Pet Airways for Aristocats

Posted by Milos Sugovic 

Just when I started believing in the credit crunch, along came funding for a stupid idea – a pet-only airline offering first class pet travel. Now this might not be the most ridiculous service offering ever, but it’s definitely top-tier and belongs with the Snuggie and these Chindogu Japanese products mocked on Freakonomics. It turns out I was wrong: stupid ideas can make you money if you can connect with the right consumer. And that’s how Pet Airways, among other capitalist ingenuities, will “take off” on July 14th this year.  

The airline’s mission is to guarantee “Pawsengers” with safety and comfort when flying, promising that pets are cared for by a trained crew of pet attendants.  Each time your loved one moves from the Pet Lounge to the limo or makes a transfer, the owner can track and trace their progress. Oh, and in case you’re curious, there’s a frequent flyer club called MyPAWS which comes with perks such as discounts at their online store, pet-friendly hotels, as well as at 1-800-PetMeds.  There’s no question about it: Say goodbye to Double Happiness Travel, I’m flying to Washington D.C. using Pet Airways!

But on a more serious note, I can’t help to conclude that the zero-sum game of market competition is long gone - my profit no longer translates into your loss. And the reason behind it is the exponential growth of modes of communication which increased market segmentation, creating the need for service offering fragmentation and firm differentiation. Add to that price competition and the story is complete.  

There’s a market for everything and it won’t stop growing – all you have to do is supply it, and someone out there will demand it. But that necessitates that firms know who their niche customers are, where to find them and how to communicate with them. Now I don’t know who devised the Pet Airways PR plan, but they knew what they were doing and made sure that Pet Airways appeared on no other than Fox News.