bmi is London Heathrow’s second largest carrier and has built a strong business with short and medium haul routes. In recent years, the airline has added a selection of long haul routes and is attempting to establish itself as a leading choice for the business traveller.

Starting out in 1949 as British Midland Airways flying from Manchester, bmi has survived various incarnations. It must now work to overcome historical perceptions in order to move its brand into position as a leading business airline with a global reach.

bmi's sales and marketing team engaged Prospect to completely refresh the digital brand story in all its aspects, from ease of use to overall experience. The programme began with an intelligent rework of the home page and the information architecture. A tie-in with Flickr gave the site a connection to user generated content, an industry first. 21 Videos were created that turned a static, printed sales brochure of the business class and lounge customer experience into a dynamic online story. The DVD of the brochure gave the sales team a compelling tool with which to increase bmi's visibility. Prospect also interpreted the brand through sound, providing an added dimension to the experience. Food videos were created in conjunction with a top London restaurant to highlight the new on-board service.

The website design reflects bmi's new mantra "better for business" in both visual appeal and ease of use. Prospect's scheme for the simple navigation structure enables customers to quickly find the information most important to them. The booking, managing and check-in functions define a new paradigm for interaction on airline sites. A crucial factor to achieving this is to keep the pages uncluttered with self-tidying menus, developed to save on screen space. The home page left hand dashboard widget provides instant access to key user needs. The centre provides layered access to not just sales and seasonal promos, but also essential information services such as destination guides. The experience is bold and spirited, emphasising bmi's business value to its customers.

Overall, the online experience now:

• has a highly engaging feel
• expresses the "better for business" positioning
• brings business class and new lounge experience to life
• clearly communicates bmi's route offer and reach
• highlights Star Alliance advantages
• provides live flight and airport information
• establishes bmi's business travel credentials
• increases conversion rates through streamlined booking flow
• Web 2.0 user generated content

bmi’s brand refresh and site redesign resulted in a 20% increase in conversions. Customers have praised the dramatic improvement in ease of use and the access to valuable content:

"Dear bmi, I just wanted to say thank you. Never have I used such an easy website for travel. The improvement over the past year has been dramatic and I am certain that I will keep coming back. Thank you!”

“Just before deciding to book a trip to Tel Aviv, I came across your destination guides.  I thought they were great and gave me a really good insight into the city.  Needless to say, I decided to book my trip with bmi. I have just got back and they were really accurate.”

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