Aeroplanes represent the one place where you can literally disconnect from the world…from work, emails, social media even your parents lol, well not anymore ! Mobile devices & tablets are now constant travel companions with consumers and now more than ever consumers are seeking to stay connected while they are in transit
This Infographic (from 2012 -bit outdated) exemplifies this…with 97.8% of people taking a wifi enabled device with them on their travels, with 80% saying they use it all the time.
Combined this with the fact that more and more airlines are implementing cellular roaming and wifi on board flights means that we can now be connected anywhere in the world even 30,000 feet above the ground. Consumers can now keep their friends and family posted about their flight, the quality of service, food and inflight entertainment offered.
Although Inflight connectivity remains an elusive touchpoint, Airlines are investing big dollars to implement this service.
The important question is what it means for digital marketers?
For me personally, If Airlines continue to invest in technology to make this a reliable platform in terms of its connectivity across countries and connection speeds marketers could have an unprecedented opportunity to capitalise on a massive audience while it flies. For example marketers could place advertisements in the form of pre roll video ads, or alternatively they could sponsor the airline to make inflight connections cheaper for consumers. Google for example sponsored a number of US airlines to provide Free Inflight Wifi over the holiday season, which directed people to their browsers- clearly a smart move from the company.
But not all airlines are onboard (pardon the pun) the inflight wifi train. Qantas firmly believes that while it may be viable for domestic flights, International flights don’t have the same demand with people embracing the fact there not connected according to their research.
Anyway whether you like it or not, its inevitable that we will all be soon digital connected in the air, and thus there are clear opportunity’s for marketers to make a splash
Some key questions
Would you purchase inflight Wifi during a long flight overseas?
Would you fly one airline over another if one offered Inflight wifi service and the other didn’t?
How else could marketers exploit this platform?
Sources
Mobile Habits Put Marketers In Flight, Retrieved May 5, 2015 From http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Travelers-Mobile-Habits-Put-Marketers-In-Flight/1009817 (Infographic and information source)
Thanks for reading guys, π
I am so excited for the day wifi is available on planes and routes that I frequently travel! I would definitely purchase wifi on long overseas flights and maybe even on short domestic ones. Depends on which airlines offer it, it may skew my choice of airline to fly with – guess that just goes to show how much I depend on wifi haha.
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I was expecting people to say they wouldn’t use wifi on aeroplanes but I guess your comment shows how much being connected is well and truly part of our lives.
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Interesting! I always thought they couldn’t have wifi for technical reasons that could interrupt the plane flight. I hope that won’t happen if it’s implemented. It may help digital marketers in the airline industry!
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Yeah I assumed that too, but the key drawback is that it is a costly technology to implement…But I feel savvy brands like Google ( who already have done so) will sponsor airlines to provide the service and make it cheaper for consumers. Its definitely a great platform to use for marketers.
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Hrmmm… while I think it’s great that airlines are investing in this I don’t think I would choose one airline who had this technology over another. Honestly i don’t think I would buy the wifi I think it’s good for everyone to disconnect from the internet sometimes. Great post it really highlights people who have different needs. Would be great if you could check out my post π
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Exactly for me too being on aeroplane is a time to disconnect read a book or watch a movie ! I honestly don’t like the idea of inflight wifi but it’s inevitable
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Great post! Inflight wifi is inevitable, however like you rmortar10, I quite enjoy escaping the world, reading a book or watching a movie π
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thanks for the comment livlawrence:)
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I think I’m definitely going to take advantage of inflight wifi and wifi available on buses when I go to europe.. There’s only so many movies and little games I can play to keep me occupied!
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Europe… perfect !!!
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Inflight wifi would be amazing! However I find that when I’m on a plane, i like to just unwind and watch a movie and do soemthing that is disconnected from the world!
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I think a lot of people would agree with you…. Qantas is one airline that believes that the return on investment in wifi is not there at the moment purely because people want to disconnect when in flight.
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I’d definitely be keen to purchase Wi-Fi for long flights, can never fall asleep on those damn planes haha! In saying that, I usually bring along my laptop which is jam packed full of movies, but Wi-Fi would still be nice.
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I would definitely purchase wifi on a long flight it allows us to stay connected and encourages social media usage. This is also incredibly beneficial for marketers who will be able to reach their target audiences at basically anytime!
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Amazing how digitally reliant we are now, marketers dream π
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I don’t think I’d purchase wifi on a flight unless a) it was super cheap and b) it was a very long flight. For someone who is attached to his internet, I still think (as previously mentioned in a comment) that disconnection is one of the exciting things about being on a plane. It also makes me feel that I can be more productive by doing important things rather than scroll through Facebook
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