Southwest Airlines in a Different World

Case analysis: Southwest Airlines in a Different World

Southwest Airlines Co. is a major U.S. airline, the world's largest low-cost carrier, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and it was established in 1967 by Herb Kelleher. The airline had nearly 46,000 employees as of December 2014 and operated more than 3,800 flights per day. As of 2014, it carried the most domestic passengers of any U.S. airline. Unlike the other airline company, the planes are not so called “high class” at all. Instead, it aims in low cost, and meets customer needs and behaviors.

Nowadays, Southwest Co. had already grown to become the airline serving the most US customers with the most flights and seats, but to only 64 US cities to which Southwest targeted its service. According to facts, the United States Geological Survey recognizes 35000 cities and towns, which means less than 0.02% of the cities in US that Southwest were targeting. So what made the success here for them? In my opinion, effective targeting is very important. Effective targeting is key to any successful marketing, but it is absolutely essential in traveling, which is closely related to airline companies. For those travel purchasing experiences to be seamless and sufficiently dynamic, it has to be totally tailored at every touch point a customer has with the business. They should be gathering insights on their existing customer base at every opportunity. Combine those with general data insights about relevant types of traveler and use them to drive the marketing. Effective targeting draws in interested customers and engages prospects. This raises the chances of selling to new customers and increasing the value of sales to existing customers.

For enhancing the effectiveness of targeting for Southwest Airlines, they should first know who their target audience is. Different groups all need targeting in different ways in order to draw them in to purchase. They should also know the cultural background of the customers. Each culture buys differently on and offline and how you target needs to reflect your understanding of those cultural differences. This localization to marketing will ensure you create effective campaigns that are sensitive to the audience’s needs. Last but not least, they should speak to their target audience in a strategic way. To increase engagement with the target audience, engage with them on their terms: online, through user friendly appealing websites and accessibility through mobile devices. In short, knowing who your audience are, how they behave and how to reach them increases customer engagement and drives increases in conversions and revenue.

The mission of Southwest Airline Co. is to be outstanding, passionate, caring Customer Service combined with an efficient, simple, low-fare customer experience provided with high reliability and operating expertise. The founders and investors– King, Muse and Kelleher consulted with Air Cal on a number of issues, including the decision initially to purchase 3 aircraft. They were hardworking because they were going to have substantially lower fares once they started their operation than were currently being charged because that was their only chance of winning a niche in the business. Over the years, Southwest enjoyed a long waiting list of airport managers seeking out the airline to initiate service to the airports.