typhoon

I like the bmi colours and their font, the website looks smart and their mailings look nice but I think they are missing the point by not doing this as part of an integrated marketing strategy.

It's all nice to look at but they are missing out on the substance- instead of filling their website with pretty pictures, they should concentrate more on the functionality of it.

Instead of having a sensible network and coherent FF programme- they give us competitions. I love entering competitions and have even won an ipod courtesy of bmi. But it doesn't make me fly more with them.^ These bmi competitions are just a gimmick - west end tickets- bah humbug. Can you imagine someone that there is someone in BA whose job it is to devise and administer competitions? No, because it's a waste of their time.

This is a company who has the prescience to send out calendars detailing monthly competitions for 2007, yet can't get around to changing the recorded message on the DC line.

Someone in bmi believes "we aren't a worldclass airline but if we create a facade of being one- our customers will believe we are one"

grayst

Not forgetting that in April we can look forward to winning a weekend in Paris with return BMI tickets - oh, they dropped the route. It will be mildly interesting to see how they resolve that one - either substituting another short-haul destination, or paying for tickets on the competition?

Boddingtons

It's the little things that are starting to get on everyones tits as I suggested in the DC Fax Number thread.

The lack of fax number, poor FF IT systems, out of date telephone recordings etc.

It's making them look very unprofessional

RAPC

It is interesting that all of these minor irritations has come up as a thread. I think I've mentioned before I work in marketing (on the agency side). In fact one of my main clients has a board on this site which I try to stay clear of in case they recognise me. (It is much better to drop in Flyertalk feedback at meetings and stay anonymous to them at the same time!)

I find it pretty amazing at how many of these minor irritations are exactly that - very minor and very easy to fix, yet as we know they are pains in the rear. You have to wonder how co-ordinated their marketing efforts really are.

• It doesn't look like marketing and e-commerce are too well connected for example.
• It doesn't look like anyone REALLY does proper usability testing on the website, nor sense checking some obvious things. (i.e. the recent lack of outbound Zurich to Edinburgh option, or the continuing lack of MAN - ATL option, yet you can book the return etc)
• It doesn't look like the business communicates with their marketing team and vice versa, meaning that competition prizes are offered to soon to be dropped destinations
• It doesn't look like anyone is taking responsibility to manage these various touch points and ensure they don't frustrate or annoy customers

Ultimately ever business has failings or policies that customers don't like. In this case though BMI seem to be doing the simple things poorly in some cases when they really could avoid it. It is a shame though, because the majority of people at the airline work hard and do a great job of looking after customers and running the business. A few minor and easy to sort issues could reflect very positively on BMI if they get their act together going forward.

Maybe the BMED deal might give them that impetus to get things sorted for the better?

jbfield

Well, can't please all the people all of the time.
I have to disagree with you on this point. It may not work for yourself, but things like the Calendar Competion do help develop the sense of customer appreciation and some sense of recognition.

RAPC

Agreed. Despite my post above about BMI not doing some simple things well, I'm actually a pretty happy camper with them and I've certainly had more positive experiences with them to date than I've had through other programs.