REBECCA WHITE
Business Lead For Marketing Research and Insight, Heathrow
CONTENT MARKETING
customers to share their experiences at Heathrow with each other. “The richness of the tapestry of stories is just fantastic.” Says White. The airport has reached out to their
consumers, asking them to share their own experiences to help shape and define Heathrow’s communication strategy. Understanding how customers feel inside the airport, and the moments that matter most to them, is key for the marketing team to be able to offer the best possible service to each traveller. They were overwhelmed with the results, with around 10,000 responses from passengers and airport staff. “Every story is different, but the themes are quite similar. Themes such as ‘when I met my first love;’ ‘when I got engaged,’ ‘when I met my mum,’ “when I saw Concorde.” We asked our customers what their experiences were, not in a transactional way, but ‘what has your Heathrow experience been?’ It sounds corny but really it’s all about love! They come here and something they love is about to start or finish or continue- it’s quite intriguing.”
PEOPLE CAN SEE AIRPORTS AS VERY FUNCTIONAL, BUT IN ACTUAL FACT THEY ARE HUGELY EMOTIONAL PLACES.”
Love Actually? “We know that if we tell an emotionally
compelling story that’s true about passenger experience, it really resonates with people’s experiences of flying and travelling.” Says White. “And it was just so heartening how many thousands of stories were shared on social media of people seeing themselves as our little teddy bears in our Christmas advert.” For a long time, the commercialisation of travel has seen flying lose some of the excitement which traditionally it has always been associated with. But Heathrow are trying to claim back a little of that customer experience. “People can see airports as very functional, but in actual fact they are hugely emotional places. They are where people propose, they fall in love, they meet someone for the first time, they’re leaving for or returning from the biggest deal they’ve ever done. And I think what we recognise is that we need to be really protective and respectful of that part of someone’s journey.” In order to establish that customer relationship
and provide that more bespoke service, communication across the wide user base is key. By identifying those pain and passion points, Heathrow can understand how the customer journey unravels within the airport, and understand in far greater detail how to interact with each customer. Celebrating the diversity of its broad
customer base has allowed Heathrow Airport to position itself as an emotional catalyst for customer engagement. Social media engagement has offered travellers the opportunity to make more of their Heathrow experience, by becoming part of the brand’s legacy. “It feels really resonant with the way people are travelling today, the way they want to view their journeys and experiences.” Says White. “You can’t see people look at your product and interact with it in the same way you see a customer interact with their experience at Heathrow. And it’s that recognition of the human element that’s so important to how we’re going to be communicating in the future.”
heathrow.com
41 issue 30 summer 2017
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