Yes, I said it: branding!

The benefits of crowdsourcing, and its effectiveness for problem solving, are well-known. The power of the social web is being harnessed by airlines more than ever (in fact, a cargo-carrier has recently got into the game as well). Crowdsourcing initiatives are now being used not  just to engage customers but also to find ways to improve their product and services, as well as at the same time building their brands. Hence, “crowdbranding”.

With today’s Top 10 case-pack we would like to highlight some of the best examples of airline crowdsourcing. At the same time, we also invite our readers to have a look beyond the surface and into the deeper strategic goals that drive each of these strategies. In some cases it will be clear that the end game was indeed solving a problem or finding an innovative way of addressing existing issues, but in others it will also be clear that the stated goal of the crowdsourcing campaign wasn’t the only goal.

Most of the airline examples included in this Top 10 used crowdsourcing to solve problems related to visible parts of their product such as in-flight meals or routes, and did so in …

If twenty years ago one had asked an airline marketing executive about the dangers that a bad experience, passed on through word of mouth, could represent for the company’s image and brand he/she would have probably laughed. And with some degree of reason too!

After all, those were the good old days when, if one passenger had a bad experience he would tell his friends and family who may or may not have told a slightly distorted version of the story to their friends and family members… and the story would pretty much have ended there.

However, in the age of Twitter, Facebook and instant 24/7 global communication, the story doesn’t quite end there anymore. Even one annoyed passenger out of a whole planeload has the power to share his experience not only with his friends and family but also with millions of complete strangers who may in turn share it with a million others.  And this time the story does NOT end there.

Moreover, according to recent research, 25% of social media users expect a response within an hour and 6% expect something within 10 mins!
Time to start thinking about social customer service!
Unfortunately, only a handful of airlines and airport seem …

Note: This is Part 1 of a three-part series on LCCs and loyalty. The first part offers five compelling reasons to start thinking about loyalty. The second provides three easy ways to track loyal customers. The final part will offer five no-cost (nearly!) solutions to driving loyalty.

Before you raise your eyebrows, let me declare that yes, I do know why you might be slightly surprised to read the title of this article. You might say that LCCs exist to carry customers cheaply from one point to another without offering peripheral services or caring about customer loyalty because everyone will come if your price is low, right? You might say that LCCs themselves couldn’t care less about cultivating loyalty or building loyalty programs because that would be an unnecessary investment of time and resources. Right? Wrong! This article will build on the premise that while LCCs have been doing one L (low-cost) well, they need to start thinking about an equally important L – loyalty!

Before I go on to my thesis, let me state upfront that I am not talking about creating loyalty programs. I’m only concerned with …

Welcome to Twitter, Singapore Airlines (SQ). And Facebook too! Welcome to the Branding 2.0, where a brand is not what you say it is, it’s what they say is.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, possibly the last major airline brand (see AdAge article) has just caught the wind about engaging customers through social media and began their new journey by first taking over a existing Facebook fanpage with over 100,000 fans, which was started by a real fan in 2006, and setting up a new Twitter account. All this happened on Sept 5, 2011 – over two years after we wrote here in May 2009, “why time is running out for the Singapore Airlines brand to get into Web 2.0″.

Better late than never. They have the advantage of learning from the mistakes of others, but at the same time need to match high expectations set by worthy competitors like AirAsia, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. So, now what?

Twelve things Singapore Airlines needs to do social media right

“Just because you built it doesn’t mean …

Dear Readers,

I’m delighted to share the news with you that Interbrand’s Brandchannel.com has just published the white paper on airline branding, “Six steps to building a swashbuckling brand,” authored by me. Brandchannel.com is the leading online exchange about all things branding. Hence it is an honor for the it to be selected as the featured white paper for last week. You can read it online or download the paper here. I’d love to have your comments and feedback.

Thanks for all your support.

Regards,
Shashank

There are a lot of blogs about branding, and even more about airlines, but hardly any dedicated to how airlines brand themselves. Welcome to Simpliflying, a unique blog about airline branding.

We will explore issues that affect airlines all across the world, from full service and premium airlines, to budget carriers, all with the airline brand in mind. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the airline industry or not, or whether you’re a novice or an expert when it comes to aviation. The purpose is to have a great discussion on how airlines manage their brands, what they’re doing right, and what they can do better, for us, consumers.

So, come join us in this journey, and provide your valuable feedback and comments.