I don’t know why I feel compelled to blog everytime I’m on an aircraft, but there’s something appealing about it for me. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m on a plane, and therefore have nothing better to do.
I’m flying Porter to Toronto today to attend the ICE07 Conference. My colleague Brady is going to be speaking tomorrow morning on what looks to be a great panel with Shel Israel, and I’m going to be in the audience, which as we all know, is the most important role there is.
That aside, I gotta say, I’m impressed by Porter. They’re making a brand promise and they’re delivering. Complementary shuttle service, a bottle of water vs. a tiny plastic cup – a plane that takes off right away and lands 10 minutes earlier than expected. If you contrast this with the Air Canada experience, you know that this is night and day.
Brands are not something that you write in a corporate manual or slap on a website. They are the collective experiences of your customers, and therefore cannot be forced. Porter is living their brand, and Air Canada is just shouting theirs… big difference, especially when I hear from every business traveller I know about how great the Porter experience is.
That’s all I have to say about that. In the meantime, if anyone’s going to be at ICE and wants to chat – feel free to send me an email… ryan at this domain dot ca.
