Increasing competition, high fuel costs and the deregulation of routes have resulted in airlines looking seriously at monetising the pent-up media value of captive passenger audiences.
Beyond traditional in-flight magazine ads and seatback entertainment systems, advertisers can now brand luggage bins, meal trays, napkins headrests, ticket wallets, disembarkation folders, lavatory decals, and, for the truly adventurous, air sickness bags.
Most recently, SilkAir began selling ad space on its landing form jackets and on giveaways like playing cards. Other airlines, including Taiwan’s Eva Air and India’s Jet Airways, have created microsites on their entertainment systems so passengers can access more information about ads they see onscreen.
Meanwhile, Air Macau is using its meal trays, ticket wallets and in-flight entertainment system to promote everything from casinos to private banking services.
Budget carriers like Thailand’s Nok Air have gone even further, using cabin crew as ‘advertising space’, sporting sponsored caps or aprons. “As long as it does not jeopardise safety, we are open to new ideas,” says Nok Air VP for marketing, Pinyot Pibulsonggram.
This openness has seen three of Nok Air’s planes wrapped by Thai telecom giant TOT and Muang Thai Life Assurance, as well as a variety of innovative in-flight activities. Last year, HSBC personnel conducted an onboard quiz, awarding souvenirs for correct answers, which were, of course, carried in the credit card application in the seat pocket.
“It’s good for them and it’s good for us since it makes the trip much more enjoyable,” says Pinyot. Ads on headrests and over the airline’s PA system have proven particularly popular, he says. “Headrests due to high exposure and low production costs, and cabin crew announcements, because everyone pays attention to what the cabin crew say.”
New openings
While Asia’s largest airlines remain tied to more traditional advertising options, they too are becoming much more flexible, often offering advertisers better targeting by segmenting offers by route and class.
Advertisers on Singapore Airlines’ entertainment system can specify the genre of films they want their ads screened on, while flight attendants on Cathay Pacific have helped HSBC reach its tourist target by handing out credit card information with disembarkation forms.
Australian Tourism, meanwhile, struck a deal with Qantas to have its series promoting domestic tourism screened as part of the entertainment on inter-city flights. Several 90-second vignettes from the film and a custom-published 32-page magazine inserted into seat pockets increased the impact of the show. “It was a win-win situation - they got the show at no cost, and we were able to go well below what we typically pay for that kind of advertising,” says Carat Australia business manager Craig Cooper.
“Gone are the days when you were really restricted on what you could actually do on airlines. If I said to them that we have 20,000 (branded) coffee cups that we want to use on your flight, I think they would be open to that conversation, whereas five years ago there were a lot of rules and it was very hard to get around those rules.”
Media buyers say that all this allows advertisers to better reach a well heeled, mobile demographic which is increasingly difficult to capture via traditional print and TV. Also attractive are the sheer numbers heading for the skies. According to industry body AAPA, the region’s airlines carried a record 145 million passengers last year, a quarter of global passenger traffic. Airlines are further sweetening their offers with a readiness to quantify their audiences, providing advertisers with key planning data.
All airlines collect passenger data - gender, nationality, originating airport, age - as a matter of course, and many will commission research on top of that,” says Jeffrey O’Rourke, CEO of airline media specialist Ink Publishing. Subject to internal policies, airlines are prepared to share “some or much” of this information, he adds.
“The additional formats offer marketers a more on-target reach, enabling advertisers to further segment audiences, for example by travel class or interest,” says Doris Kuok, regional business director at MindShare.
Creative challenges
On the other side of the coin, more formats also mean more clutter, and a more difficult job for advertisers to create an impact, Kuok says. In this respect, the relatively low standard of creative work onboard doesn’t help.
With some notable exceptions - Shangri-La and Mandarin Oriental being two - few advertisers produce ads specifically for in-flight media, missing out on the synergies that can be created between the passenger, brand and airline experience.
“While in-flight campaigns remain incremental components of broad-based campaigns, it is likely that the quality of creative work will stay as it currently is - mediocre,” says Angela Koch, planning director at Leo Burnett Singapore.
“Perhaps the true return of attention will come when onboard technologies such as internet and mobile invite passengers to interact with relevant messaging.”
Developments in onboard technology will also mean more accurate ROI tracking in terms of exposure and response, says Julius Toh, group director for media sales at Emphasis Media.
New software applications on in-flight entertainment systems will let advertisers know exactly which passengers accessed their ads.
It will also be possible to conduct surveys and compile data via the system, again providing valuable information to brands.
In the meantime, airlines not already in the game are preparing to jump onboard. “It is an area that we have been looking at actively over the past few months,” says Malaysia Airlines senior general manager for communications, Indira Nair.
“Rather than merely own these media assets, which have a regular, captive audience, we are looking at what and how would be the best way for us to maximise them in a way that works for our customers, the advertisers and Malaysia Airlines.
“However, it is extremely critical that we manage this in a way that our customers do not feel we are intruding or making their travel experience less comfortable.”
And therein lies the main challenge for both airlines and advertisers, says Jacqueline Thng, managing director of The Brand Union.
“If you don’t do it right, you run the risk of diluting the airline’s image and alienating the consumer. As with all intrusive media, this is something they will have to manage very carefully,” she notes.
