BRANDING

Published on December 8th, 2009 | by drkkr

7

JET LAG !!

I still remember that day, it was so much of excitement and of course it was a celebration.  The excitement was because I was flying for the first time, celebration because i was flying through Jet Airways – Brand.  Flying Jet  Brand– surely a pride, I went to the airport one and half hour before and the thrill started off right from the screening of the bag to the boarding pass/counter, to the announcement, to the aircraft, to the cabin crew, the ambiance, the food, the jet wings, the arrival, the punctuality, the collection of luggage”……it is their smiles and their professional service (incredible touch points) that made me to become their loyal customer.  I turned into true blue Jet Airways Brand evangelist.   I took lot of flights and most of them were Brand  Jet and used to take note of their best practices and share jet airways branding examples in many of my lectures and class rooms and of course inspired so many of my students to join Jet Brand . Jet Brand to me was always a class apart.I also enrolled into their frequent flier programe and earned points!! .

It was a time Brand Jet was royally beating Indian Airlines Brand on the sky.  To me, Brand Jet was flying five star services and it gave me a sense of pride to fly JET.  I was so obsessed with Jet Airways, I ended up flying even to an international destination in Jet with lot of dreams and even though I was not so happy but ended up concluding –  Jet Brand  India’s Best Airlines.

Brand JET used to enlighten every passenger, even the tiny tots, i enviously looked those small kids walking away with the small little bags, toys they bagged when they flew with their parents and I used to dream off when I have kids, I should fly through Jet where my kids will proudly carry those jet kid gifts and once I got married, I traveled with my 2 year old son who got a small cash box from Jet, who relishes this moment that occasion. There was an occasion when i negatively commented in their feed back form about the delayed service and lack of communication which i experienced, promptly with in a week i got a call from their manager  (Desmond ..hey i still remember) and they fixed up their appointment and visited me and conveyed their regrets and promised me that they will offer better service.  I was elated..never, never did i expect this. Brand Jet handled their customers so very well.

The first jolt came 7 years back when I went to the airport; it was Red all over which was arresting not just my attention, rather every ones.  Yes, Kingfisher (beer brand) had arrived and the Indian skies are opened with lot of private players getting on, with the simple – no service airline ”Deccan Airlines” shocking you with their price and so many other Brand of airlines trying to grab you.

Red… Kingfisher arrested my attention, (since I am a True Blue Jet Airways brand evangelist,) I bought my tickets only with Jet Airways.  But that day, I felt the Blue of Jet appeared to be slightly dull, comparing to the blazing “Red” of Kingfisher.

But some how Naresh Goel the Chairman also felt the same way , decided to do a face lift with the color psychology and  introduced yellow in to white/ blue jet.  Brand Jet also ran a campaign “we have changed”

which was ripped off by Kingfisher Brand by launching their campaign “we made them to change”.

Once I had to fly with Kingfisher (since I didn’t have any other airline choice) and I should confess I was completely floored, I am termed as a Guest and I was received from my car, the tag, the bag, the check in counter, the aircraft, the pen, the small kit which has the head phone, the menu card, the facial tissue, the exclusive television which had Iconic brands like Sachin, A.R. Rehman, to games, to management, to news to Karan Johor…. Hey I don’t have time to watch all these, because the flight takes off on time and arrives on time.     The delicious food and the gorgeous airhostess and now you have a tease, a frequent flier application form – why not? I promptly filled it. Who knows I might have to fly again through Kingfisher.

Lot happened in both the companies, both were moving fast……….. But I wasn’t sure about the direction then.

Jet Airways took over Air Sahara and canceled the deal (or) should I say aborted the deal.  Kingfisher took over the flight which was India’s common man flight, “The Deccan Airlines”

Jet sacked some of its employees (Jet employees where in Dharna!), and just because Raj Thackeray interfered the employees were taken by Jet. Hello!! The best practices of Jet?!  I was completely puzzled reading the news item on the news papers.  Kingfisher recruited smarter men and women, bought lot more aircraft, was on to changing the brand image of Deccan Airlines (no Service airlines) into Kingfisher Red.

In between I started flying with both the airlines, but still had a soft corner towards brand Jet- because JET was love at first sight.  But brand Kingfisher always surprised me with their service.

