1.
February
2014,
Issue
#3
Catch
Me
If
You
Can
What:
• Airline
‘VIP’
lounges
are
respites
from
the
more
crowded
airport
concourses.
The
relative
exclusivity
of
the
airline
club
visitor
-­‐
whether
a
frequent
flyer
or
someone
who
has
paid
a
fee
for
access
-­‐
makes
this
environment
arguably
one
of
the
richest
commercial
in-­‐terminal
opportunities
available.
• Airline
clubs
provide
marketers
with
access
to
higher
affluence,
higher
education,
C-­‐
level
decision
makers,
opinion-­‐leaders
and
tech-­‐savvy
innovators
-­‐
an
audience
notoriously
difficult
to
reach
through
terrestrial
media
channels.
• US
airlines
have
been
spending
billions
collectively
on
renovations
to
their
clubs
in
recent
years.
This
was
done
in
order
to
stay
competitive
–
when
compared
to
international
airline
lounge
offerings
-­‐
and
to
meet
the
overall
demand
of
increased
air
travel.
To
demonstrate
its
commitment,
for
example,
Thom
Filicia
and
Architectural
Digest
were
heavily
involved
in
Delta’s
development
of
its
new
lounges
at
JFK
and
ATL.
Even
American
Express
has
launched
higher-­‐end
air
travel
lounges
in
the
US.
So
What:
• Extensive
Reach.
Delta
SkyClubs
provide
advertisers
access
to
more
than
12
million
travelers
per
annum.
United’s
32
clubs
reach
over
24
million
ticketed
passengers
per
annum.
Airlines
register
all
lounge
visitors
when
they
enter
a
lounge,
so
circulation
condensed innovation

2. numbers
are
real
hard.
Oracle
has
been
one
of
the
first
advertisers
extending
its
aviation
media
reach
beyond
in-­‐terminal
advertising.
The
advertiser
has
a
long
running
lounge
ad
program
covering
key
airline
lounges
in
select
US
hub
airports.
• Long
Dwell
Times.
Delta
Airlines
states
the
average
in-­‐lounge
dwell-­‐time
in
their
lounges
is
90
minutes.
That
is
an
awfully
long
time
for
a
relatively
confined
area.
Two
years
ago,
passengers
were
spending
between
1.5
and
2
hours
on
average
in
Virgin’s
Upper
Class
flagship
lounge
in
Heathrow.
Today
the
average
is
2.5
hours
with
10%
spending
4
hours
plus.
• Product
Improvements.
RMG’s
digital
lounge
products
and
United
Premium
Club
Displays
have
seen
national
roll-­‐outs
and
now
enable
advertisers
to
easily
connect
with
premium
travelers
throughout
the
US.
As
an
example,
Verizon
have
started
using
RMG’s
digital
lounge
products
for
some
of
its
B-­‐to-­‐B
initiatives,
while
still
utilizing
in-­‐
terminal
airport
signage
for
its
more
consumer-­‐oriented
campaigns.
Now
What:
• The
old
mantra
of
simply
connecting
with
premium
air
travelers
through
concourse
or
gate-­‐room
media
may
need
to
be
re-­‐assessed
as
many
travelers
spend
more
time
in-­‐
lounge
vs.
concourse
and/or
gate
room.
• Given
the
relatively
long
dwell
time
and
generally
captive
audience,
Kinetics'
Aviator
feels
the
in-­‐lounge
environment
is
particularly
well
suited
for
more
meaningful
passenger
engagement.
They
see
this
environment
to
be
especially
well
positioned
for
data
capture
and
analytics.
• Gone
are
the
days
of
non-­‐backlit
poster
sites
near
hidden
bathroom
entrances.
With
a
more
defined
and
better
media
offer,
the
in-­‐lounge
media
touch
point
has
come
a
long
way
and
is
now
a
viable
element
in
today’s
US
aviation
media
mix.
Contributor:
Erik
Bottema,
Aviator