Vistara bets on a star
The airline gets aggressive with its branding initiatives as it looks to build an international profile and establish its premium status
Ayear-and-a-half after its first flight, Vistara, the joint venture between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and the Tata group, has launched its first television commercial with Deepika Padukone as the face of the brand. For an airline that has kept a low profile since its launch this is a big step and not just because this is its first television campaign; not even because it would count among the most expensive branding initiatives in the industry, given the star on board. But for Vistara, the campaign is being seen more like an announcement of its global ambitions, which many believe is also a sign of the times to come as more and more airlines get ready to ply the international skies.
Vistara says that it wants to differentiate itself as an airline that focuses on comfort and experience, not just price. In an industry that has become extremely commoditised, Vistara wants to play the premium card. Sanjiv Kapoor, who was roped in as chief strategy and commercial officer from SpiceJet this year says that for Indian passengers flying has become a chore. “Flying a few years back used to be special, through this we are trying to say Vistara will cut through the drudgery and actually make flying an experience that passengers can look forward to. That is the new feeling,” he says.
By getting Padukone on board, the airline is marking itself out from the pack. For one, there are no other airlines in India with star endorsers today. (The only other airline that did was Kingfisher Airlines and its ambassador too was Deepika, though neither will be keen to invoke the previous association.) And secondly most Indian airline advertising is about routes, price, on-time flights and food, not a premium experience.
For Vistara, it was important to establish itself as the brand that delivers a superior experience, a pitch that partner Singapore Airlines (SIA) has practiced to perfection. When SIA became the first airline to add the A380 to its fleet, the airline made sure that the message ‘First to fly on A380’ was emblazoned on its napkins and towels on board. This seems to be the logic behind the campaign designed by Mullen Lintas which shows the actor exulting like a child every time she flies Vistara.
The airline has been a slow starter in the highly competitive Indian aviation space. Being a price sensitive market, the market is naturally dominated by low-cost carriers with market leader IndiGo capturing 40 per cent share. It was perhaps therefore necessary to break through the clutter by choosing a message very different from the rest.
Experts though are divided over the impact of the campaign. “Passengers in India tend to select the airline which they hear about in their circles. IndiGo during its initial days made noise through a catchy video ad. I believe being a fairly new airline, this was required for Vistara,” says N Chandramouli, CEO of brand insights firm, TRA. The airline hopes that Padukone will create a recall value even among international passengers given that she has just starred in a film with Vin Diesel. N CHANDRAMOULI CEO,TRA
Steve Forte, former CEO of Jet Airways says that it remains to be seen whether associating with famous personalities translates into increased traffic. “In the past I have seen good results by associating famous personalities with a marketing campaign, part of her success will be that many will listen to her because she is one of the most beautiful women in the world, but that alone will not create traffic,” he says.
To be fair, Vistara is not depending on the star alone to get people on board. It has introduced several features for Indian fliers — from a premium economy class to a plush lounge at the New Delhi Airport and tablets for inflight-entertainment for business class passengers — the airline has made several moves to tap the premium market in the country, dominated by Jet Airways after the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines.
It has also faced its fair share of problems. The premium economy class did not have too many takers; the airline consequently slashed its business class seats and reduced the premium economy seats by a third. It is now tweaking the pricing for its business class to keep it in tune with the market demand.
The results are showing. According to travel agents, demand for Vistara among corporate travellers has increased. Kapoor says that tweaking the price has made the airline attractive for corporate fliers. “Increasingly you will find the who’s who choosing to fly Vistara. We hear it from travel agents, ‘Agar Vistara ka flight ho to usi main dena’,” he says.
Devesh Agarwal, editor of aviation blog Bangalore Aviation however feels that the airline has created unreasonable expectations for Indian passengers by featuring its business class in the ads. “Vistara has fallen into the same trap many global airlines do. Lufthansa shows its business class, while Emirates and Etihad show off their first class suites. This creates unreasonable expectations in the minds of passengers, a huge majority among them will not fly in the premium and super premium cabins,” he says.
But the airline is confident that the message it wants to send out is captured best in this ad. “Vistara wishes to reach out to corporate and frequent flyers who value a seamless, reliable, and consistent service experience above everything else and are willing to pay a reasonable premium,” says Kapoor.
“Passengers in India tend to select the airline which they hear about in their circles. IndiGo during its initial days made noise through a catchy video ad. I believe being a fairly new airline, this was required for Vistara”