The newly appointed head of marketing at Tiger Airways, Derek Yeo, does not like buffets. And he doesn’t think consumers should like them either.
What he is trying to say, of course, is that the budget airline model resembles an à la carte menu, ensuring you only get what you pay for. His challenge, he believes, is explaining to Asia’s flyers how that differs from the all-inclusive price offered by traditional airlines. “The buffet model means airlines have worked out that someone eats fish and someone eats vegetables and the average result is all the same. The same is true for full-service airlines. But not everyone is going to check in baggage and not everyone is going to select a seat. Here you pay for what you want.”
What he is trying to say, of course, is that the budget airline model resembles an à la carte menu, ensuring you only get what you pay for. His challenge, he believes, is explaining to Asia’s flyers how that differs from the all-inclusive price offered by traditional airlines. “The buffet model means airlines have worked out that someone eats fish and someone eats vegetables and the average result is all the same. The same is true for full-service airlines. But not everyone is going to check in baggage and not everyone is going to select a seat. Here you pay for what you want.”
There’s nothing new there - that’s been the approach of budget airlines since they first took to the skies. But the 39-year-old Yeo believes that, in the current climate, explaining the à la carte model to consumers will bring results.
The signs are he might be right. Yeo is in the unusual position at the moment of being at an organisation - and an airline client at that - showing real growth. Recently, the airline reported an increase in gross revenue for 2008 by 25 per cent on the year earlier. The number of passengers rose 42.4 per cent to 3.2 million people as travellers traded down.
Despite the economic woes of major players such as Cathay Pacific, Yeo argues there has never been a better time to be in aviation in Asia. He sees growth for Tiger because “only a fraction” of people in Asia have experienced air travel and the low fare proposition that his airline brings could mean huge growth opportunities.
Yeo’s appointment saw the merging of Tiger’s Asian and Australian marketing operations. Tiger, which is based out of Singapore, was founded in 2003 and modelled on Ireland’s Ryanair. With destinations including Australia and India, it has looked beyond the short-haul Asia market. It has set up a new base in Adelaide and launched new flights in the profitable Sydney-to-Melbourne route. It is looking to accelerate aircraft deliveries over the next three years and has 56 new aircraft on order for delivery through to 2016. However, Yeo admits that it is still an “underdog” compared with Jetstar, also based out of Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur-based AirAsia. AirAsia in particular, under PR-savvy founder Tony Fernandes, has a habit of punching above its weight.
In response, he says, Tiger Airways will try to differentiate itself by offering not only the lowest fares but a different kind of a customer service and experience. “You might be very cheap but if one has to go through a lot of trouble to avail your services it might not be worth it. We obviously reach out to budget and price-conscious travellers but we want to bring value to them not only through price but through a little extra smile, the ease with which they booked and seamless service.”
Given this goal, he has set out to put the airline much more firmly in touch with potential passengers. Here Yeo, a man with clear passion and energy for his brands, has a very definite plan.
“First, we pull out the customer base in our top markets, get good insights on who the customer is and start market research. Second, we look at our customers and think how we can tailor our products to give a better customer experience. Third, we need to grow the existing database so that we have to find new customers out there who might have never flown with us or are flying currently with our competitors. I would like them to try flying with us.”
Yeo also wants to “bring up the personality” of Tiger as a brand. “When people think of airlines they should think of Tiger Airways”, he says.
It is the chance to get involved so deeply with a brand that lured Yeo from his previous position at Singapore Tourism Board (STB), where he had a brief to develop the Mice industry in Singapore.
“I really enjoyed my time at STB, but it was similar to working at an agency in that you are always playing a secondary role. If you are a client and I am the agency I can give you the most amazing ideas and if you say no, what can I do? One of the key things that attracted me was that now I can do something. I can make a difference and bring something to the market directly.”
Given the current state of the market, Yeo might be on his way to making that difference.
Derek Yeo’s CV
2009 Head of marketing, Tiger Airways
2007 Assistant director, cluster development — Mice, Singapore Tourism Board (STB)
2001 Deputy director of marketing, Arts Council
2000 Internet marketer, Creative Technoloy
1999 Planner, Publicis Singapore
1997 Senior trade officer, IE Singapore