Design loving tech
enthusiasts pick Apple. Premium coffee drinkers delighted by the seasonal
flavors always seek a Starbucks. The flying consumer? Typically goes for the
cheapest flight or the one that best complements their loyalty program status.
While airlines traditionally
build their brand with distinction in in-flight services and interiors, the next profit margin enhancing move may be establishing a lifestyle brand strategy
that creates a long term bond between the airline and the consumer. Think back to the
anticipation and splendor of a PanAm experience. The elegant flight attendants…
the must have flight bags. Currently, airlines are focusing on providing the
bare minimum to avoid extra costs but doing a 180 on this strategy could bring
in returns on investment beyond expected. A brand that believes in something
can command premium pricing. By overcoming the cultural clashes that airlines
have experienced with mergers and acquisitions over the years and building one
distinct identity, brands can resonate clearly in the mind of the consumer.
Look at Nike. Nike actively
cares about what their customers are doing after they make a purchase. Airlines
on the other hand have no interaction with travelers post flight – they emphasize
the function of providing transport rather than thinking of themselves as a
travel service provider to which an emotional attachment can be built.
Lifestyle brands understand the human’s longing for meaningful experiences and
cater to it. As airlines sit on a heap of flyer data, they have the unique
positioning to integrate this data into innovative goods and services that
enhance the passenger experience.
Chris Nurko, Global Chairman
of Futurebrand, believes a lifestyle brand “implies a ‘choice’ that befits or
compliments, or brings to life a ‘style’ of how someone lives. This is related
to personal identity, ego, socioeconomic status and income. And, ‘lifestyle’
brands imply two things: one, immediate curation and ‘go to’ decision-making
that is relevant and appropriate and which, secondly, crosses functionality and
or category norms. It must be more than just a one off product or category experience,
reflecting attitudes, opinions, values and actions or behaviors.”
Some airlines are ahead of
the curve in incorporating lifestyle brand features. The Q Bag Tag that
Australian airline, Qantas, launched in 2011 is functional and elegant. The Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) technology on the bag tag provides a permanent bag
tag solution that has quite the emotional significance. In the United States,
Southwest is taking strides to become a lifestyle brand by making clear what
its values are. The heart on the aircraft underbelly symbolizes Southwest’s
beliefs that ‘without the heart it’s just a machine’. Believing in something as
a brand transfers to passengers. Have you noticed that Southwest flights do not
appear on third party flight search aggregators? Perhaps, they just don’t need to.
With record profits for last quarter, Southwest introduced this month the
airline industry’s first solution to securely stream music in-flight with its
partnership with Beats Music. In keeping up with the current needs of
passengers, Southwest is building a deeper connection with their flyers and
paving the way for customer allegiance.
Lifestyle branding may just
be the strategy to save airlines from being forgotten.
Sources:
- http://skift.com/2014/11/03/southwest-is-launching-beats-music-service-on-its-flights/
- http://skift.com/2014/11/07/airlines-as-lifestyle-brands-may-be-the-future-of-air-travel/
- http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/blog/3800475/why-other-airfare-sites-don-include-southwest-airlines-and-why-you-should-care/
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