It's A Success But.....
From the
moment I watched this commercial and saw the dancing Southwest customer
celebrating his savings I thought to myself, wow, that’s me!!! I think we as
society tend to be very money conscious. We all want the best deal possible out
there, and whenever I receive something that I consider a great savings or a
good deal I get overwhelmed with this burst of excitement, and become extremely
vocal and over the top with the feeling of joy it brings. However, you always
get the envious, jealous and “Debbie downer” people that want to walk on your
parade, and don’t like when good things happen to other people. This commercial
depicted that character well with the upset competitor worker.
It was a
very smart marketing move to use a controversial issue such as “excessive
celebration” for two reasons. One, not only is this commercial appealing to the
spectrum of people who travel often, and are looking for ways to bring down the
cost of travel, but it also reels in football fans because of the context of
the commercial. The football themed music in the beginning really set the tone,
and can grab the attention of any sports fan. Many people think of excessive
celebration rules as unnecessary. We can all relate to an accomplishment or
something unbelievably amazing that happens to us and all we want to do is tell
everyone we know and celebrate that accomplishment or particular situation, but
there is someone out there that always wants to look at it from a negative
aspect and think of it as offensive. I feel that this commercial interpreted
that well, and by doing so broadens the spectrum of viewers who will take
notice to it.
The only
information that I found to be an error in credibility is where they exactly
got the number of savings to be 120 dollars in bag fees. They did a great job
of including the caption that there are size limits and that it saves you money
on your first two bags by being free to check in, but it doesn’t exactly
explain where that number comes into play. That can be misleading and turn off
an audience because when it comes down to it people want to know where exactly
they are saving 120 dollars. That’s a big number to some people and it can send
the wrong message to customers if they don’t exactly know what it is they are
saving because you don’t want people to feel like they are being nickel and
dimed from a sales stand point. However, I know when people travel they are
always looking for ways to bring the cost of travel down. Very few airlines
offer two free bag fees waived so this advertisement really does draw me in,
and give them an edge over their competitors, and in a sales world that is
everything!
Another
great detail of the commercial was having the referees in Southwest Airlines
gear siding with the Southwest customer, and persuading the competition to see
things in the perspective of the Southwest customer point of view, and
encouraging the Skyline competitor that they too should want to get that same
“deal”. Having a mediator is a great way to have viewers witness someone
overcome objections from the point of a competitor, and in sales that is often
times what needs to be done. People hate having to spend money, but if you can
make that customer feel valued and give them a good enough reason to close that
deal or sale right then and there the best way to do that is by overcoming
objections and revealing the benefits, and that is exactly what the referees do
to the disgruntled competitor.
Overall,
I think this was a good sales tactic. It reached out to more than one range of
people, appealing to people of travel, money conscious individuals, and sports
fans. I think the key to a great company and high sales is to have a spectrum
of people you can relate your product to, and that is exactly what they did.
Southwest used a customer who was “excessively celebrating” and we can relate
to that easily. By seeing someone being so excited to get a deal or save money
in turn it makes us want to feel that way, and get that special deal. With the
exception of the misguided information on saving up to 120.00 dollars, overall
I enjoyed watching the commercial, and because of the bag fee savings I too
recently booked my upcoming trip through Southwest. I mean come on, who wants
to pay bag fees if they don’t have to!
- Stephanie Kohel
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