Local airline beats top international carriers

“Creating an effective marketing campaign for Mango was a challenge,” says marketing manager Samantha Antoncich. “The airline has a diverse target audience ranging from traditional leisure travel, business travel and the previously un-flown market. Our strategy comprised brand positioning and first year awareness, value proposition communication as well as a substantial educative element using several platforms.” Mango made effective use of outdoor, print, digital media, broadcast, literature dissemination and activations to both acquaint consumers with the brand and educate the market on the airline's affordable travel offering.

Creatively, says Antoncich, agency The Old Shanghai Firecracker Factory over achieved against its brief of marrying strategic communication requirements into advertising messages. “Creating various platforms and message delivery vehicles for vastly different stakeholders, but ensuring an aligned consumer take-out presented an enormous challenge that, by fully integrating the agency into a marketing team, allowed for highly effective delivery.”

As a consequence of the airline's effective marketing, Mango set several milestones in domestic air travel. The airline carried its 1 millionth Guest in record time, had one of the largest e-commerce launches in South African online history, successfully launched Mango Plus - a world first SMME business travel product and activated the un-flown market that accounts for more than 20% of Guests carried at this point. Estimates allude to the fact that Mango's market entry accounts for most of the 15% market growth experienced in domestic aviation this year.

“Winning the Budgie ahead of long established heavy weights easyJet and Virgin Blue, among others, has again proved that South Africa compares favourably against best practice global benchmarks. After all, Mango's business model is based on the best in the business. It also proves that a sound marketing strategy, coupled with a through the line approach and a creative agency that understands a brand and delivers against desired strategic outcomes is a winning recipe.”