WestJet Christmas Blog
I chose to write about WestJet's Christmas commercial from this past year. I found the idea of the advertisement interesting and different. The commercial has Santa ask little kids at an airport what their parents want for Christmas. Most answers were funny, like a basketball, milk, and badminton set. Some kids already knew what their parents wanted and asked for football tickets and a trip to Italy. When the people go on the flight it shows WestJet workers buying and wrapping the presents that were asked for while the flight was in the air. Then when the plane lands instead of everyone's luggage coming out, it's full of wrapped presents!
The airline calls its holiday program "Real-Time Giving". Some takeaways were it was using pathos to affect the viewer's emotions. They showed how happy the workers were to help out and the gift receiver's reactions. Another takeaway was the choice to ask kids what their parents want. This gives viewers a warm feeling because the kids are all so cute and funny. The third takeaway is in giving their passengers gifts, it makes me feel they care about their customers and would make me choose them again to fly.
The value proposition for the company is to show it cares more about its customers than other airlines. Airlines sometimes have limited competitive advantages, so this makes a great idea to show they care. The airline also has great market relevance where the article states, "Surveys show nearly 89% of Canadians view WestJet airlines as the best airline in Canada". Anytime 89% of your target audience thinks you're the best at anything you're doing something right.
The main problem the company faces is its competition. There are many other airlines people can choose so they have to continue to find new ways to stay above everyone else. In the commercial, they made their marketing approach unique by helping their clients. I don't see very many airlines going out of their way to do that so if I had to choose between airlines, I'd choose them. I think it appealed to everyone of all ages because kindness isn't for one age group or race, so I think showing genuine kindness is a great thing. The marketing approach was a 4.7/5 because they did a great job all around showing they care for their customers.
If I was the brand manager, I would do something very similar. Since this was a Christmas commercial it shows the giving season so maybe I would try to do this more year-round. I could pick a flight every month to do this with and it could also boost sales because people will want to have their flight chosen for gifts. Overall, I love the idea and would keep the same concept.
I learned how pathos is a great marketing strategy. I feel like a lot of ads only focus on logos and don't relate to their audience. This commercial made me feel they care for me and everyone else on every flight.
WestJet Airlines Marketing Strategy: Innovative Approaches to Enhance Brand Loyalty – Latterly.org
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