Eshin Direct

I love flying Cathay Pacific. Call it residue brand-loyalty to an old client, or sentimentality to an flight attendant ex-girlfriend, but I always enjoy my trips on CX. But when I look at myself, I realise I have become what I was supposed to achieve for my old client’s brand. My state of mind is such that I’d take the time out to venture an opinion on the airline more than a mere cursory nod to their service, e.g. (“It’s crap” or “They’re great”), there really is no other way to fly out of Hong Kong to anywhere else with at least a major Cathay flight thrown in, and while the standard of service does have room for improvement (at least on my recent flight), it doesn’t make too much difference to my love of the brand. Is the brand working on brand equity in my mind, and will it eventually run out of steam, causing me to wonder why I’ve chosen Cathay all these years?

Is the substantiantion there? Convenient flight times, great service, presentable cabin crew (Singapore Airlines can keep its dresses and pretty Singapore Girl’s – I know that the Singapore Girl image is the furthest from the truth), and the inflight entertainment is pretty good too. Hell, Y class even had Internet connections and power points for my laptop. This all makes for a pleasant flying experience in Y class and I know that in J class it’s even better.

Now I’m really flying? Still not sold on the idea that I’m now really flying as opposed to just flying. Did I see it on the faces of the folks around me that they were really flying now, as opposed to flying conventionally? Still waiting for all the elements of Now You’re Really Flying to fall into place and for me, with a objective eye, to be convinced that Cathay is the only real way to fly, physically, emotionally or even in the broader implication of the phrase in whatever I do that involves Cathay.

Of course, the subjective within me loves the brand but this is fostered out of a professional relationship with the brand and a personal one with its staff. This process is not something that is practical to achieve in all of Cathay’s customers, nor something I would recommend, but the bright sparks at CX marketing will need to figure out why people like me are so enamoured with the brand and how to distill that into a mass produced phenomenon.

Incidentally, and as your reward for reaching the end of this rather dry post, here’s an interesting fact for you. The seat belts in aircrafts aren’t really to prevent any harm to your own personage in the event of an accident. Instead, the brief seems to be that the chairs are designed to ensure you stay in your seat, making any post-accident analysis of the bodies easier to undertake. Of course, telling you to buckle up for your own safety is nicer than saying, “In case we crash and die, we’d like to be able to identify you.”