As my consulting partner and colleague @Jishnu Changkakoti and I spent more than 25 years each in the FMCG industry we have become compulsive viewers of advertising and enjoy putting ourselves in the client’s mind, grappling with the challenges and the issues. Which is why the new Air India in-flight safety video attracted our attention. I know that’s not traditional advertising, but as a communication vehicle, we were quite interested in digging in deep.
Firstly, a small conceptual dilemma. When we speak of banks, airlines, restaurants and hotels, to take a few examples, we classify these as services. But is there a hard line between a service and a product. While Relationship Managers in banking or the Reception staff in a hotel are delivering the service, expectedly with a smile, isn’t there a strong physical element as well? Would a comfortable airline seat be a product or part of the service of comfortable flying? Isn’t the ambience in an upscale bank’s office, an important product part of the service?
Let’s go by what we expect as regular users of airlines, banks and hotels. All of us want prompt and courteous handling of our banking queries or a super-efficient hotel with a speedy check-in. Having a good experience is as much a function of the staff as of the physical infrastructure.
Let’s see what the Air-India video achieves.
Communication Objectives: Clearly, the intent is to make guests comfortable and reassure them that their safety and comfort will be assured. This is critical given the bad publicity the airline frequently receives from dissatisfied flyers who complain about everything from broken entertainment systems to poor food and surly staff.
Target Audience: This video is mainly for the guest who has already chosen to fly Air-India though it aspires to create some positive word of mouth for the airline from satisfied passengers. Thus, it does also target the prospective flyer who may have dropped out of the AI fold due to prior bad experiences, as well as those who have resolved never to fly AI due to the adverse feedback from friends and strangers alike.
Proposition: The in-flight safety video is designed to put you in a good mood before the flight takes off. It does this skilfully with the use of a palette of diverse and beautiful vignettes drawn from Indian culture.
Creative Idea: By incorporating some of the greatest Indian dance traditions, the AI video weaves a visual treat for the guest. The rich colours, sheer beauty of India’s traditional arts and culture and immense diversity makes this almost like the perfect advertising campaign for our country and all that it offers to tickle and thrill our senses. Each vignette has been executed with beauty and grace. Even die-hard critics of India will mellow after experiencing this video. The proof of this is in the rapid sharing of the video on social media that is creating buzz and goodwill for the airline.
Brand Integration: We felt that AI has done a good job of appropriating India’s cultural traditions and seemingly owning them as if they are the trademark of the airline itself. Watched in any setting other than the flight about to take off, it could be mistaken for a Tourism of India campaign, though that’s a good association to own.
Campaign or One-Off: With India’s vast and unlimited culture, this campaign could refresh itself never endingly, and draw content from every state and district, making for the broadest possible appeal.
Our Issue: If Air-India had been our student of Marketing, we would have awarded them a perfect 10. We are not easy to please, so this is a rare moment and AI can be proud of what it has created. Of course, this is all said, tongue in cheek and with complete humility.
The issue we have is with the overall Air India offering. Customers continue to narrate horror stories about their experiences when flying our national carrier. Even under new owners, the changes have been slow, and it is clear to us that not even the highly respected House of Tata can reinvent an institution so old and set in its ways. They have a lot to do; we would say they need to overhaul everything. As frequent flyers ourselves, we look for a clean and comfortable physical environment, on-time arrivals, decent food, prompt transfers and some semblance of service when the need arises. Air India has become synonymous with bad food, malfunctioning equipment, rude staff, and a poor record of flying on time.
So, we have to ask: Wouldn’t the fundamentals need to be overhauled first? If the cake itself is not good, of what use is a great icing? Can you imagine watching this pre-flight video while seated in an uncomfortable chair, after a delay of a few hours and just realizing that the air conditioning is not working optimally?
Something to think about, no?