As a firefighter's wife, I can confidently say that between the Luka trade, Southwest doing away with free bags, and the Cowboys well being the Cowboys, only Dallas Fire and Rescue can put out all these fires and save the city of Dallas.
As someone who has been a marketer in the aviation sector for the last 9 years, SWA’s free bag policy is (was) undoubtedly one of the most recognizable value propositions across the industry.
But what happens when your offer holds more weight than your essence?
When customer perceptions become more foundational than what your brand truly represents?
THIS. As in what we all witnessed this week.
Here are 3 takeaways marketers can learn from Southwest Airlines this week...
💙 Erykah > Luka
Their first post after the baggage news was a Dallas-relevant shot and "clever" deflection on the Luka trade. But it was a swing and a miss. Would've been served as a billboard next to the AAC here in the Big D.
The Luka trade news is still too soon for Dallasites. The baggage news is too fresh. And too soon + too soon = all bad.
If they wanted to be Dallas-relevant, they could've used a hometown legend, Erykah Badu.
Imagine a 0:15 reel that starts really zoomed in to something you can’t make out. You hear sounds from the airport and tarmac. As the camera slowly zooms out, it’s Erykah Badu boarding a SWA plane, and her infamous song, Bag Lady, starts playing in the background. The reel ends with the lyric, "So, paaaack liiight…" 🎶
💛 The Digital Busboy Role Is Getting Old. Stop!
Now this one goes for all CSuite leaders and Marketing Directors...
Let’s normalize proactive campaigns and messaging strategies for bad news just as we are so happy to invest in marketing for exciting news and launches.
Stop turning your social media marketing teams into digital busboys to clean up the company mess (that they probably didn’t know was coming).
By doing this, you’re forcing them to balance empathy for the community they’ve worked so hard to build and their paycheck…all while sending stiff, canned responses from Dan in PR.
❤️ Silence Is Powerful
Social media managers and strategists…
Don’t get so caught up in the moment and being timely that you forget how powerful silence is.
The band-aid has juuusssst been ripped off from Luka. No scab yet.
And now, a day after y’all’s news, you jump the gun with this?!?! Way too soon.
Social had enough chatter going on without your post. So if the new policies just needed to be shared, I would've thrown them on the stories and saved them in a highlight until things cooled down.
The room was not read so I shared some campaign concepts over on Instagram (@ digital_319) that their marketing team can use to lighten the tension. 🙃
The hashtag #avgeek and Dallasite in me is interested to see how SWA turns things around. 🫶🏽
If you prefer video breakdowns over the yap, check these out!
Did Southwest Airlines let a service offer overshadow their brand essence? 3 Campaign Ideas for the Southwest Airlines Social Team
Comments