Bloghound

This is a sweet television ad from United Airlines that is totally disconnected from its business. Why is United romanticizing the flying experience at a time when planes are dirty, seats are cramped, food is terrible, and staff is grumpy? The disconnect between the promise of the ad and the actual experience is huge. Why promote an experience that you can’t deliver? That’s just dumb marketing.

Then there’s United’s new tag line: “It’s Time To Fly.” What is that suppose to mean to the customer? How does it build preference or loyalty? And doesn’t United realize that actually it’s a bad time to fly in view of greater overbooking, flight delays, rising costs, and the need to reduce our energy footprints?

At a time when airline business is bleak, this expensive and irrelevant campaign is especially appalling. What were the marketing and agency people thinking?

Southwest gets that marketing is the customer experience

Fortunately there is one airline that understands that marketing is the customer experience, not a new ad with a Robert Redford voice over or a tag line.

It’s hard to work while traveling, but Southwest’s new seating in gate areas makes it easy for me to plug in and have a little workspace to get things done. The children’s seating area is also a nice touch.

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