In-Flight Entertainment / Media · 2020–2021
Global in-flight entertainment and connectivity provider
This business was the world's largest provider of in-flight entertainment, supplying airlines globally. COVID-19 sharply reduced airline spending power, and the business needed a new way to sell in-flight entertainment that airlines could still afford.
The situation
The business needed to launch its subscription product, a new pay-monthly subscription product positioned as a sky-high version of the video-on-demand services customers already knew, in direct response to COVID-19's impact on airline spending power. The programme, meant to reshape how airlines bought in-flight entertainment, had lost momentum. Getting it moving again mattered because the subscription product was the business's answer to a market that had suddenly contracted.
The challenge
The programme had to be restarted and landed at the same time, against a customer base whose spending power had contracted sharply due to COVID-19.
- A stalled programme spanning sales, marketing, production and technology, with no single owner driving it to market.
- A new pricing and subscription model that had to work for airlines with sharply reduced budgets.
- An existing customer base that needed transitioning onto the new product before it launched publicly.
- A cost-to-serve model that needed to come down without weakening the customer proposition.
What we did
We worked closely with SVPs across sales, marketing, production and technology, taking ownership of every workstream needed to land the new business model.
- Oversaw pricing, programming, go-to-market strategy and the transition of existing customers onto the new product.
- Balanced the airline's need to cut costs against a subscription proposition that still worked for a global customer base.
- Prioritised getting existing customers onto the new model ahead of public launch, rather than launching cold.
- Coordinated across sales, marketing, production and technology to keep the programme moving as one effort rather than separate workstreams.
Results
The subscription product launched, and it stuck.
- More than 50% of existing customers signed up to the subscription product before public launch.
- Cost-to-serve came down by around 30%.
- The product is still marketed today as the business's flagship in-flight entertainment subscription line.
- The subscription product is still positioned to airlines as a way to cut costs, keep quality high, and stay in control of their package.
What made the difference
Getting existing customers signed up before the public launch, rather than treating adoption as something to chase after going live, is what gave the relaunched programme its momentum back. It also meant the cost-to-serve reduction was not just a projection: it was already working against a real, committed customer base by the time the subscription product went public.
Role
Digital Programme Director
Sector
In-Flight Entertainment / Media