Kingfisher Airlines, based out of India is one of the world’s seven airlines to be ranked as a 5-star airline by Skytrax. They fly to 63 domestic destinations and 8 international destinations with an Airbus & ATR fleet. Headed by one of India’s most flamboyant tycoons Dr Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher has built a strong brand for itself in service and quality over the years. It wouldn’t be unfair to call Kingfisher the Virgin America of Indian skies.
Kingifsher just gained presence on twitter to add to their social media other than facebook.
I was talking to my friends over coffee and just sharing our experiences, so one of then told me how he had an amazing experience on Kingfisher when he was flying from Dubai – Cochin and Chennai – Dubai.
It was the first time he was flying with Kingfisher Airlines and being an avid tweeter, he decided to tweet on the kingfisher page before departure and instantly received a reply to enjoy their service.
When he arrived at Dubai Airport , and when his turn came to check in, the check in agent took a few moments to check her screen, consulted with the supervisor and gave him a free complimentary lounge access card. How cool is that??
Anyway I dint really get into details of what he did at the lounge, he continued when he was in the flight and when they started to serve the meals, the crew rolled up the cart first straight to where he was sitting in the middle of the plane and served him first. Getting VIP treatment in the economy class is quite commendable considering economy class is also know as cattle class in India.
My friends was stunned, as the cabin crew knew his name before hand and served him well and all the time came and made sure he was comfortable, which was a genuine way of serving customers well.
But these little personal touches always make a difference to a company’s reputation.
On his way back, he also mentioned how he almost missed his flight to Bengaluru and missed the bus to the plane and the kingfisher staff ferried him again to the plane in their car just in time. This is quite commendable considering airlines don’t really care if you miss your flight especially if your travelling economy class.
On his way back when he was eating his noodles, 2 of the kingfisher staff came upto him and said “Mr Gandhi we were looking for you”, and they once again made his day. After a few minutes, he was escorted to a lounge at Chennai Airport, and the staff told him that they will fetch him when it is time to board the flight. After 30 minutes, the sir hostess was back and escorted him to the door of the plane, where he did not have to wait in the line for the security check in and the crew accompanied him in the bus to the plane. I am sure he must have managed to grab quite a few envious looks by then and his mind was flying before the plane ;)
When the flight landed, at the door of the plane , he met with another gorgeous Kingfisher staffer who walked him through immigration and security , once again without standing in the queues and introduced him everywhere at a guest and placed him in the premium lounge at the international terminal, where all his food and drinks were on the house. How cool is that!! Who doesn’t like free food and drinks??l
And finally he left for his house and it was the end of hos Awesome Kingfisher Tale, which frankly speaking made me quite jealous.
Below i have posted kingfishers twitter link if anyone wants to follow:
My question is do Kingfisher offer the same red carpet treatment to everyone who tweets?? Perhaps not but then again they have won a loyal customer who through word of mouth might win them more customers.
How important is it to offer value, engagement and surprises to customers even through something like a single tweet or facebook post?? Can this caring to listen and daring to surprise through social media make a huge difference? Lemme know wat u guys think??
To sign off, brands engaging in social media take off to a new level when they are able to consistently and creatively offer value, engagement and delightful surprises to their audience. It all starts from caring to listen and daring to surprise.
The other question is though, how many other people did they turn off by doing that? How would you feel on the plane if the stewardess walked right by you to give someone else food first (not counting children) and then comes back to serve you. I know it would aggravate me. And how do they handle the negative publicity?
ReplyDeletesee it depends...half of the time I'm not even bothered about when they serve food, as long as they serve food..and i don't think it will give them negative publicity....i would probably thought , that he has paid extra or is a special customer, which happens..im sure it would attract envious eyes though, and people will be more curious to know why is he getting such special treatment..
ReplyDeleteAmazing to see Kingfisher go to so much trouble over a couple of positive tweets. Good on them, though. I like this much more than KLM's recent "random acts of kindness" that Sarah and Amity shared with us recently.
ReplyDeletethanks wags...i was surprised too..when he told me all this i was quite surprised that they gave such good customer satisfaction in response to s single tweet...it shows that social media really makes a difference!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot of commitment for one passenger! But perhaps they saw the person as a great potential for positive WOM through twitter? I agree with Wags too, it's at least a lot more sincere than KLM!
ReplyDeleteWhatever said and done... Its made me curious to try! Thanks for sharing maz.
ReplyDeleteInteresting read. I didn't even know about Kingfisher airlines. I didn't know social media could make such a difference? Very interesting the way people rely on media and the increasing importance of it.
ReplyDeletehahaha yea...nor did i...im surely gonna try it out with the airlines just to remove my curiosity be it kingfisher or any other airline!!
ReplyDeleteIt really is a good idea and as @Wags mentioned, the KLM campaign was similar. After having read those and this post i have thought a bit more about it and wonder how long something like this can last. what if everyone catches on to this and posts, then firstly the surprise element would be gone and the company runs the risk of consumers expecting something like this, which on a full flight, simply can't be delivered. I still however think that this is a great idea and the numbers certainly indicates that it works. I would however suggest that companies should continue to innovate and keep new ideas coming so that it doesn't ever get to a point where they can't deliver anymore.
ReplyDeleteRoss
the last line is absolutely true! No one listens to the customer issues.And a certain amount of class distinction does exist in this industry. But this episode might serve as a best testimonial for them that when they care, people do reach out and market their brand to others free of cost.
ReplyDeletewhich may in turn lead to more customers coming in. So being courteous may not pay in the short run but in the long run it is the game changer!! nice one Maz.going to london next week. Will surely experiment and post my experience!