More Than Peanuts

By Sarah Hamilton, 10.11.2006

For airline travelers, plane tickets offer more than just transportation. Tickets are also gateways to aggressive marketing strategies to raise airline revenue.

Today, airlines promote a wide-range of products extending beyond traditional complimentary peanuts. The latest trend is to raise money through partners, ranging from credit card to food companies. Products are advertised to passengers mid-flight.

This new role of aggressive marketing in our already advertisement-saturated culture has a dual effect on passengers. Those who are indifferent to the constant barrage of advertisements can become numb to the control of marketing organizations. For those who want travel without being pitched advertisements, the marketing is a nuisance.

Keith L. Alexander observes the new role of airline marketing in a Washington Post article “Cash-Strapped Airlines Try In-Flight Advertising.”

“In the airline industry’s newest way to drum up revenue, carriers have become aggressive pitchmen for a range of products to passengers at 3,000 feet,” Keith said.

The airline industry has been struggling to recover from profit loss since the events of 9/11. Joe Straczek, director of SITA Inc, a company who offers business solutions to airlines, explains the critical role consumers currently play in recovering from profit-loss in an article at unisys.com.

“When I talk to our customers, whether large or small, they are all saying the same thing: We have to iimprove our customer service and the way we capture data,” Straczek said.

Interspace Airport Agency is a leading airline advertising company that handles over 30 percent of North American Airports and 190+ advertising programs. Their goal is to create intense market-driven sales.

"Our marketing representatives ensure that ‘no stone is left unturned in pursuit of their client,’” the website claims. Their comprehensive marketing strategy aims to reach a variety of customers.

The strategy of airline marketing includes promoting products via tray tables, in-flight entertainment, magazines, and messages on the intercom. These strategies are similar to traditional PR of most American companies. Establishments such as restaurants, amusement parks and schools, also partner with companies to promote products to increase revenue.

Passengers who buy airline tickets also become target consumers of marketing companies. During routine iin-flight safety announcements, flight attendants now promote credit card sales.

Annette Edwards, employee of Norfolk International Airport in Virginia, explains that airlines only advertise products, directly and indirectly, for partners.

"For instance, we have an executive contract with Coca-Cola and Budweiser,” Edwards said. “We exclusively sell these beverages on flights.”

Direct advertising of products during in-flight announcements interrupts traditional safety procedure messages, which can be a nusiance to passengers. Indirect advertising through exclusive product distribution allows control of marketing organizations, which is numbing for passengers.

The extent of consequences from aggressive role marketers has not yet been determined. Passengers still need to be aware of the increased role of airlines’ marketing strategies to influence consumer behavior.

When boarding a flight, remember airlines are promoting more than just peanuts