In my new book, “Deja New Marketing”, I wrote about the wisdom of crowds or, maybe, the wisdom that crowds don’t have. My take is that the crowd is often wrong and is excitedly headed into the wrong direction a good part of the time.
For example, author John M. McKee writes about the airline industry and the rush to cut customer services and perks to improve profitability. Believe it or not, flying used to be a pleasant experience for most people. One airline that understands this is Singapore Airlines, which is consistently ranked as the best airline in the world year after year.
McKnee writes, “It’s (Singapore Airlines) also high in the rankings of “most admired” in any industry worldwide. Here’s their “secret”: While other airline leaders directed expense cuts to service so they could discount fare prices and “save” their company, Singapore’s CEO Chew Choon Seng reduced the number of flights but continued to spend on customer service aspects that would improve their look and feel to customers. Those who flew on Singapore experienced good service and good food. Increased customer approval ratings show this works. It would in any industry”.
Meanwhile, American Airlines, United Airlines, and the rest are charging you for luggage, pillows, and lousy headphones. The airline crowd is simply wrong. People want economical flights but want to be treated humanely.
Ignore the crowd. Better yet, do the opposite of what they do.
John Bradley Jackson
Top Dog
The BirdDog Group
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Source: June 14, Fortune
This is some good insight into what some would consider counter intuitive. It is also a great example of how even a big company could differentiate themselves, giving themselves a sustained competitive advantage.