benchmark report
airline marketing
#minthunt, key to the sky
fly it forward JETBLUE
JetBlue is putting its own slant on the concept of “paying it forward,” in a social-mediadriven initiative called “Fly it Forward” (video here ). The program sends one ticket on a never-ending trip around the JetBlue network, aiming to enable people to fulfill a dream, a humanitarian effort or make a meaningful impact on the world. The airline started the long-term campaign by awarding one free JetBlue ticket to a deserving individual involved in humanitarian efforts, then let that person select another deserving recipient of a free ticket, and so on and so on. Or as the Creativity Online website nicely summarizes the heartwarming concept: “JetBlue is turning an airline ticket into a chain letter of human goodness.” The first Fly It Forward ticket recipients, shown in this video , include Tameka Lawson, who
NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE
JETBLUE, ALASKA AIRLINES
represented her Chicago non-profit I-Grow at a UN conference in New York, and Louis Elneus, who helped build the first public library in his home country of Haiti. These initial recipients were found and picked by JetBlue employees, and now the brand is asking people to submit their own nominations for the next people to get the ticket, through the Fly It Forward microsite site and social channels using the hashtag #FlyitForward .
As travelling is all about discivering new places, an often used tactic by airlines is to create a buzz via scavenger hunts: tweeting clues via social media about secret locations around a city where fans and followers can f ind free tickets. On 24 and 25 October, JetBlue’s #MintHunt in San Francisco gave away an entire plane’s wor th of trips to NYC – 159 tickets total, including 16 in JetBlue’s new Mint Business Class – to promote its new transcontinental service. On both days, JetBlue tweeted clues to help locals f ind one of the 159 #MintHunt game cards hidden at 16 locations around San Francisco. When par ticipants recognized one of the spots they had to go there and try to f ind one of 9 to 10 #MintHunt game cards and tweet @
JetBlue using the instructions on the card. Video and photos of lucky winners here and here . Meanwhile in Seattle, hometown carrier Alaska Airlines organized a scavenger hunt called ‘Key To The Sky’ to celebrate its recent purchase of ten more B737-900 ER aircraft. On October 10th, the airline posted f ive clues on Twitter and Instagram that led to favorite local spots around Seattle. The cryptic clues were pretty tricky and those who solved the clue – and were the f irst person at each location and say “Seattle’s Airline” – landed a test drive in an Alaska f light simulator plus two round trip tickets from Seattle to any Alaska destination. Runner-ups at each location were awarded a ride aboard a delivery f light on one of Alaska’s new aircraft nex t year.
6
EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
