The journey of a lifetime.

Redefining travel

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was founded with a mission to help Scandinavians experience more of the world—and it has done just that. Seventy years later, the airline transports more than 28 million passengers to 119 destinations around Europe, the United States, and Asia each year. However, the changing face of the airline industry means that new strategies are needed to succeed and attract customers long before take-off.

“Surging oil prices, fluctuating currencies, and new, low-cost entrants to the market are just a few factors impacting our business and our bottom line,” says Didrik Fjeldstad, Vice President of Marketing, SAS. “We want to redefine the travel experience and find ways to generate revenue outside of the actual plane.”

The biggest opportunity for SAS lies with its frequent flyers—those who travel five or more times annually with the airline. These customers view travel as a form of self-realization, exploration, and discovery. For them, traveling is a lifestyle.

“SAS is no longer just an airline company. We are a lifestyle brand that connects to travelers on an emotional level,” says Fjeldstad. “We want to get closer to our customers and offer them more personalized experiences.”

To accomplish this, SAS needed to integrate customers’ online and offline experiences—from booking flights, visits to the airport lounge, in-plane experiences, and destination offerings to helping arrange a dog sitter or grocery delivery while away. This level of insight would enable SAS to create dynamic travel packages that provide more than just a seat on a plane.

Standing in the way of this was a fragmented marketing environment, which made it difficult to collaborate and gather the data and insights needed to offer truly personalized experiences. As a result, SAS set out to streamline its internal processes to cost-effectively provide customers with value-added services across marketing channels.

Soaring above the clouds

As the customer journey expands to include pre- and post-travel services, SAS relies on Adobe solutions within Adobe Experience Cloud to better understand customer behavior, and then reach out with relevant offerings. It all began 12 years ago with what is now Adobe Campaign, an Adobe Marketing Cloud solution that enables the company’s regional marketing departments to localize and personalize communications according to specific customer profiles.

From there, SAS expanded to additional Adobe Marketing Cloud solutions, including Adobe Experience Manager as the foundation for the company’s digital hub, www.flysas.com. The website helps customers find the information they’re looking for, further engaging them with every click. SAS also uses Adobe Target to deliver relevant experiences across all digital interactions using any data source.

“Adobe Target gives us a fundamental understanding of how different experiences impact customer behavior,” says Fjeldstad. “We can take that insight and apply it using other Adobe tools for analyzing data, and then build relevant campaigns to reach the appropriate audiences.”

Meaningful connections

Adobe Target, part of Adobe Marketing Cloud, along with Adobe Analytics and Adobe Audience Manager in Adobe Analytics Cloud, are integrated to provide SAS with a deeper understanding of customer behavior at every stage of the journey. This translates into enhanced customer segmentation and timely, relevant offerings.

For instance, SAS can now analyze behaviors associated with customers who abandon their baskets without making a purchase. With this understanding SAS can segment and reach customers with offers along the way to further entice them to book a flight.

“Adobe gives us the ability to connect different platforms and integrate digital solutions so that we can personalize offerings as efficiently and effectively as possible,” says Fjeldstad. A prime example of this is the integration between Adobe Campaign and SAS’s other CRM tools, including its customer data warehouse, CLM system, and SAS Institute platform. Working with digital agency and Adobe partner Wunderman, and lead by Head of CRM Malin Nygren, SAS now derives more value from its CRM. The company has automated some of its processes, and elevated its use of CRM beyond email to help engage customers and build brand loyalty.

In addition, Adobe Audience Manager is integrated with Amadeus travel technology enabling SAS to respond dynamically to price changes. Not only does this give SAS a competitive edge, but it also reduced manual work, freeing up internal resources to focus on other revenue-generating activities.

“With Adobe, we can realize a return on our marketing investments thanks to improvements in our processes,” says Fjeldstad. “Our team can focus on initiatives that help to build brand loyalty and ultimately increase customer lifetime value.”

A first-class experience

With a consolidated digital strategy now at the hub of all marketing, SAS has expanded its traditional focus on pre-travel outreach to impact the entire journey. Agile, cross-functional marketing teams have replaced siloes, resulting in cost savings and a more complete view of customers across channels. The newfound speed, agility, and marketing effectiveness give SAS an edge in the fiercely competitive airline industry.

“Adobe Experience Cloud enables us to meet our customers’ expectations for timely, relevant information wherever they are on their journey—from when they first think about taking a trip to when they’re traveling on their return home,” says Fjeldstad. “We can now offer so much more than just a seat on a plane.”

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