-
Links
- marketing for airlines - Marketing services for airlines (english)
- amara, ingeniería de márketing - Marketing Consultancy Services (spanish)
mobile marketing and airlines
According to the 2009 Netsize Mobile Marketing Survey: “Can companies and brands rise to challenge and cash in on the mobile marketing opportunity?” mobile marketing is becoming a force to be reckoned with as part of integrated marketing strategies.
56% of the experts surveyed reported that they are already using mobile phones for gaining new customers but the percentage rose to 64% if the goal was to keep customers and promote loyalty.
For airlines this mode of contacting customers is ideal for attaining direct, personalised communication. A simple way of providing services and assistance which at a low cost to the company gives rise to heightened user satisfaction.
Most airline customers possess a mobile telephone and tend to hold on to it both before and during flights which means that information related to the flight or ground services can be easily communicated such as directions to the departure gate, announcements of delays or the confirmation of the availability of other services pre-booked for arrival (confirmation of hotel transfer services or vehicle hire for example).
In this way users’ mobile phones can be used for interaction, transaction and communications with uses including making and receiving calls to the sending of SMS or MMS text messages and proximity marketing.
Proximity marketing basically involves the transmission of information of general interest or advertising though messages, either multimedia, text, images and/or music to any mobile telephone equipped with Bluetooth. This information will be received by any customer within a distance of between approximately 3 and 100m. Unlike SMS, MMS AND WAP messages, no personal information such as mobile telephone numbers is required. Bluetooth communications can be accepted or rejected by the person receiving the message. If the message is rejected or ignored then no further contact will be generated, however should the request be accepted, then the contents will download for free.
If these contents turn out to be useful, even if they not have been expressly requested, they will be welcomed by the great majority of users.
Some airlines have already started to think about mobile phone marketing. American Airlines has recently started to make a new mobile phone service available for the members of its loyalty scheme; this service uses recognition of the identity of the caller in order to identify the customer calling in to find out additional information on their flights. It is known as “Remember Me” and aims to help the members of the American Airlines Advantage Loyalty Scheme when they call in to request information on departure dates, flight times etc.
Another option is for the boarding card to be sent to specially equipped mobile phones.
According to a study performed by the Airline Business magazine and published by emarketer.com, notification of flight delays or cancellations by SMS is the commonly employed mobile phone services, used by 38% of all airlines, a figure which is forecast to rise to 42% by the end of 2010.
Only 15% of airlines have adapted their websites for mobile phones and only 12% allow payment for flight tickets or any purchases made during the flight with cell phones.
Last June Ryanair launched a booking conformation service by SMS at the cost of one euro, after an agreement was reached between the Irish low-cost airline and 15below, a provider of solutions for airlines. In a communiqué, Ryanair stated that with this service, passengers would no longer have to print out the email confirmation in order to get hold of their flight details which are now to be sent out directly to their mobile phones in the 24 hours after their booking is made.
The Malaysian airline, Air Asia has also presented the first SMS text flight booking system.
These initiatives show that there is a great potential for the application of mobile phone marketing for airlines, although it is still uncommon
Given that the service is highly rated by passengers, especially by frequent flyers, the development of services in this direction could turn out to be highly competitive.
Sources:
http://www.marketingdirecto.com/noticias/35964-el-56-especialistas-marketing-ya-usa-el-movil-para-captar-nuevos-clientes
http://www.mobile-marketing-blog.net/2009/02/new-mobile-services-from-american.html
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/semana/38/aerolineas/alertan/SMS/retraso/vuelo/elpeputeccib/20090730elpciblse_3/Tes
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_de_proximidad
http://www.ryanair.com/site/ES/faqs.php?sect=pnr&quest=sms&xtmc=servicio%20sms&xtcr=2
http://www.airasia.com/site/gb/en/page.jsp?reference=mci
http://www.lasvegasbluetooth.com/
Similar posts:
- Strategic marketing for airports
- on-line marketing for airlines
- airlines and web 2.0
- code sharing as a competitive weapon
- e-mail marketing
Your comment |
Email This Post
| | Visit our website
comments
Your comment: