Kingfisher ad equates LCCs with 'Indi-gnity'

Losing marketshare to low-cost carriers (LCCs) like IndiGo, full service carrier Kingfisher Airlines has decided to take them on at a different level through its new marketing campaign, focusing on tongue-in-cheek messages taking potshots at LCCs.

For instance, one half of one of the hoardings says “Indi-gnity”, while the other half says “Respect”, the latter written in Kingfisher fonts and colours. Kingfisher sources said the company had appointed Rediffusion Advertising for the campaign.

Kingfisher executives were unavailable for comment. Nisha Singhania, EVP, marketing, Rediffusion, said, “Given the current market conditions in which a lot of corporate travellers are downgrading to LCCs, we came up with a campaign with a message as to how these carriers do not provide the luxury that is provided by full-service carriers like Kingfisher. However, there was no intention of targetting any particular low-cost carrier.”

While the rest of the airline industry has almost stayed away from this sort of an advertising war yet, Kingfisher is known to have taken digs at Jet Airways in the past, while its LCC brand, Kingfisher Red, which was earlier Simplifly Deccan, is known to have taken on JetLite.

For instance, in April 2007, when Jet Airways underwent an image makeover, Kingfisher put up hoardings right above Jet’s “We have changed” saying “We made them change”. Incidentally, the Mumbai-based LCC, GoAir, followed with a hoarding saying “We have not changed. We are still the smartest to fly”

Experts said that apart from the fact that airlines could not fight in terms of operations due to their depleting funds, this form of below-the-line advertising was a way to cut costs.