Opinion

Australia’s class system of brands

tim burrowes landscapeAfter a rare business class flight, Mumbrella’s Tim Burrowes argues that brands may miss opportunities when staff treat customers according to their perceived value.

So over the weekend, I finally got to make the metaphorical left turn getting onto a Qantas flight. And it was everything I could have wanted.

qantas A380 sydneyNot, I stress, that our first Mumbrella Question Time in Hong Kong was such a raging commercial success, I could justify a business class flight. But I was able to use accumulated points to get an upgrade. (Who knew that,even for business class, these days you still actually turn right, on the A380 at least?)

So for once, I got a brand experience I’m not used to. And it was a very good one at that.

But as someone whose career choices mean that I’m likely to to be turning metaphorically right on aeroplanes for the rest of my life, the fact that I was a temporary visitor probably made me see the brand experience through the prism of what I would soon be returning to.

brother wherefore art thoughqantas pyjamasAnd it wasn’t the Peter Morrissey branded  grey Qantas pyjamas that focused my thinking. Even if it did make me and my fellow business class passengers look like overweight extras from Brother Wherefore Art Though.

Or even the newly opened Qantas Hong Kong business lounge with Neil Perry “inspired” dining which was every bit as pleasant as the picture suggests.

qantas hong kong lounge

From the perspective of a non travel warrior, the experience was impeccable. There was nothing about the service in that business cabin that could possibly make one think “Next time I’ll try a different airline”. It was speedy, courteous and friendly.

At busy moments attendants swarmed through the cabin in a way that doesn’t happen in economy. And nor necessarily should it. You get what you (or your company, more likely) pay for when it coms to staffing levels.

But it was actually a random encounter with the flight attendants at about 4am, somewhere over Queensland, that focused my mind about how brands treat their non premium customers.

I woke briefly, removing my noise-cancelling headphones and comfortable eyeshades, pull back my duvet and getting up from my flatbed (complete with massage controls that I neglected to experiment with) to head through the darkened cabin to the bathroom.

Three of the flight attendants were quietly chatting in their jump seats.

One of them leapt to his feet, offering water, or anything else I wanted.

And that was the moment.

Over the years, in wee small hours bathroom trips on various airlines, I’ve stumbled on flight attendants on downtime in their jump seats in many an economy cabin.

And never once have they jumped to their feet to see whether I wanted water.

So why, culturally, does a business class customer put staff on their feet, and an economy one does not?

One would assume that in both cases, the crew are equally tired.

Both customers have paid some money and in both cases, one assumes the airline wants them to have the best possible experience based on the resources available.

Is it simply that the best staff get put into business class? The ones most likely to rush to offer service.

Or is it that culturally, as well as economically, there are different classes of customer? Ones that you need to go all out to look after, and ones where it’s okay not to try quite as hard.

I’ve experienced as much with other brands. Sometimes, it’s not about what you’ve paid, but appearance, I suspect.

On a day off, I once walked into a branch of Commonwealth Bank, which at the time was running its “Concierge” ad

A few minutes before, I’d become exasperated by a long, impersonal wait at my ANZ bank, which did indeed involve taking a ticket.

The customer insight was a good one. The investment into the creative work by M& C Saatchi, and the TV ads worked. I walked into CommBank’s flagship branch on Sydney’s George Street, intending to ditch ANZ.

I had, metrosexual that I am, come from having a facial. So the front of my hair was damp and standing on end. I was scruffily dressed. I may even have had a small backpack with me.

It was also probably inconveniently close to closing time.

There was indeed a concierge who was talking to a colleague, a conversation he carried on for another minute or so after giving me the once over.

When he did ask me how he could help, I mentioned I was perhaps looking to open an account.

His first words: “You’ll need your passport.” At this point, I’d been living in Australia for five years, but I must admit, I do still have a strong English accent. So yes, I think he assumed I was a backpacker.

The wait for somebody to come and talk to me was long enough that I’d decided that I’d give it one more minute,then walk out, when somebody did come over and bring me through to a cubicle.

By now it was just about 5pm.

I mentioned that I was thinking of moving bank accounts. I didn’t mention  that I’d likely be buying a home soon, and had a reasonable deposit already in my existing account. I didn’t mention that I already owned property in the UK, and had a share of a business in Australia.

I asked about the process of switching across automated payments to utilities and the like. I said this was the only thing stopping me from having made the move. It was indeed a difficult process, she told me.

I assumed there would be a script, in which the next line would be her telling me, that they were there as a bank to help me complete it. But there wasn’t a next line.

So I said I’d think about it, thanked her for her time and left. She didn’t try to stop me. Two years later, I’m still with the ANZ.

But I suspect that if I had walked through the door wearing a suit and with my hair a bit neater, the CommBank’s staff would have reacted to me in a different way, and I’d now be their customer.

And that’s the thing that the CommBank experience has in common with non Qantas business class flights. Sometimes, a brand’s staff could treat a customer better without it costing anything extra. Sometimes it comes down to culture and training.

Otherwise staff make unconscious judgements. Why leap to your feet for an economy passenger who probably only wants to go to the bathroom anyway? Why go out of the way for a scruffy backpacker who’s probably not got much money anyway?

Yet, imagine if you did travel with an airline where the economy class flight attendants tried as hard as the ones in business. You’d be a little more likely to travel with them next time, wouldn’t you?

And sometimes, business class customers do travel economy class. Their brand perceptions are formed there too.

I’m ruined now though. I’ve tasted business class. Please don’t make me go back…

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