What began as a very simple task (resizing some American ads for the UK market) snowballed into a multi-million pound integrated campaign on both sides of the Atlantic.
We were particularly proud of the positioning of ‘Affordable privilege’ that underpinned all our work.
BRIEF
In 2½ years of operation, MAXjet made many friends. Keeping them was sometimes challenging. Their concept was new. They opened four transatlantic routes with an all-business-class service at a price that brought smiles even to the most hardened business class traveller. Like many start-ups, they found the learning curve steep, and manpower and resources stretched to the limit. Technical issues led to cancellations, and poor communication intensified dissatisfaction.
Digital-savvy customers with high expectations and low patience started to share their frustrations in a very public way. In December 2006 there were 942 active bloggers all writing about MAXjet – and much of it was not good.
SOLUTION
If you can’t improve technical reliability, you can change the way you communicate and engage. t7F developed a two-tiered strategy to address the problem both immediately and for the longer term.
To manage adverse online noise and to limit the growth of negativity, t7F started a programme of positive engagement with passengers who were being let down, and with negative bloggers. We used a personal, non-corporate style in emails and blogs, coupled with ‘random acts of kindness’ – gift giving, personal phone calls – and also learning how to say sorry and explain rather than just run away and hide.
For the longer term, we developed a full customer service programme – Aiming for Excellence. This was implemented company-wide and was designed not just to change customer-facing behaviours but also internal relations.
Aiming for Excellence was all about personal standard setting, good communication, taking responsibility and initiatives, performing beyond customer expectation, and challenging the market.
RESULT
The result was startling. The public mood changed. Customers moved from complaining to understanding, supporting and advocating. MAXjet employees started to connect or re-connect with the customer, each other and with the business mission.
And it was recognised. Readers of the prestigious Travel + Leisure magazine in the US voted MAXjet No. 2 international airline behind the highly acclaimed Singapore Airlines…despite continuing cancellations.
