Indigo - on time !!!

Passengers on a Lufthansa flight heard this announcement from the captain, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I am sorry to inform you that we have lost power to all of our engines and will shortly crash into the ocean."

The passengers were obviously very worried about this situation, but were somewhat comforted by the captain's next announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we at Lufthansa have prepared for such an emergency, and we would now like you to rearrange your seating so that all the non-swimmers are on the left side of the plane, and all the swimmers are on the right side."

After this announcement, all the passengers rearranged their seating to comply with the captain's request.

Two minutes later, the captain made a belly landing in the ocean.

The captain once again made an announcement, "Ladies and Gentlemen we have crashed into the ocean. All of the swimmers on the right side of the plane open your emergency exits and quickly swim away from the plane. For all of the non-swimmers on the left side of plane... "Thank You For Flying Lufthansa."

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I should begin with a confession…

I always thought that low price means low quality (when taking flights) and this thought came and later got deep rooted from my experiences with low fare carriers that always have messed up my travel (whenever I thought of saving a penny .. as they say penny wise, pound foolish ) .. Until once I missed a Jet flight to Hyderabad and was FORCED to travel in an Indigo, I didn’t know the beauty of it…the fact that low cost and low fares doesn't mean low quality dawned on me that day…( step-less stairs , Q-busters, boarding ramps and so on….).…..The biggest selling point for a flight is to be on time and if its taken care of, half the job is done..! My two experiences with Indigo so far had been proving this ‘on time factor’ and hence when I saw this new ad from Indigo which harps on the ON-TIME factor as a performance policy of the company and the efforts that lie behind such performance I couldn’t agree more…

On May 17 when the ad was released, I was amused for three reasons…

1. It came from Indigo, a small, low cost and unpretentious airline which (at least for me) flies on time.

2. It was from Wieden + Kennedy and having seen their marvels of work in the west I was wondering how and how far they will(can) bring the same here in India

3. It was different and refreshingly international if I may say so ( I am not meaning here that all international stuff are adorable)….

The fresh and cool idea that supports the basic selling proposition of the airline is so very clearly articulated and hence reaching the customer… If you have seen the TVC space in this category, every one ( almost ) brags about being number one or number two, forgetting the fact that, to the end user whether you are number one in this or that is not important, the only thing that matters is whether you take them for a number two ride (the pun intended). For some one who wants to position as a real leader in terms of customer experience, value and operational efficiency this ad does the work…. I even have a feel that the airline has a real and authentic adoration and admiration for its customers.

IndiGo is very aptly saying that they of course take you from here to there without tossing with your time and money, and without being made to feel low-priced in the process.( I have seen the disputes of the range of street fight in Air Deccan counters at a point of time when airports looked like railways stations)…All this in a cool, chic and friendly manner and that is a real price winner !!!

And let me add as a parting note.. I loved the VO ( in spite of the so called phoren accent which some critics believe that middleclass Indians may not understand) and the WE and US tone… kudos to the makers for the idea, the script and the execution!!!

The only doubt is whether this is on Time, I mean this ad… I really don’t know, may be Time will have an answer !!! Right now but next time I fly I will take an Indigo, for sure ..

Credits.

Title: On Time
Client: IndiGo Airlines
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy (Delhi)
Executive creative director: V. Sunil
Senior copywriter: Keshavan Naidu
Agency producer: Anil Sharma
Client servicing: Neha Puri
Production company: Bang Bang Films
Director: Harvey B Brown
Director of photography: Vikash Nowlakha
Produced by: Roopak Saluja, Kirk Dias & Amarjeet Kaur
Editor: Harshal Thakur
Post production: Pixion (Mumbai), Prime Focus (Mumbai)
Music: M Mat of Bhavishyavani Future Soundz in partnership with Tarun & Vinayak

Anti dote: - an agency friend of mine after seeing this ad, texts me.. “hey did you see the Indigo ad ? For me it sounds like a great work, had it been for an alarm clock…”