benchmark report
airline marketing
social
heart of the community
fan force one
SOUTHWEST
Southwest Airlines is known for its folksy, quirky, egalitarian ethos, from its cut-rate fares and jokes from the flight attendants to its ticker symbol - LUV - to its unique corporate culture. For example, as part of its social commitment, Southwest Airlines works with communities around its network in order to bring additional community benefits beyond just flying to/from these destinations. Launched in April this year, Southwest’s most ambitious CSR initiative to date is called Heart of the Community , which has been developed to support and activate public spaces in the heart of American cities. The program aims to support Placemaking – a movement that reimagines public spaces as the heart of every community. After successful pilot projects in Detroit (transform an underutilized lawn in Campus
MAY 2014 ISSUE
AIR BERLIN
Martius Park into a seasonal beach with a deck and seating) and Providence , Southwest and nonprofit organisation Project for Public Spaces (PPS) will help transform multiple places this year in cities the airline serves. The latest initiative of Southwest and PPS has taken place in San Antonio where both organizations have re-activated the city’s historic Travis Park, which has been provided with new amenities including a sandbox, umbrellas, moveable tables and chairs, as well as public programming such as fitness classes, free movies and game tournaments.
With the upcoming FIFA world cup in Brazil nearing, airlines are becoming a more football minded. Whilst Lufthansa has just launched limited edition soccerthemed amenity kits in Business Class, its German competitor airberlin introduced a ‘Fan Force One ’ A320 logo jet in association with Germany’s largest beer brewery Bitburger. Airberlin and Bitburger have created two competitions off the back of the Fan Force One jet. The first competition - run by airberlin - asks the public to take a photo of its Fan Force One A320 and upload it to one of the airline’s social media channels - Twitter , Instagram or Facebook - accompanied by the hashtag #fanforceone. To help plane spotters follow the aircraft around its network, airberlin has published the flight
schedule
of the Fan Force One online.
The person who enters most ‘dramatic’ photograph will be deemed the winner of a trip to Brazil this June, which includes flights, hotel and football events. Meanwhile, Bitburger will feature special bottletops on its beers as par t of the competition. Those who find a Fan Force One bottle cap on their purchased bottles can enter into a contest to win one of 100 pairs of tickets for the World Cup in Brazil, or a selection of other soccerinspired prizes.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TRADITIONAL
