to do with it, then please enjoy some tidbits from the show below, before I arrive at the substantive part of my article. “Serial” is arguably this year’s biggest media success, and podcasting’s first break-out hit, as the New York Times recently wrote:

To call something the most popular podcast might seem a little like identifying the tallest leprechaun, but the numbers are impressive for any media platform. “Serial” has been downloaded or streamed on iTunes more than five million times — at a cost of nothing — and averages over 1.5 million listeners an episode. That is as many people as watch an episode of “Louie,” the buzzed-about comedy on FX.

I caught up with the podcast, admittedly late, last week, and have been deliriously hooked ever since — I’ve also recommended it to two close friends who are similarly addicted. The most curious thing about “Serial” is not just its own popularity, but also how brands associated with it seem to have earned a popularity and interest of their own.

Popular by Association

Before we get to MailChimp, the podcast’s title sponsor, take BestBuy, for instance, which found itself in hot water for tweeting a Serial-related joke, that was in poor taste, and was forced to apologise for it (possible spoilers).

Listeners of “Serial” by now, are so used to hearing the incredibly popular opening ad jingle about MailChimp that they’d feel odd without it.

I came across this realisation suddenly one day and set about exploring whether other people associated the show as much with MailChimp as I did. Well, this turned up: “Why Are “Serial” Podcast Fans So Obsessed With MailChimp?” It also turns out, not only is the ad much discussed on Redittfor instance, MailChimp itself has embraced the quirky ad.

Moreover, it also earned itself a glowing mention on the business website Quartz, which said:

Regardless of the reasons for its success, the MailChimp ad is clearly one of the biggest marketing coups of the year, with a cultural resonance eclipsing many Super Bowl ads that cost millions of dollars to air on TV.

Lessons for Airline Marketers

As the season has gone on, and the show’s popularity has spread like wildfire, brands have realised the brilliance of MailChimp’s coup. Listeners will have realised that, in recent times, other brands such as Squarespace have also shared air time with MailChimp as sponsors of the show. This addition of new sponsors got me thinking about the implications for airline marketing. So here are 5 lessons I gleaned from the show:

  • The first thought that struck me was how perfectly suited the podcast-slash-radio medium is for airlines. Think IFE. Think time in which you have a captive audience. Why aren’t airlines creating/supporting/sponsoring such high-quality content that has the potential to earn love from across the globe? (Think: American Airlines passengers get to hear Serial in-flight before other people globally; how cool would that have been?)
  • Second, it seems that 2015 will be big on podcasts. Serial has already been renewed for a second season, having run a successful crowd-funding campaign. Other podcasts quite predictably crop up soon as well. Will airlines take advantage of this new media opportunity?
  • Have an attractive brand statement, not a sales statement. MailChimp’s creative statement on the jingle is: “More than 7 million businesses worldwide use MailChimp to send emails, newsletters and high-fives. MailChimp — send better email”. At the end of the show we hear, “Mailchimp: celebrating creativity, chaos and teamwork since 2005″.
  • The key to good branding is recall value. MailChimp’s ad — with its rough edges, numerous voices in different accents, the kid who mis-pronounces and thereby becomes a pop-culture phenomenon — has immense recall value. Do yours?
  • Finally, first associations will always be the strongest. See what happens when other brands try to steal MailChimp’s thunder. Fans react negatively!

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