Wand Technology is offering a unique sponsorship opportunity in the airport space and seeks a brand partner for a 12-month cycle commencing in January 2017.

We guarantee an audience of 13 million viewers comprising a known demographic, long dwell times and high impact prominence on an estate of 200 poster sites and in over 800 pages of travel content in-channel. In addition, there will be the strong PR value of association with a world media first.

As the Media Owner we have created an amazing opportunity at an award winning international airport. Here, passengers can enjoy rich travel content from over 170 destinations whilst they wait to board their flights, accessed on their mobile devices and completely free of charge. Extensive trials on site have delivered engagement levels far higher than anticipated and we will be pleased to share demonstrable data with our prospective sponsors.

We aim to establish a genuine and meaningful partnership with a sympathetic brand sponsor looking for an innovative way to start a conversation with over a millions prospective customers every month.

For more information on this unique offer and a full media pack please contact me at iankay@wand-technology.com

With the UK, seemingly on course to extricate itself from the EU, will domestic airport operators take advantage of the changes in the status quo to develop new retail sales channels including the offers to passengers of duty free on arrival and buy pre-flight, collect on arrival?

Traditionally, as an EU member there has been a prohibition on UK airports offering duty free sales on arrival even though many countries outside the EU have been offering inbound passengers this option for years. Similar restrictions have prevented retailers from taking payment from passengers travelling within the EU at any time other than in the airport store on the travel day. This has hampered the abilities of the airport retail strategists to conceive and develop new sales channels for their passengers by limiting the options available to them.

The potential for greater freedom to develop through innovation and collaboration in this area is highly topical now as airport retail is facing some significant challenges to its offering specifically from emerging ecommerce channels.
With the opportunities that are about to present themselves to airports with an exit from Europe could this open a door to enable them to consider similar routes to selling to their passengers. One travel retailer described this as “a sort of Amazonlite for airports where shoppers buy before they fly and retrieve their purchases when they arrive back at the airport from smart collection points operating 24/7/365”.

With passengers able to browse their preferred brands online before their travel days they can make broader and more informed decisions on value, choice and convenience with easier price comparisons and purchases available for collection on arrival or even direct to their homes.

To be clear there is no suggestion that this will be a replacement for physical airport shopping as this is as much a part of the travel experience as a lunchtime Sangria or a slightly delicate second day sunburn. It will simply augment the existing arrangements and present new benefits where every party stands to gain.

The airport operators gain a new sales channel that enables them to start their conversation with the passengers long before they arrive at the airport and so take greater ownership of them as their potential long term customers.
They innovate a virtual as well as a physical shopping space for their retailers to optimise sales and deliver a network of collection points for the fulfilment and retrieval of passenger orders.

Additionally, they create an opportunity to commercialise the services to collaborative partners, stakeholders and passengers leveraging ancillary revenues from service charges and facilities management fees.
Moreover, the passengers gain extended choice, demonstrable value and greater convenience from their shopping experience whilst airlines are presented with the opportunity to consider an option to their existing sales arrangements in-flight through collaboration with the airport for mutual sales benefit.

It seems evident that the UK will return to its historical default setting of splendid isolation post-Brexit. It is equally clear that this position will result in changes that will create new opportunities for airport operators and their commercial partners and associates. This will certainly require a change of thinking and a willingness to explore new relationships between parties who may have traditionally considered themselves as competitors. But with the challenges to sales profitability that are now faced by all the members of this community from the online shopping channels the time to start this discussion appears to be now.

Ian Kay is a Director of Wand Technology and specialises in the conception and development of innovative products and services for airport operators that stimulate non-aviation ancillary revenues and enhance the customer experience.

Where else would you drink whisky at 6am or linger for an unfeasible time at the WHSmith aisle end bargain buckets?

I am a frequent traveller and I enjoy being in airports. I admit that there are aspects of the airport experience that are less pleasurable, like delayed flights or having to remind yourself to act natural when approaching a particularly menacing security official (probably the only time in your life when this is a consideration). But on the whole, airports are delightful places filled with cheery folk flush with the excitement of the adventures that are about to unfold, business deals that are about to conclude and romances that will be fulfilled.

Airports are also places where opportunities present themselves to do things that would never normally be done in Civvy Street. For example where else would you drink whisky at 6am or linger for an unfeasible time at the WH Smith aisle end bargain buckets before buying a tartan neck pillow and a Toblerone that could feed Rwanda.

These are the special things, the unique delights of the journey and they form an essential part of everything that is special about air travel. The Wand team were discussing their own little rituals, the things that they like to do during their airport visits. Whilst most were fit for human consumption and may occupy the lines of another post, some were definitely not.

With this said we’d be interested to know whether others have their own airport rituals and the extent that they are fit to commit to print.

Today it is even reported that the recent documentary about iconic Manchester Hotel the Midland has had a huge impact on seasonal trade in their restaurants and bars.

At Wand we prioritise the quality and originality of our content in the hope that we will inspire our viewers to seek out and explore not only the main attractions but also the hidden gems at their destinations.

For this reason we select the best partners to supply us with great films and guides and supplement it with original creative reviews from our friends around the world.

Which film inspired you to take a trip to the location?

It made me think about the slogan that we use at Wand.

We say “Get their before you arrive”.

