Airlines Become More Sophisticated With Personalized Offers for Passengers
Photo Credit: Lufthansa Group is one of many airline companies trying to refine its digital strategy so it can offer the right products at the right time to the right customers. Lufthansa
Skift Take
Many of the world's airlines know they're not as good as retailers like Amazon in targeting offers for individual passengers. A lot of carriers want to improve, so they can get the right offer in front of the right person at the right time. But it won't be easy, since airlines often have clunky computer systems.
Just before Christmas, Iberia Airlines sent emails to some customers. If they could vacation anywhere, the airline asked, where would they like to go? And with whom?
Iberia asked customers to go to a special website, where they would share information on their travel desires and contact information for a favored travel partner. A little later, the customer's friend would receive an email from Iberia. "Feliz Navidad," it started, before explaining that the friend had created a special travel-related holiday card, with help from Iberia.
To view it, all the recipient had to do was click on a link. Iberia then put its advertising budget to work, using cookies so the traveler's friend would see banners across the web, suggesting the perfect Christmas gift. "Alejandro's dream is to travel to Bilbao," one might read, "and you can fulfill it." Another might suggest, "It's never too late to fulfill Alejandro's dream. Do it with a trip to Bilbao."
It was a small promotion, running for f
