Case Southwest Airlines PDF

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A mandatory case study....

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SOUTHWESTAI RLI NES J OHANNESPERSSON 9 30 7 30 11 93 1. Why do you think they are doing what they’re doing? It seems that above all, Southwest airlines seems to focus on their employees. Contrary to many other low-fare airlines, they’re not seeing them as another good to be traded and a cost to cut, but rather, focuses on making a better life for the common man. Why are they doing what they do? Simply to eradicate elitism and makes dreams come true for the people who never dared to dream they could fly. 2. How do You think Southwest Airlines is communicating to their main customer segment? I get the impression that Southwest is seeing marketing primarily as a relationship. Just to hear the story about their four-year legal struggle to even get off the ground1 gives an understanding of their long-term commitment to customers, also something unique in the low-cost airline business. Rather than focusing on low prices, which they would have every right to do, they use symbolism to an almost hypocritical extent: In essence, they want to show that they care. 3. Which channels/platforms are they using in order to communicate to their main customer segment? Southwest are using a wide range of marketing platforms. One especially prominent is short, humoristic commercial clips. These are spread on TV channels and virally. Lately they have also been successful in social media marketing, i.e. with their #SouthwestPassport 2. Word-ofmouth also seems to drastically increase their influence and affluence. 4. What defines their main customer segment? As the biggest airline carrier in the US it is almost easier to analyze who are excluded from their main customer segment. The limitations put on their reach is the people who want an extra level of luxury. If they can already afford to fly well, then “friendly, reliable, and lowcost air travel”3 is not interesting. They have a B2C and service focused offer rather than B2B and product. Both attention and content is important. However, their business strategy largely excluded segmentation.

Sources: 1. Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice and Leadership, L. Bolman and T. Deal, p.255 2. https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/southwestpassport/ (2017-04-04)

3. http://investors.southwest.com/our-company/purpose-vision-values-and-mission (2017-0404)...