It’s not breaking news: Marketing and creative teams continue to be pulled in multiple directions, are being asked to do more with less and are doing so with more speed and urgency than ever before. From managing budget restraints and developing effective customer-centric campaigns to measuring ROI and partnering with sales departments, the to-do list goes on and on. Complicating matters is the multitude of workstreams that create parallel paths and silos, often leaving team members with a view of the trees and not the forest.
Adaptation is key, and finding tools that allow on-the-fly collaboration and crystal-clear visibility while preventing repetition is essential. For example, after the onset of the pandemic, Fiji Airways began its own digital transformation that revolutionized its workflow, improving operational efficiency, enhancing customer value and creating new revenue opportunities.
Here are some key takeaways from the airline's digital transformation, proving how using the right technology can improve processes and help your marketing and creative teams soar to new heights.
Adapt and expand functionalities
Clear communication, whether it’s between individual team members or between departments, is non-negotiable when it comes to developing and getting campaigns to market at speed. And the simpler the means, the better. Unfortunately, according to a study by Harvard Business Review, only 5% of chief marketing officers feel they have a holistic enough view of their business in order to make impactful and strategic decisions. That’s why a solution that gathers all reporting data, as well as project and campaign progress, can enable not only executives but everyone to easily access the information they need when they need it.
During the pandemic, Fiji Airways was faced with communications challenges it had never imagined possible, requiring swift and creative solutions. When it needed to rapidly enhance its operations in a way that would easily connect its remote employees to other agents around the world, the airline turned to Smartsheet to align customer service workflows and boost remote employee capabilities.
Beyond introducing innovative automations, Fiji Airways was able to transform paper-based processes into efficient digital actions across 15 departments including marketing. This global upgrade improved both internal and external communications so that nothing got missed.
“Before, everything was handled either via emails, manually or through phone calls,” said Monisha Lata, the senior manager of business systems at Fiji Airways. “This caused huge delays in our requests, but Smartsheet really helped us fast-track work.”
Focus and streamline action items
Gathering and analyzing customer data to create actionable insights can often be a huge speed bump for marketing and creative teams. In fact, a recent report by the Chief Marketing Officer Council found that only 3% believe they’re doing an effective job. Centralizing and digitizing this information so that there’s just one source of truth can allow for more refined audience targeting, and the creation of hyper-personalized content can help deliver campaigns to market more quickly. What’s more, digitization to this degree enables real-time strategy adjustment based on direct customer feedback.
After the Fiji team successfully digitized invoicing and refund approvals, they knew that the next step it needed to take in its digital transformation to improve customer service was to shift the focus to its in-flight crews and the data they collect on passengers.
“In the aircraft we fill out voyage reports, which capture everything that happens during the flight, from broken seats and weather conditions to food complaints,” Lata said. “These reports are then relayed to the appropriate teams for action, such as engineering or customer service.”
Overnight, this time-consuming and labor-intensive burden for the crew, who relied on manual paperwork and clunky Excel spreadsheets to report this information, became a nearly instantaneous step. Once the crews implemented Smartsheet forms to input this data digitally while on board, what was previously a three-to-five-day administrative process was able to be completed in just a few hours, allowing for the immediate resolution of any and all issues.
Integrate and evolve all digital operations
The distribution and management of company assets can be a huge headache–whether it’s making sure everyone is using the most up-to-date logo or transferring huge files from a network server. That’s why it’s important to integrate all digital operations. In fact, 86% of marketers believe that sustainable results can only be achieved through significant changes to their marketing function.
In order to keep up, an evolution is needed, and as it turns out, the answer is a simple one: Store all your brand assets in a centralized hub. The creation and upkeep of a hub of this caliber will not only save time, but help clean up a company’s digital footprint via asset structuring, storing and labeling. What’s more, it will increase data security and compliance by eliminating scattered locations and cloud-sharing risks.
Fiji Airways was stuck in this nightmare itself, as Lata explained, with an unmanageable infrastructure. To solve this issue, the airline integrated with Brandfolder, Smartsheet’s digital asset management platform, which allowed for more structure, speed and control. It not only centralized access to files, but the platform also enabled the rapid transfer of terabytes of data worldwide within seconds. Each week the marketing team had events and campaigns to roll out, and the airline’s global team needed to stay on pace and on the same page.
In an increasingly fast-paced landscape, companies can no longer afford to rely on outdated, fragmented workflows. The success story of Fiji Airways demonstrates the transformative power of digital tools. By integrating these solutions, marketing and creative teams can break down silos, align their efforts, and focus on what truly matters: delivering impactful campaigns and enhancing customer experiences.