During the month of September 2009, I had to fly off to UK from Chennai on 11^th September.  As usual my first preference was Jet Airways and booked my ticket.  Interestingly few days latter Jet Pilots went on strike.  I thought Jet will come out of this mess in no time.

But things were getting worse because Jet airways was canceling their flights right, left and center?!  But I clarified Jet Airways office and they confirmed that 9W2754 is flying on time on 11^th September 09.  With their assurance and my belief on Jet, I packed and slept since I was flying at 7:50 am.  On 11.09.2009 3.45 am, I get an SMS in my Mobile (luckily I haven’t switched off) from TM- Jet Air, “Jet Airways 9W2754 to MAA is Canceled.  Guests re-booked on Jet Airways 9W2723 at 19:05 pm. Guests to report at Jet Airways counter. I jumped out of my bed; my flight to London Heathrow is at 22.00 hours.  I cannot travel through Jet Airways since it will take 1:15 minutes to reach Chennai from my place and have to checkout and have the check in to the International airport and I need to report there three hours before departure.

I went online and used make my trip.com and booked a ticked with another brand of airlines at an exorbitant price which was scheduled to leave at 10:50am.

Jet surprised me with another message on 11.09.2009 – 6:53 am.  “Your flight 9W2754 has been canceled and combined with 9W2721 on 11^th September 2009 to leave CJB and reach MMA at 11:05 hours.  I was cursing myself for being so proactive and I canceled the ticket I booked online wasting the midnight oil and of course lost few bucks on cancellation charges.  Interestingly on that day Jet didn’t care, never mind, I was ready for my next flight.  That day Jet made me to think…..!?.

Not bad Jet Airways managed to sort out their problem with their employees in five days!! Another SMS from JET Airways: We are back with the same world class service. Thank you for your support. Welcome aboard. Great Show after canceling domestic and international flights leaving customers stranded!

On 14^th September 09, I promptly get another sms from Jet Airways, 50%off on total fare* for domestic travel between 14-18 September. Book between 14-16 September in economy class. Hurry! Limited seats.* Conditions apply.  What a great strategy to woo back the customers by offering discounts.  An airlines which ruled the skies by practicing the best service practices is now attracting customers by price discounts.

I have all these messages stored on my mobile and I have never intended to blog about this since Jet was my first flight and I always look upon it with pride with until I flew last week to Chennai along with my three year old son.

To my complete shock water was served in paper cups, what kind of customer service is it !!

is it cost cutting (or) out of stock of water cans, if it is cost cutting then they have already done that by selling food on board, no newspapers and interestingly my son was asking why the aunty read air hostess didn’t give me anything, he had flown earlier with Jet and with a big smile the airhostess used to give him his favorite cash box or bag and toffees…….. and I never knew that he ( 4 year old ) also had an expectation on brand  Jet.  I look upon the Jet employees at the airport counters and their dress is sagging like the company. That day i realized kids also have  a great say in brand choice, promptly my son suggested or convinced  me to buy the return tickets through King Fisher.

I decided to fly back through kingfisher and they as usual surprised me with their astonishing service and interestingly they surprised my son with a beautiful coloring book and their fantastic service.

Kingfisher :-  TOUCHPOINTS

The Uniform color

They receive you at the entrance of the airport

Assist you in carrying the luggage.

Do the baggage screening

Welcome you with a big smile at the counter.

You are hassle free at the check in counter

Give you clear direction about the flight boarding time, gate etc.

Do the boarding announcements clearly

Direct you towards the beautiful coach. The seats are POSH.

Receive you at the aircraft and leave you with the cabin crew.

Cabin crew welcomes you with a beautiful smile and if you think for a second, they ask you….may I help you.

The magazine

The food

The water

The seats

The smiles

The cleanliness

The frequent flier

The service is definitely awesome

Red Rocks…No….KINGFISHER RULES!!

So, I have turned RED!! And hope Jet realizes there are lot of customers who wish JET to fly high and wishing Jet the very best and to recover from where they are now and move on to what they where. Even a loyal customer might switch brand loyalty if the service is impressive. Hey, just a thought – we don’t go to star bucks just to drink Coffee!? It is time JET realizes to meet and beat customer expectations. JET RUE !!

Tags: airlines, BRAND, BRANDING, brandthink, drkkr, jet airways, kingfisher, MARKETING, service marketing, think

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drkkr

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