SpiceJet: Flight from cold realities

SpiceJet's maiden TV commercial promises a hot meal on board, spacious legroom and a reprieve from long queues, all with a dash of humour

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For flyers in India, there has been no dearth of choices since the aviation sector opened up and low-cost carriers transformed the market at the start of this century. No wonder, the new airlines are always attempting to outdo each other with promises of quality service and affordability to customers in an extremely price-sensitive market they have helped create.

SpiceJet, which celebrated its tenth anniversary a year ago, has launched its first-ever television commercial (TVC) comprising four ad films that focus on a hot meal on board, spacious legroom and a reprieve from long queues, all with a dash of humour.

In one ad, an office boss offers his two junior colleagues snacks prepared by his wife. While one picks up and mumbles that it is cold, he finds his peer quickly praising their boss's wife and takes the cue. In another, two men complain furiously to an apologetic attendant at a five-star hotel about the cold food. When the chef who emerges turns out to be an attractive woman, they can't stop praising her skills. The voice-over in both conveys that it is okay to have cold food at times, but not on a flight.

In the other ads, a young woman is seen changing her mind on not depositing a cheque at a bank after she notices a handsome man in a long queue, and a man with a heavily bandaged neck is delighted to be cramped for space in an empty elevator when a bevy of swimsuit-clad models suddenly walk in.

Currently running on social media, the ads will break on television on August 22 for a four-week blast.

Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, identifies two key differentiators for the airline - Hot Meals and SpiceMax. "SpiceJet was among the first low-cost airlines to offer hot meals for sale on-board, the first to offer dedicated extra legroom seats in a specially configured cabin (SpiceMax), and the first to innovate in multiple other ways," he says.

Debojo Maharshi, chief marketing officer, SpiceJet, adds, "Through fun, engaging and slice-of-life situations the commercial persuades the consumer to make a smarter choice by choosing to fly with us." Pointing to the focus on food, Maharshi stresses that Indians enjoy meals when served hot and fresh. "At SpiceJet, we wanted to replicate the same feeling even while you are 35,000 feet above the sea level. We launched our hot meals in 2014."

SpiceJet's maiden TVC comes at a time it has steadily recovered from a crisis in December 2014 that brought the airline to the verge of a shutdown. A brief but well-documented spell of halted flights and passenger anger was followed by co-founder Singh's takeover from Chennai-based promoter Kalanithi Maran to acquire the latter's controlling stake. Following this, factors such as lower fuel prices and growth in domestic air travel are seen to have steered SpiceJet towards profitability.

A recent study by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and KPMG projected that India, which is the ninth largest aviation market in the world with a size of $16 billion, is set to become the third largest by 2020. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation figures, carriers flew 7.9 million passengers this June as against 6.6 million passengers in June 2015.

As of June 2016, IndiGo leads with a market share of 37.9 per cent, followed by Jet Airways and JetLite (19.1 per cent), Air India (15.5 per cent) and SpiceJet (12.7) whose share grew by 0.6 percentage points over the past one year.

Hemant Misra, chief executive officer of Publicis Capital, the agency which conceptualised the commercials, says, "Our mandate was not just about creating communication for the key differentiators, but to also provide consumers with a compelling argument about why SpiceJet is the right choice for them. A strong consumer insight is what was required."

Maharshi explains: "The insight in our campaign was that there are times when you willingly compromise and eat a cold meal, are cramped for space, and even stand in a queue. But you never need to compromise when you're flying, thanks to SpiceJet." And although the positioning of the ads appeals to young flyers, Maharshi clarifies that "they are not our sole target audience".