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Last week, a friend of mine boarded a Virgin America flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles. As is the case often at most busy airports these days, there was a delay in departure, due to air traffic delays. The flight sat on the tarmac for 10 minutes. But this is where the typical story ended and the fun started.
The Virgin America flight attendants took their positions in the aisles, but not for safety demonstration, since they already have a super cool video for that. They announced to the passengers that since they are waiting, they should have some fun. They started playing games with the passengers! The flight attendants asked the pleasantly surprised passengers questions about Virgin America as well as other topics, and those who answered correctly even received prizes! What a brilliant way not just to engage the customers, but leave an indelible impression about the airline.
Airlines must find innovative ways to engage the customers before, during and after the journey. Having a …

With air travel in the US probably as commoditized as bus rides in Brazil, the industry was ripe for some disruptive innovation. The spark was provided when Virgin American entered the foray a few months ago. Much has been written about their famed safety video as well as a bunch of innovative in-flight amenities. But there is also a ton that other airlines not only in the US, but globally, can learn about fresh, innovative branding from the folks at Virgin.

Welcome to the Branding 101, Virgin style. Here are the Top 5 insights to be cherished.

To exceed great expectations, do the unexpected. As it is, it’s tough upholding the promise of being the airline that is “reinventing air travel”. But Virgin actually does a good job in not just meeting expectations, but exceeding them too, by consistently surprising and delighting the customers. On Earth Day, all passengers in green …

With airline mergers and takeovers happening around the world, and now looming in the US too, one of the biggest “obstacles†encountered by airlines is airline staff unions. I beg to differ.

Here are a couple of the latest news about crew unhappiness in the last few days:

Air France Agrees to Buy Alitalia for $1.2 Billion (but faces union troubles), March 17, 08 – Bloomberg
British Airways Pilots Protest Plan to Start New Airline, March 15, 08 – Bloomberg
Pilots have much to lose during mergers, March 9, 08 – USA Today

Internal branding as a strategic corporate communications tool
Airlines should ensure that they take good care of their employees in case of a merger, and not construe it as an obstacle. Having them in the fold and ensuring their happiness would help ensure that the passengers receive a superior brand experience. Some branding experts refer to this as internal branding, other claim this is integrated branding. Regardless of the terminology, it is an established fact that if the working conditions are good, the crew is happy, and that rubs off onto the passengers so that they too are happy.

Garuda Indonesia, the national airline of Indonesia, suffered a setback recently. Indra Setiawan, a former CEO of the airline was sentenced to 12 months in prison for his part in the mid-air killing of a human rights activist. From a branding perspective, this just rubs salts in the already-wounded brand image of Garuda – since it already has one of the worst airline safety track records in Asia. The airline is leaving few options for its customers to form a positive perception.
Probably the only way they can resurrect the brand is to win on price competition, while still remaining full service, and impress the customers – a tough bet, given their track record. May be the new planes they ordered at the Singapore Airshow recently will help them rescue the brand with new routes to US and Europe, at good prices (and of course, the new planes). Airlines – and other worthy brands (Apple?)- must always be vary of coupling themselves too tightly with an individual. Although this can be a huge X-Factor for the brand, which differentiates it with other airlines, it can be a risky proposition.