Airports for the Future

By Elias Rassi
Wednesday morning at ACI-NA’s 2013 Marketing and Communications Conference featured one of the most popular and inspirational sessions from Coca-Cola’s Chief Marketing Officer Joe Tripodi. This blog isn’t about Tripodi’s presentation; however, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what it meant to the staff and guests to hear him speak.

Tripodi discussed Coke’s efforts to grow its brand and help connect customers to its various products through unique experiential marketing campaigns. Perhaps the most impressive happened in March 2013 when the company set out to break down barriers and create a simple moment of connection between two nations – India and Pakistan – in an initiative labeled as “Small World Machines.” These machines provided a live communications portal between people in both countries and showed the power of human connection far surpasses the differences that set us apart.

Tripodi also showcased how Coke bridged the gap between the creative side and the technical side by bringing people together with the sounds of their favourite sports during the 2012 Olympic summer games in London. The challenge there was to come up with a creative experience for visitors given the amount of space that was provided. What you’ll see and hear was a game changer at the Olympics for the fan experience.

Now, for the real point of this blog – talking about the session titled “Airports for the Future: Trend for Serving Tomorrow’s Travelers”. This session featured Bob Hazel, who is a partner at consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, and CNN Airport reporter Holly Firfer.

Oliver Wyman's Bob Hazel

Both Hazel and Firfer touched on something very important about the future of airports: the most successful airports realize that they are part of a competitive ecosystem, but are willing to work together to enhance the customer experience. Airports are taking experiences that travelers would see outside of the airport and bringing them as part of their overall travel experience, combining fitness (airport yoga, anyone?), fresh and healthy food, art exhibits, interactive directories, and communicating with passengers like never before. People are starting to realize that airports offer a lot more to the overall travel experience than the transition point between ground and air.

(The June edition of Centerlines also takes a look at this topic, including the unique way Finland’s airports sought to improve customer service.)

CNN Airport's Holly Firfer

And there is no doubt that, today, the airport experience is better for what it provides its customers.

Airports have a variety of customer groups and extend their focus beyond the airlines and airport environment. The most successful airports in the world understand strong customer orientation that speaks to each individual group and has a strategy in place to maximize their relationship. Creating a customer profile by segment will help understand which groups generate more revenue for the airports. Airports need to know as much as they can about their customers, about their behaviours and about their spending habits.  Over the past five years, airports and airlines have improved their relationship and it’s a sign that they are starting to truly understand each other’s business.

How we can talk about the future of, well, anything really, without talking about technology. Technology plays a significant role at our airports, and it’s important to use or invent your own innovations, create a unique amenity for users that they will love and helps create a unique identity for that airport.

As for what the future holds for airports, there are a few ideas from Hazel’s presentation:

  • Check-in process will likely disappear, moving towards automated processing and curb to plane experience will be more direct
  • Bag drop will be linked with automated recognition cards, making it quick and easy
  • Security will be better and more civilized, same with border control
  • Better dining and retail choices
  • Bag drop will be linked with automated recognition cards, making it quick and easy
  • Bag tracking like you would a package from FedEx or UPS, reducing the chance of losing luggage
  • Airports will focus on developing innovative customer services and look for ways to distinguish themselves and make themselves enchanting
  • Quite simply, as Firfer put it, airports are becoming mini-cities.

Life moves very fast and even faster once you’re in the airplane. So, take a moment, stop and look around the next time you’re at the airport. You may just realize how wonderful they truly are.

And, if you want more information, Hazel in 2012 wrote two reports looking down the road, The Future of Airports: Five Trends that Should Be on Every Airport’s Radar, and The Future of Airports: Eight Ways Airports Can Differentiate Themselves from Competitors

 

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by on June 10, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Airlines, Airport management, Airports, Marketing Communication, Training
Posted by Tom Smith on June 10, 2013

http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2013/06/10/airports-for-the-future/

There is a TV unit outside . . .

By Caroline O’Reilly
Wednesday afternoon’s twin sessions of the Practical PR Forum and Media Training with CNN offered conference attendees a veritable boot camp of all things communications, but particularly those on-the-spot, spur-of-the-moment situations that every airport media contact inevitably confronts.  Both sessions boasted a strong mix of panelists and audience members engaged in dynamic dialogue, with just as many questions posed as there were anecdotes and examples shared of how airports across the U.S. and Canada have maintained grace under pressure in times of various crises.

Moderated by Orlando International’s Carolyn Fennell and Ottawa International’s Krista Kealey, the PR forum proved an ideal prelude to the latter media-training session.  Discussion traveled across a spectrum of topics, from how to keep affected stakeholders in the loop on large-scale, multi-year construction projects, to how to decide if and when to grant outside video and film crews access and to which areas and assets of an airport.  Miami International’s Greg Chin, whose airport just happens to be the star of “Airport 24/7: Miami” on the Travel Channel, shared a valuable overview (in addition to a snazzy highlight reel) on the logistics that guide the complexity of producing the popular series, from coordinating with federal authorities in Washington, D.C., and ensuring that legal and regulatory clearances are met, to convincing airlines that service MIA to agree to be part of the filming.

Television then truly took the helm during the media training session, courtesy of CNN Airport’s Alison Hashimoto and Fennell, whose resume includes production for “World News Tonight” on ABC.  They were joined by the dynamic Nadia Bilchik, a CNN freelance anchor and Atlanta-based media trainer.  Earlier in the week, a mock CNN camera crew intercepted conference attendees and asked them a few questions that often resemble the ambush-style interrogations airport media personnel often field during instances of breaking news or investigative pursuits.  During the Wednesday session, several of these responses were played and then critiqued.  The fact that the majority of the recommendations for improvement made by Bilchik, who readily established a direct and honest rapport with attendees, focused on slight stylistic suggestions indicated that the messages of North America’s airports continued to be delivered by exceptionally talented spokespersons.

