Marketing: Custom Edition for Texas A&M University 17th Edition by William Pride,Ferrell

Exercise 4

Southwest Airlines Promotes Its Culture
Although Southwest Airlines started small, today, it is one of the largest airlines in the country, flying to 72 cities on more than 3,300 flights a day. The Texas-based company prides itself on its sense of humour and down-home attitude, which has been developed and advanced over the years through advertising, promotions, and public relations programs. Its national advertising campaigns ("You are now free to move about the country" and "We Love Your Bags") are success stories. This is the airline that once paid an Elvis impersonator to serenade customers at the Manchester, New Hampshire, airport to celebrate its addition of flights to Las Vegas; the airline that painted three of its aircraft with Shamu the whale in its partnership with SeaWorld. Southwest's vision is to be a low-budget airline that enables its customers to have fun flying.
The corporate culture owes a lot to the outgoing personality of the airline's co-founder, Herb Kelleher. But humor also serves as a way to make cheap travel more palatable. The Southwest Way that employees are encouraged to adopt includes displaying a Warrior Spirit, a Servant's Heart, and a Fun-LUVing attitude. It is typical for Southwest flight crews to joke with the passengers. These tactics build worldwide customer allegiance. The airline also tries to engage its customers in dialogue with its Nuts About Southwest blog and its social media presence on sites, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Southwest's "Ding" promotion is a terrific example of its use of integrated marketing communication. Customers can download software from the airline's website, and when Southwest offers a low fare, it notifies them with a "ding" sound-the same "ding" you hear when airline captains turn off the seatbelt sign; the same "ding" that precedes Southwest's well-known tagline, "You are now free to move about the country." Southwest also caters to pet-LUVing customers through its P.A.W.S. program, which allows passengers with small pets to take their pets into the airline cabin (in a carrier) for $75 each way.
One of Southwest's major campaigns is its bags-fly-free policy. Southwest Airlines allows passengers to check two bags free per customer, while most other airlines charge about $25 for checked bags (the prices go up as the number of bags increases). Baggage fees have generated much-needed revenue for many of the airlines, but Southwest recognized that it could instead profit from consumer discontent over the bag fees. In response, the company released the "Grab Your Bag. It's On!" campaign to position itself as an airline that treats its customers like people. The company released several commercials criticizing competing airlines, asking, "Why do they hate your bags?" Today, Southwest continues to heavily promote its bags-fl y-free policy. Its website compares Southwest's bag charges ($0 for fi rst two checked bags) with other airlines (up to $120) as "ridiculous" versus "ridiculously awesome." Jet- Blue has joined Southwest in offering two free checked bags.
More recent marketing campaigns are also stressing the positive impact that Southwest has on the communities in which it does business. Southwest stresses that its employees not only care about customer service but about serving their communities. One way in which company employees engage in community service is by the "Adopt a Pilot" program. Southwest pilots are "adopted" by classrooms across the country for four-week periods. During this time, the pilots volunteer in the classrooms and mentor the student. When traveling, the pilots will send e-mails and postcards to their students from different places. From an integrated marketing perspective, this program not only enhances Southwest's reputation as a socially responsible company, but it also spreads brand awareness among students and their parents.
Southwest spends a significant amount of money on national advertising and media, approximately $249 million in 2011. Much of this advertising discusses the benefits of Southwest as well as its caring and loving culture. However, unlike several other airlines, Southwest does not sell ad space on the exterior of its planes. Southwest maintains that it tries to keep its advertising messages related to Southwest airlines, travel-related products, and companies with which it maintains partnerships (such as SeaWorld). These limits can increase the goodwill it has with consumers who feel bombarded with marketing messages. Through effective integrated marketing, Southwest has been able to launch successful campaigns, gain market share, and thrive even during the most recent recession.
Describe the various promotion elements that Southwest Airlines uses in its integrated marketing communications.