Rubricator -Introduction -About the brand -The use of communication theory -Conclusion and critique
Introduction
Aviasales is one of the largest services specializing in ticket searching and other miscellaneous traveling offers in Russia and the neighboring countries of the CIS. It is a fully-fledged digital platform that allows users to compare prices from various airlines and agencies, find optimal routes, and plan their trips.
In this research we’ll analyze the digital ecosystem created by the brand and the communication strategies used to reach and gain the trust of users.
About the brand
History
Aviasales was founded in 2007 as a small online service dedicated to searching for airline tickets. Konstantin Kalinov, the creator of the brand, initially conceived the service as a personal tool for fishing out the cheapest flight options available on the internet. The idea was successful enough to gain a large following in a short time.
Konstantin Kalinov
In its early stages Aviasales specialized as a search and compare engine, collecting information on the best deals and offers in the traveling industry. Over time though, growing in popularity and capability, the brand expanded its services, slowly becoming its own all-in-one digital ecosystem, partnering with more and more brands for better reach and variety.
old interface
At the time of writing this research Aviasales offers not only ticket deals, but hotel and apartment bookings, other transportation options, travel guides, organization of personalized guide tours, seasonal price comparison and much more. The brand is considered to be one of the most prominent players on the Russian traveling market.
The brand’s core value lies in its ability to make travel more accessible and convenient. Unlike traditional travel agencies, Aviasales doesn’t sell tickets or other services directly, rather it provides users with the ability to quickly compare multiple offers and choose the most suitable option. This approach maintains the brand’s image of a reliable assistant that saves travelers time and money, for it has no financial incentives to inflate prices.
The brand is renowned for its successful PR strategies and recognizable visual style that allow it to stay a consistent and easily recognizable presence in the lives of its users and the media in general.
Target audience
Aviasales’s core audience consists of active internet users who regularly use digital services and organize their own travel. They prioritize the speed of search and the ability to save on travel. The service’s users can be divided into two main groups. The first group consists of casual travelers who are looking for more affordable and fun flight options and who are willing to adjust their travel dates to find a better price and a better offer for tourist-related activities.
The second group consists of professionals, businessmen and company employees who regularly travel for work and are interested in quickly finding convenient and fast routes.
The use of communication theory
Now, by looking at specific «behaviors» of the brand in mass media, we’ll analyze which communication theories are used by Aviasales the most, what they contribute to the brand’s image and how they affect the people using the brand’s services and engaging with its media.
PR strategies
Aviasales’s communications strategy is built on a constant brand presence in the digital environment and active engagement with its audience through various media. Partnerships with bloggers and influencers are key promotional tools. The brand collaborates with a large number of content creators of varying popularity and reach. This allows the service to consistently remain relevant.
So the brand is relying heavily on promotion by opinion leaders, which can be considered a use of the two-step flow theory. By providing information about itself not only by the means of «raw» mass communication on the website, but by association with bloggers, Aviasales manages to reach a larger audience and influence those susceptible to suggestions (specifically suggestions of cooperating with the business)
At the same time the brand exploits the «global village» concept, spreading its presence over as many interconnected mediums as possible to create a consistent and prominent image. This tactic enables people to get used to the brand and to make its association with the travel industry the most noticeable. It strives to be the first that comes to mind when thinking about planning travel.
Social media plays a crucial role in the brand’s communication with its users. Aviasales is active on various platforms, aside from its own home website, adapting its content to the specific needs of each platform. A distinctive feature of the brand’s PR strategy is its multi-channel approach. The brand tailors different types of content exclusively for the partner platform’s content preferences. For TikTok and Instagram (признаны экстремистскими организациями и запрещены на территории РФ) it features humor and ironic posts, while for Telegram it features useful travel information and analytics.
This showcases the brand’s willingness to use peripheral cues as described by the elaboration likelihood model and manifested through jokes, short-form content and other media associated with planning travel. Aviasales nudges its audience into the direction of remembering its existence though advertisement masked as comedy and useful facts.
Although mostly non-effective in terms of convincing users to immediately book a flight using the service, this strategy is mostly designed to keep the brand firmly in the collective memory of its audience while also avoiding strong negative reactions as described by the model. Lesser push equals lesser backlash and results in a more relaxed communication. For its central route of persuasive communication, the brand mostly uses opinion leaders, as stated above. Though, some other methods of straightforward advertising can be used to awoke a strong reaction.
An example of provocative advertising was a campaign in Russian airport restrooms, where the brand placed posters with ironic messages related to purchasing airline tickets and anticipating travel. This unusual placement was deliberate: the audience was placed in the immediate context of travel, and the ad itself stood out from the common airport advertising formats.