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by on June 7, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Airports, Marketing Communication
Posted by Tom Smith on June 7, 2013

http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2013/06/07/there-is-a-tv-unit-outside/

Coca-Cola’s Take on Staying Relevant

By Christine Cusatis, Centerlines editor
It has been 127 years since Coca-Cola was introduced in 1886, and, according to Joe Tripodi, the company’s Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer, the current challenge is how to stay “familiar and fresh.”

Coke's Joe Tripodi

Tripodi, formerly a chief architect for Mastercard’s notorious “Priceless” campaign, shared six tips on Wednesday to the Marketing and Communications Conference meeting in Coke’s hometown of Atlanta that have helped him steer one of the world’s most iconic brands:

  1. Great stories matter. “Stories are the new currency,” Tripodi said. Create an emotional connection your audience, as illustrated in this Coca-Cola campaign: www.youtube.com/watch?v=91LbDe-OPCg 
  2. Advocacy is your new sales force. The right people can build your business for you, Tripodi said. Work to understand and manage influential groups such suppliers, governments, investors, agencies, detractors and the media. Tripodi cited a Coca-Cola campaign in Australia that engaged the media by branding cans and bottles with popular first names.
  3. Create an environment for conversations. Vending machines in Singapore that supply free Coca-Cola in exchange for hugs exemplify this concept.
  4. Think big, start small, scale fast. “Our biggest competitor is our past,” said Tripodi. “Our biggest challenge, currently, is our future.” Don’t slip into complacency. “Stay very humble and very hungry,” he said.
  5. Disrupt or be disrupted.  Innovative marketing techniques disrupt traditional views and lead to experiential brand opportunities.
  6. The future belongs to the optimist. This is guiding principal for the company, which has gone as far as creating vending machines that serve as virtual portals between people in India and Pakistan.

(Look for this presentation on the Marketing and Communication  Committee webpage once the presentations are posted next week.)

 

 

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by on June 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Airports, Marketing Communication
Posted by Tom Smith on June 6, 2013

http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2013/06/06/coca-colas-take-on-staying-relevant/

Opportunity Abounds in Regional International Service

By Matt Cornelius
Representatives from two major air carriers, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, together with an airport representative from Costa Rica, described the burgeoning international network opportunities for regional service in a lively Wednesday morning panel at the 2013 ACI-NA Marketing and Communications Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

To the north, trans-border traffic between Canada and United States is expanding, with new routes opening between smaller communities enabled by new aircraft. South of the United States, several airlines are expanding throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, capitalizing on emerging markets and a growing propensity to travel among the population.

JetBlue has seized on American’s withdrawal from San Juan and is creating links to its major cities in the U.S. as well as across the islands and Latin America. While not calling San Juan a hub, JetBlue is creating “enhanced connectivity” through incremental schedule changes that enable additional connection options for travelers looking to get to other islands or even South America.

Southwest Airlines is keenly eyeing this growth potential as well, looking to leverage its enhanced capacity in new Boeing 737-800 aircraft or their new Evolve seating to start serving some of these communities just outside American borders. The airline is working to enhance its reservation capabilities to enable these international routes and expects to be flying by its planes there by the end of 2014.

This was welcome news to Maria Revelo’s ears, Commercial Director for the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose, Costa Rica, who described the transformation of Costa Rica into a valuable business and leisure destination with “so much opportunity.” One thing is clear from this morning – airlines are seeing these opportunities and starting to cash in.

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by on June 6, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Airlines, Airports
Posted by Tom Smith on June 6, 2013

http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2013/06/06/opportunity-abounds-in-regional-international-service/

“Go Make Some Opportunities Happen”

By Caroline O’Reilly
This morning’s first session, which had the rather succinct title of “State of the Industry,” seemed an apt way in which to kick off a busy first day at ACI-NA’s trio of conferences here in Atlanta: Marketing and Communications, Small Airports and JumpStart® Air Service Development Program.  Because airports need to keep nimble when it comes to marketing, whether it’s attracting new air service or engaging various stakeholders in the importance of their community presence and operations, the large legacy airlines seem to provide a cautionary tale.

George Hamlin

All airlines, but particularly the legacies, will need to actively pursue other sources of revenue to supplement their primary passenger revenue.  To put it more bluntly, in the words of session presenter George Hamlin, president of Hamlin Transportation Consulting, “If you just rely on passenger revenue, you’re going to go broke.”  The same maxim is true for airports.  Those airlines that have tended to be more successful in recent years, according to Hamlin, have been the smaller carriers that have better demonstrated creativity toward their bottom line.  These airlines generally have been more imaginative in configuring routes and acquiring assets, in addition to attracting passengers and building brand recognition.

“The heyday of the regional jet is gone, so air service development needs to adapt,” Hamlin noted.  And just like the large legacy carriers on which many of them rely, airports across North America will need to consider truly how they will transform themselves to ensure a successful future.   At the very least, airports must get ahead of the airlines when it comes to communicating their importance to the public and why their markets warrant competitive service.  In others words, said Hamlin, it’s time for airports to “go make some opportunities happen.”

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by on June 5, 2013  •  Permalink
Posted in Airlines, Airports, Marketing Communication
Posted by Tom Smith on June 5, 2013

http://www.aci-na.org/blog/2013/06/05/go-make-some-opportunities-happen/

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