Consumer-centric in the Times of Uncertainty
Last year I listened to my internal voice that said: “I need a proper break, a total reload for my mind, body and soul”. I quit my job, rented out my apartment, forwarded my mail to friends and set off on a 5-month journey. This explains why I am subscribed to at least 10-12 different airlines and hotels in Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia. Fast-forward, the journey has been a life changing experience and I made it safely back home on March 1, just in time to realize the growing and unprecedented scale of the new pandemic. Being a regular hero who was supposed to save the world by staying at home, I dived into development of my own CRM consulting business as well as an online course dedicated to data-driven Consumer-centricity. Which means the laptop was my partner in crime pretty much every day. Once the lockdown had been announced I was genuinely and wholeheartedly sympathetic towards all people and industries impacted by the virus hoping that it’ll be over soon. However, since I just came back from my long trip, I felt especially connected to those suffering in tourism. I was equally curious – what do you do in terms of communication with your consumers and customers when all airplanes are parked and all rooms stay empty? What do you do if there is no ABC, manual or previous experience? And needless to say, there is no one on this planet who is an expert in “something you say to your customers when the world has stopped”. So I was very intentional about opening and reading all emails from airlines and hotels – not only to see what’s new in safety regulations but also to check out the strategies of crisis communication adopted by various teams. After a few months I could group them in the 5 steps and scenarios below:
Scenario 1: Acknowledge the crisis
Beginning of March marked the time of reality check when the whole world finally got it – it’s not just China, it’s going large and wide. Restrictions started to apply and marketing communications shifted from “book your luxurious travel now” to “whatever you booked you’re able to reschedule” and later to “this is our cancellation and reimbursement policy”. The crisis has immediately revealed those who were technically ready to provide easy online options to rebook or cancel. It also showed how quick or slow the communication teams of various companies were to acknowledge the new reality and propose very concrete measures. The first ones to react and show up in my mailbox were Swiss Airlines, Qatar Airlines, AirAsia, Air France, AirBaltic, EasyJet and Aegean. The latter impressed me most by not only waiving rebooking fees but also providing a very easy and intuitive online platform to change or cancel flights – no long detailed emails, communication was quick, short and genuinely helpful. User experience (I had to cancel my flight to Greece) was fast, intuitive, convenient.
Scenario 2: Let the VP or CEO speak
Golden rule of the crisis communication – assign accountability. Since it’s a little hard to interview COVID, CEOs and VPs of the large airlines and hotels had to step up and take over the word (not the world this time). One of the first ones to react in March (at least in my inbox) were the CEOs of Etihad Airlines with a personal touch conveyed through the video as well as of Radisson Hotels with clearly outlined measures, commitment and action plans. Other teams managed to get their CEO speeches ready in April or even May where they generally expressed their concerns about the current situation, apologised for cancelled flights, outlined safety measures and thanked their employees. I must say it was nice to see a female CEO of Air France in the email. Similarly to public comments that countries led by female leaders could and are fighting the pandemic better, it was equally delightful and calming to see one woman in the crowd of generally male CEOs – she reminded of a caring Mom who serves a chicken soup to her children and compassionately wishes them well.
Scenario 3: Do what everyone else does…and maybe even sell something
Mid April showed that everyone was firmly parked and locked, both people and tourism industries – airlines and hotels. During this time various companies reported on their action plans and safety measures with emails being extremely similar to each other both in the tone of voice and in the steps taken. However, the boldest ones decided to venture out with some sales and promotions with the hope to contribute to the distressed financial situation. For example, EasyJet began selling tickets for 2021 with a steep promotion on bag price. It would be interesting to see if this promotion generated any sales when people still were in a complete uncertainty about their future.
Scenario 4: Focus on and engage with the customers
Here I’d like to focus on the best practices – examples of airlines and hotels that truly and empathetically focused on their customers during the lockdown.
Airline loyalty programs – those airlines and hotels that quickly realized that this crisis is here for some time and swiftly froze or extended miles and points expiry, for example, Flying Blue and Radisson Hotels.
Airlines that creatively moved into engaging their customers by, for example, bringing a version of their inflight magazines online or showing what happens to an aircraft when it’s parked on the ground. I liked the idea of AirBaltic that invited me to “keep up with European culture from my couch”. Well, why not?
Hotels that focused on supporting their customers and members by giving useful meditation and retreat practices at home. For example, Aman Hotels&Resorts created a long landing page with useful daily self-care rituals that includes meditation, breath, Ayurveda practices and solitude.
Airlines that launched social and charity programs – again, Aegean Airlines truly impressed me with their social program “You donate miles. We triple them” where customers could donate their miles for the 3 medical staff and even pick the hospital. Fantastic idea and solid execution with reminder emails, lots of transparency and allowing the chance to those who sit at home actually make a difference. Bravo, the Aegean Communication Team! True inspiration and a great example to follow. And yes, I couldn’t help donating my miles too!
Scenario 5: Ignore the whole thing altogether
Somewhere in the middle of April – still sitting in a lockdown – I received a marketing email from one of the luxury hotel chains (no, I didn't stay there on my trip but I was subscribed anyway) with the content advertising their best spots and experiences across the world and trying to “inspire” me. Tempting images of an imaginary vacation with a call-to-action button “Discover more”. There was no marketing copy, not a slightest hint on trying to relate to my needs or frustrations as a potential customer. I was puzzled to say the least.
I guess showing vacation pictures to someone who can’t fly is equally frustrating as showing a roasted duck or lasagna melting in cheese to someone who is dieting or fasting. This is where consumer-centric approach would come to the rescue: if you don’t have a lot of data to suggest you the best strategy, the best thing to do would be to shift the brain sides – from logic, data, need to sell to intuition, empathy and creativity. We could ask ourselves: what do these people who are receiving such email have in common? With a high chance of probability, a lot of uncertainty – around health, travel, economy and future in general. What do these people want to add to their uncertainty the least? Perhaps, being frustrated. What would they be grateful for? Possibly, for a chance to smile and for a hope. So why can’t this email sound something like: “Not only people were lonely in social isolation and missed hugs. Also our rooms missed human laughter and touch. They asked us to tell you they’ll be waiting whenever you’re ready.” Just as I was thinking along these lines I received an email from Hotels.com, which began with this sentence: “We know that you are unlikely to be thinking about booking travel in the near term, but we want to make sure you are able to take full advantage of your Hotels.com Rewards membership when you are able to travel again.” See? It’s super easy – shifting from “we” to “them”.
Closing Thoughts
According to Airline Passenger Experience Association: “During this difficult situation, ensuring that travelers feel cared for should be airlines’ top priority. Currently, compassionate front-line representatives and proactive safety measures are driving much of the positive conversation. However, there is much room for improvement, particularly within communication and compensation.” In circumstances like these even the most sophisticated AI-powered data systems will not be able to suggest how to become consumer-centric. There are no models trained for total disruption. This is where we as humans step in with something no BI tool and no AI software will be able to fix for us. In the absence of clarity and data, try using external context and customer needs as much as possible. For best results pair it with your human superpowers – intuition, empathy and creativity. Serve warm. Your customers and consumers will appreciate it.
What does it mean to be consumer-centric when the crisis strikes? I wrote this article based on numerous examples from airline and hospitality industries, and of their communication during the past few months.
@Aegean, a shout-out to your Communications team for its efforts, inspiration and 100% consumer-centricity!