A McKinsey study recently claimed that companies that emerged successfully out of recessions did so by cultivating loyal customers through tough times.

In order to rebuild and reinforce brand equity, there is a need for airlines to get closer to the customer. Airlines need to build a personality for the brand to create a more “human” connection with the patrons. They also need to discover unique insights from the changing customer mentality and then cater to them. There is an urgent need to interact with customers in a seamless way, without interrupting them, and even try to involve them in co-creating the brand. But this is difficult to accomplish using traditional branding strategies.

Bring the social web to the rescue

Now that technology has become pervasive, airlines can leverage it to build their brands and empower loyal customers. Specifically, they must tap into the social web. Very simply, social web, or Web 2.0 as it’s commonly known, consists of a community of people with a shared interest collaborating to co-create and discuss content with one another.

Web 2.0 offers an industry with very traditional business models—such as airlines—an opportunity to leapfrog the competition by engaging the customer without interruptions, involving the customer in brand creation and building a personality for the brand without dramatically increasing marketing spending.

Interaction without interruption

Traditional marketing has sought to interrupt a target customer to seek his attention through, for example, an advertisement during a TV show. But new technologies allow companies to interact with their customers without interrupting their lifestyle.

As Allen Adamson, managing director of Landor, states in his book BrandDigital, “it’s important to identify where people are hanging out and what they’re doing.” The key is to engage the target market while they’re doing something they love doing. A great example of this is Virgin Atlantic’s Facebook page, which has more than 8500 “fans” and allows the airline to interact with its potential customers in a way they are comfortable with, through the popular online community. And Virgin’s probably done it with a shoestring budget.

Similarly, social networks like AirFrance-KLM’s Bluenity and Lufthansa’s GenFly Lounge are designed to engage the frequent fliers and the student communities respectively. As opposed to Virgin’s community within a community, both of these are communities for specific target groups. All probably accomplish the task of interacting with the customer without interruption equally well. But on Web 2.0, a brand needs to go beyond interaction to involve customers—it needs to give them a stake in the brand too.

Co-creation: involving the customer in creating the brand

Recently, Delta Airlines’ SVP of marketing, Tim Mapes, was asked to speak at an industry conference about the changing role of the chief marketing officer (CMO). He shared the story about one of Delta’s passengers who “used his video cell phone to capture the onboard hullabaloo that arose during a flight delay, which he posted in real time on YouTube. At that moment, this passenger was the CMO. He had more power to communicate something about the brand experience than anyone of us in our corporate offices.” And that’s exactly why it is important to embrace customers in brand creation rather than isolate them—they are often the best influencers.

One of the basic tenets of Web 2.0 is co-creation. This is when all participants in a community collaborate to contribute to the evolving brand. And this is not virgin territory for airlines either. Azul Airlines, the new airline in Brazil established by the former CEO of JetBlue Airways, David Neeleman, had an online naming competition where anyone could suggest a name for the airline and the most voted names would be considered by the airline’s board. That’s how “Azul” was chosen. There was then a logo-design competition and a flight attendant uniform design competition as well. In a country where democracy is a cherished right, co-creation of an airline brand was always welcome.

Giving the community a stake in the brand doesn’t mean letting go of veto powers, which firmly remain with the airline’s management. But letting travelers have a say in the brand gives them a sense of ownership and ultimately results in greater brand loyalty. These loyal customers often become virtual mouthpieces of the brand. But to make these loyalists effective, an airline needs to inspire them with its personality too.

Shashank Nigam is a leading airline brand strategist who authors an award-winning blog on airline branding at SimpliFlying.com. He is a well-respected speaker and columnist on the topic.