Image Credit: Vishal Jolapara
Yeh Air India ka Boeing 707 Delhi se London jaa raha hain“.This assuring voice is heard in the background as a young and demure Sharmila Tagore flutters her false eyelashes, dressed in a stylish sari with a designer blouse whilst seated in an Air india plane bound for London and subsequently Paris (I am assuming) in the 1968 breezy romance An Evening in Paris I am enjoying this entertainer on a lazy Sunday afternoon with my extended family on Doordarshan, which has been kind enough to showcase this classic. Suddenly, my paternal aunt and her friend, both visiting from the US and loyal Air India regulars interject out of nowhere – “Beta, we almost always prefer to fly Air India only whenever we visit India. There is no one else who comes even remotely close to their services on this route. Just then her youngest son, all of just 21 years, born and bred in the US, who is witnessing all this snaps at her in utter bewilderment, “Mom you’ve got to be kidding me, Air India is so yesterday.” Little did he know that Air India, the toast of Indian aviation through the decades, had colonised the minds of flyers at one point of time i.e atleast until privatisation happened. Yes, being the only airline, there were seismic repercussions to whatever it did and this gave it a direct hotline to the flyers’ heartlines in those times.
But definitely not any more. And I am certainly in no mood to devote reams of print space to what has gone horribly wrong with Air India. Suffice to say we know fully well that Air India is plagued by an identity that is reflective of poor service, bureaucracy, faded glory and government legacy. The personality represents a grandpa and the mood may seem old-world and boring. I could go on and on about the ills plaguing our national carrier, but again, enough said.
Now let us for once look at the positives and how these can be leveraged to make Air India cooler and sexier for a millenial generation. What is holding Air India back from reaching and bonding with millennials? After all, this is a growing tribe that travels at a feverish pace, be it for business or leisure And they are smart, fast-evolving and most importantly open to change.
So where is the opportunity for Air India? What are some of those out of the box, yet viable and doable innovations that the airline can deploy to bounce back? It has been fairly traditional in its approach until now and it definitely needs a bit of a marketing shake-up that will serve as a breath of fresh air.
Powerful airline brands draw more travellers and make more money. Why? Simply because travellers have a clear idea of what they stand for. A number of strong associations spring to mind – values, visual icons, heritage, culture, art and products. It is the “soft power” that draws you in. Ultimately brands exist in people’s hearts & minds. And today Air India is the sum of people’s feelings and perceptions — both positive and negative. A strange and rather curious mix! So here goes.
HOT OFF THE TARMAC — WE’VE GOT SOME GREAT STORIES TO TELL YOU
Firstly dial up your core values for the benefit of younger consumers – values that all flyers are fruitlessly searching for amongst competitors. Warm, hospitable, caring and if I may add, the current mood of the nation, patriotic. Combine this with its greatest asset — the stories that we can tell (remember we have been around for the longest time) and make this into a movie. Not a three-hour-long big-budget spectacle but short format, crisp and snackable content that is both endearing and one that places Air India at the heart of the entire narrative. Make no mistake, this is not a branded promotional sales-heavy digital film that glorifies everything that Air India does right. But a simple relatable story that tugs at your heart-strings and one that is produced by the likes of Netflix or Amazon Prime Studio (both great unifiers amongst today’s youth) cutting across regions and cities. One thing that consistently stayed with me after watching Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a fleeting scene where one of the characters is shown boarding and disembarking from an Air India aircraft.
Image Credit: Vishal Jolapara
MEET THE REAL MOVERS & SHAKERS WHO MATTER (SOCIALLY)
In this day and age of paid social media influencers and Instagrammers, wouldn’t a dash of some real endorsement help? Especially from young entrepreneurs (a few poster boys of e-commerce, who fortunately subscribe to an old world school of thought) and working professionals, both of whom, I know, swear by the airline. Now I also do know that that is a tad hard to believe, but let’s just say that given a choice they would prefer to fly only and only Air India on certain routes (never mind the limited connections from Mumbai.) So be it flying directly to certain destinations in the US such as New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C, or even Scandinavian countries such as Stockholm and Copenhagen, for business apart, from the popular Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern routes, Air India is preferred over the others. Some of these who believe Air India still represents the gold standard in flying (ok maybe for business class atleast) will be willing to share anecdotes on a recent yet memorable experience with the airline. And why not. In fact, if approached with the right intention and pitch, these young torchbearers who are at the helm of some of the most successful unicorns in India should be more than happy to spread the word. Through their blogs, social media handles, social circles they move in et al. And it obviously helps that these are young guns that every millennial with entrepreneurial ambitions looks up to
Now wouldn’t that be some genuine and real influencing in the truest sense of the term? It may take some time to show results but would definitely be far more credible and sustainable than those mere flashes in the pan that never really flash. Most importantly, instead of focusing on the negatives this will help address popular misconceptions by creating allies and champions for Air India, something the airline sorely needs.
It goes without saying that given a fairly high degree of scepticism, credibility for the above would also depend on how Air India is seen walking the talk on this. All of the above has to necessarily be accompanied by massive improvements in service enhancements on the ground nevertheless. But then, someone has to signal that change in the air right. And to be able to build interest and regain confidence the key triggers could be any. If nothing else this could definitely offer a fresh perspective on Air India to millennials who are currently biased against the airline.
And finally what are we hoping to achieve – shift behaviour from
I am going to New York
To
I am flying AIR INDIA to New York
Now that is a decent start and something worth trying!!
Ameya Bundellu
