SpiceJet to spice up in-flight

Aiming at a total revenue of Rs 1,300 crore for this year, the company is expected to earn about Rs 100 crore as ancillary revenue. Last year, the company closed at a revenue of Rs 750 crore, and an ancillary revenue of around Rs 35 crore

Low-cost airline SpiceJet has signed on S&R Works as its in-flight promotions partner. S&R Works offers services in the field of content designing, production and events. Recently, it set up a new division, Spaces in Sky, to look at in-flight promotions and advertising. SpiceJet is the division’s first client.

This tie-up enables S&R Works to sell the on-board advertising properties of SpiceJet to various brands for visibility. The airline has put a strategy in place and is aiming at raising its ancillary revenues by 7 per cent in 2007-08. Aiming at total revenue of Rs 1,300 crore, SpiceJet is expected to earn about Rs 100 crore as ancillary revenue this year. Last year, the company closed with revenue of Rs 750 crore, and ancillary revenue of around Rs 35 crore. The company has planned a total ad spend of Rs 25-28 crore for this fiscal, as compared to Rs 14 crore last year.

Samyukth Sridharan

Talking about the in-board promotions, Samyukth Sridharan, chief commercial officer, SpiceJet, says, “On-board ad space selling and other promotional activities are now being looked at by us, seriously, to step up ancillary revenues and also give advertisers a chance to create brand presence for themselves and reach out to the approximately four lakh passengers that fly everyday on SpiceJet.”

Ruchita Puri, executive director, S&R Works, says, “The trend of in-flight advertising has made place in North America, and in India, it is probably ahead of time, but it’s catching up. Nowadays, it is being looked at more as a direct marketing tool, rather than an advertising medium, as the reach is as personal as a direct marketing initiative.”

About the competition with Kingfisher, which was the first to explore the space, Sridharan says, “The space is young and there is enough room for more players to step in. Looking at competition, the profile differs – there is a difference in the kind of brands that want to advertise on Kingfisher as opposed to those that want a presence on SpiceJet.”

Ruchita Puri

The approximately half a million consumers that SpiceJet is looking at is within the age band of 25-30 years, a target group that is much younger as compared to other low-cost carriers and has a sticky consumer base.

Puri adds, “Kingfisher relies on the audio-visual medium as it has the facility to offer audio-visual services on board the flight. SpiceJet, comparatively, caters to the mind space that consumers have, free of clutter, which can be taken advantage of by brands by placing themselves in front of the consumer in a subtle and artistic manner, enough to draw attention and get them to ponder over a brand.”

In-flight promotions

The different sources of revenue that SpiceJet has, apart from ticket sales, include an on-board courier, food sales, excess baggage charges, on-board advertising and promotions, on-board insurance and on-board item sales. SpiceJet will have a whole host of initiatives which include sale of fast food and novelty items such as electronic gadgets, wallets and jewellery on all its 15 aircraft flying to 15 destinations. It is also running onboard contests for passengers. S&R Works is in the process of finalising a few clients (brands) to come on board to advertise on the airline, but Sridharan would not divulge any names.

The creative duties are currently handled in-house and by some local agencies. The media agency is BEI Confluence.

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