CABIN CREW CAPERS
What do Lady Gaga and Cebu Pacific’s cabin crew have in common?
If you know the answer, you are probably one of more than 10 million people who
have seen a video on YouTube of the crew doing their safety briefing while dancing to “Bad Romance”.
Frivolous? Maybe. Entertaining? Probably. Different? Definitely.
The marketing campaign has pushed the Cebu Pacific brand beyond East Asia – and it certainly helped boost the airline’s profile to global institutional investors just before its 2010 initial public offering.
Marketing is also the reason behind the Filipino carrier’s dominant colours of orange and yellow.
Philippine Airlines may have a 70-year-old history, but it is the upstart that has captured the imagination of the Filipino public, says Lance Gokongwei.
“Now, when you see anyone in orange or yellow on the streets, you think of Cebu Pacific,” he says.
“Marketing is a key differentiator. Our brand had to be created from scratch, and the consistency of the application is very important,” he adds.
“We found that if we invested enough money, the brand works elsewhere too – in Korea, China and Japan for example. Now, even though we are a new brand competing against a 70-year-old brand, we are more prominent on all measures.
“It is something that Filipinos can identify with – the humour, the fun, the liveliness and the warmth.”