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Simpliflying, the leading airline branding portal, in concert with Hospitality Integrated Marketing of New York, today announced the first in a series of free online educational events for airline executives and brand specialists. The webinar, entitled “Airlines 2.0: Using Technology for Innovative Branding During the Recession” and will be held Live on January 8, 2008 at 2:00PM Eastern Time. This will be repeated for audience in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Australia on the same day, at 6am GMT (10am, Dubai; 2pm Singapore/Hong Kong; 5pm Sydney). The webinar will be led by Mr. Shashank Nigam, who is considered an airline branding authority.
A McKinsey case study recently claimed that companies that emerged successfully out of recessions have done so by cultivating loyal customers through tough times – who stuck by the brand.
“In order to rebuild and reinforce brand equity, there is a need for airlines to get closer to the customer, looking beyond the traditional means. It is a known fact that consumer preferences drastically change during downturns. Now that technology has become pervasive, airlines should try to leverage it to build their brands and empower loyal customers.” says Singapore – based Shashank Nigam, CEO of SimpliFlying.
In these difficult times, many airlines have found that churn dramatically increases, as customers hunt for the lowest fares. This means that in addition to slowing demand from new passengers, airlines tend to lose loyal customers too. An educational series focused on branding strategies for the airline industry will coach executives on maximizing the airline's marketing dollars in a downturn.
“I saw a real need in the marketplace. There were few options for airlines to take advantage of learning opportunities on an on-going basis. With radical changes in marketing, branding and technology, continual people development is essential.” says Jeff Ogden, President of Hospitality Integrated Marketing, Inc. “I’m pleased to work with the real expert in this field, the gentleman behind the well respected airline branding website, Simpliflying.com,” Mr. Ogden adds.
The educational series will include eye–opening case studies from leading airlines like JetBlue Airways, Virgin America, Southwest, AirFrance–KLM, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and more.
“Certainly, there’s a lot to be learnt from their best practices as well as other developments in the field. The first webinar will educate airlines on how to get closer to the customer, by using technology innovatively and by adding a personality to the brand.” Mr. Nigam adds.
Airline and branding executives interested in learning more about the opportunity can register at SimpliFlying.com. There are plans to hold at least one webinar per month in 2009.
About SimpliFlying
SimpliFlying (simpliflying.com) is an award-winning website focused exclusively on airline marketing and branding, which is currently counted among the Top 100 aviation websites. It explores issues that affect airlines across the world, from full service to budget carriers – all with the airline brand in mind.
Allen Adamson, MD of Landor Associates New York, refers to SimpliFlying as “a site well respected by those in the airline industry and those interested in marketing to travelers. It’s a unique blog, both in its comprehensiveness and its emphasis on airline branding.”
About Hospitality Integrated Marketing
Hospitality Integrated Marketing, Inc is a leading internet marketing firm based in New York.
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