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Those who travel are influencers and trend setters as they frequently experience, consume and share new ideas, especially upon their return home. A shopping spree in Paris, for instance, can easily turn into a lively replay of the experience at a gathering with friends, not to mention a possible reveal of the purchase. The cycle repeats itself when friends visit the same destination seeking a similar experience and product. Marketers have long recognized the power of such viral conversations by consumers and are now seeking to leverage captive flight time to demonstrate and sample new products at 35,000 feet to influence their popularity elsewhere. The trend seems to be heading into high gear not with the likes of Ryanair, but instead with a new crop of low cost flyers emerging from Asia. The move potentially represents a new ancillary revenue stream for the industry as manufacturers typically spend US hundreds of millions of dollars in new consumer product launches and promotions each year.
Recently Jetstar Asia announced a partnership with Sunsilk, a brand of hair care products produced by the Unilever Group. The deal signing is an attempt for Sunsilk to target Singaporean women in a “unique and captivating way”, says Tina Koh, Brand Manager of Unilever Singapore. In the new agreement, all Jetstar Asia flight attendants will now be required to give an in-flight demonstration on all flights leaving Singapore on how to properly use Sunsilk’s new Damaged Hair Reconstruction product line. The flight attendants show passengers each product and simulate usage, including a mock shampoo demonstration and during the flight, give a sample Sunsilk trial package to each female passenger onboard. CEO of Jetstar Asia, Chong Phit Lian comments, “One need not miss new product launches now, even while during air travel.”
With nearly 2 million passengers in the air at any one time, the airline industry presents a formidable consumer product launch platform. Combine this with passenger demographics and destination and marketers are provided the ability to test product acceptance as well. In such a scenario, the airline, flight attendants and even the passengers are given the opportunity to earn benefits in the form cash compensation and product discounts.
As airlines begin to create new sources of revenue streams, they are increasingly looking for innovative marketing approaches that help their passengers feel privileged. Being the first to experience a new product or service can facilitate this goal. The adoption of in-flight merchandising through the sales of ground transportation transfers, theatre tickets and catalogue merchandise has already begun with the GuestLogix OnTouch™ service. These initiatives allow the flight attendants to serve as a new driver at keeping airlines profitable, allowing the crew to provide unique offerings to better their passengers’ experience, help to increase loyalty, and potentially earn the flight crew commissions.
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