So no doubt you’ve heard about the enormous popularity of JetBlue’s $599 All You Can Jet Pass announced last month. As was expected, seats sold fast – so much so that JetBlue had to end the program earlier than anticipated! Mission accomplished, right? Well maybe - in the old world that is - but not today. You see the All You Can Jet Program is just getting started. Ever since the pass was announced, eager travelers have been busy at work planning routes (traffic to the JetBlue route map has increased over 700% since the announcement), arranging for time off to travel like mad, and connecting with other members of their elite community of lucky travelers. A simple promotion to move seats has now become a social movement whether JetBlue planned it to be or not.

So what exactly happened? Well, JetBlue tapped into a passion shared by millions – Travel, with an innovative program that inspired thousands of lucky participants enough to establish whole new communities. In fact, it such a movement that even travel agents are getting involved. According to Jaunted.com, new micro-social communities and offerings have been quickly established around the program including blogs – Where We Jet and Twelve Hours in a City, dedicated twitter accounts like @599club to share experiences, and even special travel packages built exclusively around JetBlue destinations and All You Can Jet travelers. Amazing!

The big lesson learned here is that great marketing is great marketing and when you can tap into a communities’ needs and passions, the possibilities are limitless. For those of you trying to figure out your social media strategy – spend less time thinking about the medium and more time thinking about the message and the potential that message has to start a dialog or unite a community. Once you nail that, you can think about building an integrated marketing and communication program that helps you spread the word – and if you are lucky, like JetBlue, your customers may even do that for you.

‘Til Next Time

Weather has been pounding much of the country over the last few days, canceling hundreds of flights and delaying many more.  If you were one of the millions caught in the mess, I feel your pain. Traveling is not easy, nor is the airline business.  But I often say, it’s not the inevitable weather delays that cause the most frustration -- it’s how an airline chooses to handle the situation and communicate with its customers.  There have been many instances of what not to do, like the infamous JetBlue situation a few years back that uncovered massive holes in their communications capabilities and operations and eventually resulted in JetBlue’s customer bill of rights.  One airline that has impressed me with its communications lately has been American Airlines. 

 

What does American do right?  First – the email communications program has been proactive. Maybe it is because I’m a gold member, or maybe not, but I’ve been surprised to receive apologizes after delays and, in some cases, bonus miles for my trouble – wow.

 

Next – I recently received a phone call from Amercian’s President’s office asking me if there was anything wrong.  What?  When does that ever happen?  You see, I used to do the NY/Dallas route pretty often and that stopped after I left my last employer.  After about 6 months they called asking why they haven’t seen me and if there was anything wrong.  Wow, again! And guess what? When it’s time to book my travel for board meetings out in CA, guess which airline is in the mix? Yup, American.    

 

The latest example of American’s impressive communications program was the Holiday email I received last week.  The email thanked me for my business this year and included a small token of their appreciation, along with 3 wishes for me.  After clicking, I landed on a personalized page which had three cards for Peace, Hope and Joy.  Each included a warm message along with the opportunity to earn bonus miles for donations made to three worthy charities.  Peace included bonus miles for donations made to Operations Care Package.  American Airlines customers have donated over $1.1 million or 50,000 care packages delivered to American’s men and women in uniform as they strive for peach on earth.  Hope included bonus miles for donations made to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, of which American Airlines is the official Airline and their first ever lifetime Promise Partner.  American Airlines customer shave already contributed more than $600,000 this year to the Susan G. Komen for the cure through the Miles for the Cure program.  Last was Joy, to benefit American’s miles for Kids in Need, which helps provide transportation to worldwide for a variety of important children’s causes.  Over the past year, American Airlines’ customers have donated over 30 million unused miles for the cause. 

 

What a great example of a company using email communications to not only thank its most loyal customers for their business, but to also encourage its customers to participate with their brand in a series of worthy causes. A few more good reasons to fly - now that’s the holiday spirit.

Tell us what you think.  Do the airlines get it? 
 

‘Til Next Time