Airline Marketing Strategies and Travel Advertising
Airline marketing strategies are lacking. Airlines aren’t embracing the surging online advertising and marketing dollars available to them. While relaxing on the beach, I was confronted with 3-4 aerial banners each day being pulled by small airplanes. These aerial banners advertised local restaurants and happy hours, and the specials on them were time-restricted to that day or the day after on many occasions. What struck me about these banners was how similar they were to PPC ads. Based on the abbreviations, it seemed likely that there were character limitations, like the airplane could only pull so many letters.
So if Google lets me buy advertising on radio, in newspapers, in search engines, why not en-route? Why not on airplanes, in airplanes, on airline tickets, in in-flight entertainment, from the in-flight magazines to the in-flight television? Why not let me sponsor the inevitably coming flying wi-fi? And while they’re at it, why don’t those ads subsidize the cost of my flight? This isn’t about Google and the ad networks, it’s about the airlines needing to embrace simpler forms of discovering how I can advertise with them. And it’s also about co-branding. For every offline marketing advertisement, is an opportunity to better brand the airline and discuss its benefits over competing airlines.
And just like that, on my summer vacation, I had spiraled into thoughts on airline marketing strategies and the many opportunities that airlines are missing out on in the advertising world. I can fly cross country for $350, sometimes less, but I’m perpetually on the search for the cheapest flight. I don’t care much who gets me to my destination, simply that I get there as cheaply as possible, and preferably, on time, with the fewest connections. I don’t mind being bombarded by advertising while I travel, (though I may be alone,) there’s a great post from a while back on “in-flight hostage marketing.” But apparently, at least someone, the Inflight Marketing Bureau is trying to capitalize in this area. But really, unlike the profitability concerns described about Skybus, I think we can have cheap, safe, on-time flights in many destinations, and I think advertising is how it’s done.
What are your thoughts on what airlines can be doing in their marketing strategy? And how businesses can embrace the airline and airplane marketing arena?
USB Wiki - Organizing Thoughts, Tracking Change
When I first encountered Wikis outside of Wikipedia, I just did not see the value. This happens with all sorts of technology, and usually means it’s not immediately applicable to what I’m doing at the time. When my brother first bought me one of those USB sticks, I actually had to ask him what it was. Less than a year later, I couldn’t be found without it.
The same is the case with wikis. Besides Wikipedia, which I often used as a starting point to more in-depth research, I couldn’t imagine using a Wiki for to-do lists, document version tracking, or collaboration. These days, I carry a GTD TiddlyWiki on my USB drive and organize all of my thoughts in tiddlers. I can look back on early renditions of my internet marketing ideas and blog posts, and I can use it to track my progress with projects. I can’t recommend it more highly.
