Kulula Comic Life

3 June 2008. If you ever want to review an airline's in-flight magazine then make sure your outbound flight and return flight straddles two seperate months - this way I got to read Kulula's May issue of Comic Life on my flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg and the June issue on my flight back home.

We know you want to cut costs...but...

Comic Life used the same photo of Erik (the numbers man) and Gidon (the marketing man) in their June edition which they used in their May edition....guys, we know you're a low cost carrier but you gotta keep reinventing yourselves - the minute you go stale you're dead in the water.

Celebrity Blogs

Kulula's Comic Life listed the following "celebrity blogs":

Technology

Comic life's resident technophobe wrote about some gadgets:

• Blackberry Pearl 8110

• Casio GPR-100

• Gauteng's first HP Experience store

• Packard Bell Store and Play 3500

• Microsoft's Office Suite for Mac

Advertising advertising advertising

Comic Life contains a lot of advertising - even some of the editorials are really just advertising Kulula products and partner products:

Discovery, Imperial and First Rand Bank

In their editorial, Gidon and Erik highlight their strong relationship with Discovery, Imperial (Imperial Car Rental was rebranded Europcar from 1 July 2009) and First Rand Bank as facilitating the growth behind the Kulula business. Also getting a mention in the issue was ebucks and the Protea Hotel group.

Kulula products

Comic Life spent half a page drawing attention to the Kulula Connect product which they have set up together with Altech Autopage Cellular - a mobile internet solution with 3G/HSDPA. Of course the Kulula credit card got a mention, as did their Project Green (a great initiative) and the Kulula Jetsetters club. They also showcased "Kulula Holiday Packages", the most interesting of which were the Mauritius packages:

• Paradise Cove Hotel & Spa, from R12170 per person sharing for 7 nights, return flight from Joburg to Mauritius and airport taxes.

• The Sands Resort and Spa, from R11020 per person sharing for 7 nights accommodation, return flight from Johannesburg to Mauritius and airport taxes

If the Kulula specials extended into October I might have gone for one of them.

External Advertising

Kulula brought in some moolah for themselves with a bunch of external ads:

• holiday packages

• Kulula credit card

• Kulula beds at Protea Hotel

• Vitality Discovery members get 30% off Kulula flights

• Imperial Car Rental and Europcar rentals

There was also a bunch of advertisements external to the Kulula group:

• Alpha Conference Centre, situated 15km from Lanseria Airport /p>

• Aquila Private Game Safari, which offers horseback safaris

• Air Travelmax which offers flights from Lanseria Airport

• Arcadia Tours & Transfers in Pretoria

• Auto Freight

• Balducci's restaurant at Cape Town's V&A Waterfront

• Bid or Buy's online auctions

• carwin.co.za

• CFW damp control

• Cirrus earplanes earplugs

• Dell laptops from Vodashop, Cellucity & Game

• Express Employment professionals - helping you employ or be employed

• Falcon Fencing - hi tech security solutions allowing you to "feel safe again"

• FormaViva Jewellery for Life

• Freedom Park

• Gallaway Manor apartments for sale

• Glen Ridge in Simonstown (property sales)

• Glycine Swiss watch

• Innjoy Guest House

• Jive lite cooldrinks

• Linctagon for colds and flus

• Liquid home home loans

• Luggage Glove & Luggage Warehouse

• Mastercard

• Meridian apartments on Beach Road, Strand (good luck selling in this market!)

• Monaghan farm stands

• Montego Bay restaurant at Nelson Mandela Square

• Netcash

• Nicogel to stop smoking (for those Cape Town to Johannesburg flights?)

• Pam Golding Properties

• Petsure - medical insurance for cats, dogs & horses

• Pick 'n Pay Knysna Oyster Festival

• Private property

• Revite Pharmamark

• Royal Canin's nutritional dog food

• Samsung mobile

• Southern Sun Garden Court ran a 3 page advert (seems like the partnership with Protea hotels doesn't extend to competitors not being able to advertise in Kulula's Comic Life magazine)

• Sunglass discount warehouse (get ready for summer)

• Trumps Grill on Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, Johannesburg

• Unisa College of Law

• Versus Paint Specialists

• Visa

• Wagenbietjieshoek

• Web Africa ADSL

Stopped advertising

The following companies advertised in theMay edition of Kulula Comic Life but not in the June edition:

• Belthazar restaurant at Cape Town's V& A Waterfront

• Breede River Lodge in the Western Cape

• Cape Town's Balducci's restaurant

• Cape Town opera at the Artscape

• carfind.co.za

• Daihatsu Charade

• Ebotse golf and country estate

• eDegree through the Edinburgh Business School

• Garfield jigsaw puzzles

• Investec Capital Markets

• Knysna tourism

• Outsurance - direct cover for your business

• Palm Lakes Estate

• Regus Properties

• Standard Bank

• Tsunaminet offers 2 months free web hosting if you fly Kulula

• U21Global

• Verona Spa

• Voice on one communications

• Upper East Side, Ravenswood - city living near Johannesburg's O.R. Tambo International Airport and the East Rand mall.

The Maldives

Kulula don't fly to the Maldives, so not sure why they're writing about it, but they did. An article which waxes lyrrically about the unspoilt nature of the Maldives...makes me think of changing my upcoming trip to Mauritius to the Maldvies instead!