Flying is getting even better. When we heard that Skymall has been rescued from oblivion, we rejoiced with the rest of the giddy traveling public in coach.
United Airlines, meanwhile, continues to take content marketing to new heights with its in-flight magazine Rhapsody, available exclusively in premium lounges and cabins, notes Contently’s Tessa Wegert.
According to Wegert, it’s a piece of content marketing gold.
“It elevates the decades-old in-flight magazine concept through rare collaborations that benefit all partners involved,” Wegert says. “United gets to offer its prized passengers highbrow entertainment—contributing novelists, meanwhile, gain access to some 2 million readers with the expendable cash to buy their books.”
American Airline’s American Way magazine and even Amtrak are also partnering with writers and publishers to provide entertainment for their passengers and partnership opportunities for sponsors.
The trend of partnering upscale (and even commonplace) brands with literature is compelling for a number of reasons. From Land Rover’s partnership with James Bond series author William Boyd (Wegert notes they’ve launched an original novella housed on Tumblr), to Chipotle’s popular writings on their bags and cups, it seems the marketing mindset is crazy about good writing.
One might ask where the publisher is in all of this partnering. Seems that’s part of the new paradigm as well, as literature becomes a truly multi-channel experience.
Reading is a beautiful thing no matter where it happens. And good reading is a treat and a tonic for the weary intellect. We like this trend. A lot.