On the face of it this seemed quite catchy. We give airport passengers a free travel channel filled with content like films, guides and vouchers that they can view and save on their mobile devices. We want them to get into the holiday mood before they board their flights and so the slogan seemed quite simple, intelligible and punchy.
Now I realise that when you are so close to a product you can easily lose your objectivity and slip into the trap of just putting words together that make no sense.

So the question is; “Is the slogan any good and if not what would be the alternative?” If we judge yours better we’ll use it.

In answer to the initial question about the Jellyfish the answer is obviously 11.

If you are a media planner or agency looking for a new space on which to place your brand and would like more information on this unique sponsorship opportunity please contact Ian Kay at iankay@wand-technology.com check us out at www.wand-technology.com and follow Wand Technology on LinkedIn

The Wand travel channel for airport passengers is a world media first that creates a new space to achieve brilliant prominence for millions of viewers in a relaxed uncluttered environment.

The Wand offering comprises print, digital and mobile media that calls travellers to action and connects them to a rich channel of travel content accessed on their mobile devices. The content includes destination films, inspirational guides and saveable vouchers for drinks, meals and services in resort. It is accessed at all departure gates where average dwell times around our media typically exceed 25 minutes in an area where there is little or no visual intrusion. It is completely free for passengers to access and for airport operators to host.

Impactful printed posters at every gate promoting the Wand guarantee an opportunity to view for every departing passenger and our interactive digital ‘specials’ at the busiest gates only enhance this opportunity ensuring high levels of engagement.

Once viewers connect, the channel is designed to get them into the holiday mood before they board their flights whilst also allowing visible brand placement in many interesting and sympathetic formats in channel.

The Wand is wholly commercialised through channel sponsorship including naming rights that allow prominent viewership of more than 12 million people per annum. Advanced beta testing completes at the end of September and a launch sponsor is now being actively sought for a full implementation with an airport partner in October 2015.

If you are a media planner or agency looking for a new space on which to place your brand and would like more information on this unique sponsorship opportunity please contact Ian Kay at iankay@wand-technology.com check us out at www.wand-technology.com and follow Wand Technology on LinkedIn

Inspirational city guides on the Wand travel channel are the perfect way to get passengers in the holiday mood whilst they wait at their gates to board their flights.

Rich with information on shopping, dining, site seeing or just relaxing the guides can be accessed on almost every Wi-Fi enabled mobile device and saved completely free of charge to use in resort. This is also great news for our channel sponsors who receive prominent brand placement on each of our 170 + destination guides. This great airport service means that viewers not only enjoy browsing our content before they fly but also get a free, fully branded take-away to accompany them on their journey. The Wand travel channel creates a unique value proposition for our sponsors by offering a dedicated customer service in the airport space that is free to access and free to host. If you would like more information about Wand Technology and the Wand travel channel please email Ian Kay at iankay@wand-technology.com or find out more at www.wand-technology.com

The Wand travel channel for airport passengers may be the best medium for commercial sponsors who want to know who sees their brand, where and for how long.

Because the channel is positioned to be accessible by outbound travellers at their departure gate we are uniquely placed to predict precisely how many viewers will see our print media calls to action. Moreover we can even determine their exact destinations and segmentation from collaboration with our airport hosts. We are also able to accurately predict the average dwell times at the medium.
Once the travellers opt into the channel we are able to follow their unique journeys through city destinations selected, films viewed and guides and vouchers saved via the forms that they complete in-channel and the impressions that they make during their navigation. All of this is recorded on our own server to enable our hosts and sponsors to receive business information which offers them the best and most accurate interpretation of their viewership. It is also the best demonstration of the value of their sponsorship.
The Wand travel channel is a world media first that is free to access and free to host. It is the only customer experience driven medium in the airport space and is wholly commercialised through channel sponsorship.
If you would like more information about Wand Technology and the Wand travel channel please email Ian Kay at iankay@wand-technology.com or find out more at www.wand-technology.com

At Wand Technology we believe that we have the perfect offering to achieve both aims by delivering a lucrative solution for the airport operator and a great customer experience for the passengers.

The Wand travel channel provides a unique source of entertainment and information to travellers and offers them the opportunity to watch destination films, view inspirational guides and save vouchers for free drinks and meals as well as car hire and attraction discounts in resort. It is accessible on all mobile devices at airport departure gates where passengers can connect to the channel free of charge, without any roaming or airtime charges whatsoever and ensures that they can start their holiday before they board their plane.

Due to our innovative commercialisation model we are able to offer our airport hosts a lucrative annual profit share and like the passengers, the service is offered to them completely free of charge.

So the proposition is simple; spend no money and take no risk and in exchange we will pay you money. We appreciate that this may negate long, exhaustive, detailed, inter-departmental, collaborative brainstorming meetings with no certainty of an outcome. But if it is a fun alternative you want with very little internal effort required and healthy annual income as a result then this is definitely for you.

The Wand travel channel is a world media first and is currently in advanced beta testing with an international airport operator.

If you would like more information about Wand Technology and the Wand travel channel please email Ian Kay at iankay@wand-technology.com or find out more at www.wand-technology.com

We developed our travel channel for our airport hosts to ensure that however long the delay and however sparse the food and drink there will always be plenty of destination films to watch, guides to view and vouchers to save to keep your holiday spirits high and your passenger experience strong.

At Wand our mission is to create the means for international airports to provide great customer service when there are delays or unforeseen issues.

What is your worst airport experience ?

Answer in the comments below or send us a message here