Client: Delsey Luggage
Service: Sales Collateral
Background
When American Airlines announced mid-2008 it would institute checked-bag fees for domestic flights to recoup escalating fuel prices, air travelers groaned. To avoid paying these fees, many travelers began utilizing carry-on bags as their primary luggage, requiring a greater emphasis on packing and traveling smart.
Strategy
In American Airlines’ and other carriers’ subsequent announcements, Kröme found a silver bullet for its client, Delsey Luggage. Kröme’s PR team saw Delsey’s carry-on luggage and efficient packing tips as opportunities for feature stories to this hard news issue.
Kröme quickly responded to the airlines’ news by contacting its national travel media contacts. Kröme obliged these reporters by offering a Delsey representative as an expert source to speak on behalf of the luggage industry and made available a selection of sample carry-on bags that proved the point that lightweight carry-on luggage was the consumers’ answer to this problem.
Results
Within one week of American Airlines’ announcement, Kröme secured cover story features for Delsey’s Helium Fusion Carry-On Upright in both USA Today and The Baltimore Sun. As a result, Delsey began experiencing increased sales of the featured product and new interest to its website by visitors seeking more information on the Delsey brand.
Taking lemons and making lemonade out of a hard news story is just one of the creative ways Kröme’s PR efforts benefit clients. While this news created a negative public impression for the airline industry, an opportunity for a positive result for our client was created.