05/12/2010
04/19/2010
Travelers Like the iPad
Nearly half of the iPad public Wi-Fi traffic is coming from airports. What does this mean for Marketers?
03/08/2010
01/21/2010
01/13/2010
Last Chance for Free Wi-Fi
This Friday is the last day to take advantage of Google's
Holiday gift of FREE Wi-Fi at 54 participating airports.
12/21/2009
Check-In Kiosks: Making Life Easier for Travelers and Offering Unique Advertising Opportunities for Savvy Companies
As many of you
frequent travelers know, self check-in kiosks at the airport are the way to go
when you cannot print your boarding pass ahead of time. It seems the airlines are finally
starting to catch on and are now offering more kiosks in more locations, even
outside of the airport, to reduce lines and traffic jams at the ticket counters. New locations for the kiosks include
airport rental car offices, hotel lobbies, parking garages and other outdoor
locations near the airport. Many
hotels are now offering self check-in kiosks for certain airlines in their
lobbies. (How many times have you
wished you could simply print your boarding pass at the hotel?) Select airport kiosks are even offering
hotel and car rental check-in as a one-stop source for your travel needs.
Savvy companies such as Hotels.com have already started to take advantage of these unique advertising opportunities. With more and more travelers turning to self check-in kiosks it only makes sense to capture that captive audience. Ad placements include on the outside of the kiosk, on the screen and even on the tickets that passengers are printing out.
According to an article in USA Today, The share of travelers using self-service check-in , whether kiosks or airline websites, grew by about 20% this year. The article also states that at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, the world's busiest airport, about 46% used airport kiosks.
Check out this related article on
InterAir Media
Happy Traveling this Holiday Season!
12/02/2009
Passengers Gobble Up Free Wi-Fi on Delta Airlines
Delta Airlines passengers on 260 planes (more than 1,000 flights) were treated to free Wi-Fi this Thanksgiving Holiday and eBay picked up the tab. This partnership was great brand exposure for eBay and also allowed Delta to highlight its moves to add Wi-Fi to its planes. It hopes to have 300 Wi-Fi equipped aircraft by year end and 530 by June 2010.
Delta Airlines released this statement
10/07/2009
In-Flight Advertising Already Effective – But Must Boost Creativity To Keep Flyer Interest
The New York Times ran an article recently about in-flight advertising. One sentence set the tone:
“As if flying wasn’t miserable enough,” the writer opined, “now, after being frisked at security, jockeying for overhead bin space, and squeezing into that remaining middle seat, passengers must endure a string of in-flight advertisements.”
There’s some truth in the statement, though. Consumers generally are suspect about the increasing bombardment of advertising. In-flight ads can be found on the security trays, ticket folders, cocktail napkins, tray tables, in-flight TVs, and air sickness bags. Even flight attendants hawk special offers as they walk the aisles.
Advertising has become a permanent fixture in the skies. One carrier, U.S. Airways, reported it tallies $20 million a year from onboard ads, according to the Times.
While effective, it’s important that the in-flight and airport media industry ensure in-flight and airport ads capture passenger attention – and keep them amused and interested.
That’s where creativity or even humor comes in. Creative hot shop Crispin Porter + Bogusky once placed a Mini Cooper on a pedestal in a mall (could just have easily been an airport terminal) – as if it were one of those quarter-a-shot pony rides. Multiple, humorous messages, games or riddles on the tray tables could invite conversation between passengers. Flight attendant could call out questions whose answers are on select trays. The prize: A free beverage.
Wrote the Times: A Tylenol PM tray table offered simple exercises passengers could do in their seat (knee lifts, foot rolls, etc.) to avoid stiffness.
To be sure, some advertising is intrusive. But recall is sky-high in a venue where passengers are captive for hours on end.
To counter passenger frustration, smart advertisers, airlines and airports are striving to make in-flight and in-terminal advertising / media as unobtrusive as possible. As a medium not fully defined as of yet, it's an evolving concept is becoming a humorous, even rewarding experience.
It’s up to skillful advertising creative talent to help ensure the message is well received – and remains effective for those marketers who have decided to fly with in-flight ads.
09/30/2009
Airport & In-Flight Media Can Ground Consumer Anger
“This is the conundrum airlines face as they head into the busy holiday season: How many previously free services can they force fliers to pay for without risking a revolt?” the article notes. “But for fliers racked by the deep recession, paying for everything from checked luggage to a bag of chips on board can quickly become an aggravating wallet-buster.”
Continue reading "Airport & In-Flight Media Can Ground Consumer Anger" »
09/21/2009
Planes Arriving On Time; Exhausted Posteriors Rejoice
Last Monday, I read a story in the Chicago Tribune – during a layover, no less – that reported airlines made gains in on-time arrivals over the previous month, and even more over the same month the previous year. As someone whose job requires my constant presence in a seat on an airplane, I knew through my own experiences that these numbers would come out this way. Nearly 78% of airline flights arrived on time in July 2009, according to the
The bigger point, I think, is how much this has improved over a longer period of time. When I started my company in 2005 and began my sojourn as a frequent flyer, I’d say casually that two-third of the flights I was booked on left or arrived late, or both.
So last week’s news means fewer low back kinks and numb posteriors, and that passengers now have more time to soak in my airport advertising, and in a much better mood when they do so.
To read the whole story, click:
My blog is a nerd’s look at airport and inflight media and/or anything else that interests me that week. Lucky you.
Honestly, no bs, I love my job. I travel constantly, either for work or fun and when I do, I’m the guy that's running around trying to find all the advertising there is, taking pictures of it and commenting on it out loud to myself. So, I figured I’d start the blog, post my photos and comments here and look a little less crazy in public. I love advertising and am a huge believer in airport and in-flight which is why I focus on it - here in my blog and in my everyday work as CEO of InterAir Media. As our society develops and people watch TiVo instead of TV, read the news online instead of a newspaper, and listen to commercial free satellite radio instead of traditional radio, I believe that un-interrupted airport dwell time is going to be an advertiser’s jackpot.
Tell me this isn’t a great job.
