Flip The Forecast by JetBlue

Flip The Forecast by JetBlue

In March, the average temperature in Boston ranges from zero to eight celsius (celsius). San Diego is somewhat different though with average highs of 20. This temperature difference formed the basis of a campaign by JetBlue called ‘Flip the Forecast.’

Two airstream trailers branded to promote the JetBlue card were parked in San Diego and Boston, with video links to each other. People were then invited to get inside and sit down. Once they did so, they were presented with members of the public who had done the same in the other city.

Participants on both ends had the chance to win a pair of round-trip tickets to the opposite location if they were able to convince the person / people on the other side of the video link to swap locations (or ‘flip the forecast.’)

The edits of these conversations then formed the basis of a series of online videos, where Bostonians can be seen to plead with San Diego residents to swap with them.

However, you didn’t just have to be in San Diego and Boston to take part. JetBlue also launched an Instagram competition where people across the US could ask for a chance to “Flip the forecast.”

260+ Instagram videos were uploaded with the #fliptheforecast hashtag where people told JetBlue why they needed to go somewhere sunny and warm.

Many entries were genuinely funny and original, such as a rap and drop the mic spot, a video post of someone trying to play golf in the snow and a spoof game-show video with questions such as “which airline has the best food?” “JetBlue!”

The idea of Flip the Forecast is fundamentally very good. It does an excellent job of highlighting the range of destinations JetBlue flies to (e.g. as far apart as Boston and San Diego), the creative of Bostonians having to plead with Californians to let them come is funny, as is some of the user-generated content on Instagram around the competition.

As a result, what we did find curious is that the promotion wasn’t given that much of a push on the airline’s social media channels. It doesn’t appear to have been promoted on JetBlue’s Facebook page at all, but seems instead mainly to have been restricted to Instagram.

Primera Air £99 To The USA

Separately, JetBlue is continuing to assess the possibility of launching transatlantic routes for the first time.

According to the industry trade press, the decision to convert A321 orders into the longer range variant depends in part on the performance of Jet Blue’s premium class ‘Mint’ product, which has been praised for ‘disrupting’ US transcontinental business class travel.

One airline which is about to launch transatlantic routes with the A321LR is Low Cost Carrier Primera Air.

Founded in Iceland, with a Danish operating license and headquartered in Latvia, Primera Air intends to go head to head with Norwegian from April by flying from the UK to North America (initially NY-Newark, Boston and Toronto, followed by Washington DC in August).

Unlike Norwegian, which uses London Gatwick, Primera Air is using London’s third airport - Stansted - as its base.

So far marketing activity has involved running a £99 ($140) offer to launch the fact that its Washington DC flights are now on sale. Though only 396 seats were available at this price, it still got extensive UK press coverage including in Britain’s biggest tabloid, The Sun.

Primera Air also appears to be using social media influencers to promote its service, having recruited model and fashion / cosmetics entrepreneur Megan McKenna, who has 2.1 million Instagram followers, as a “brand ambassador.”

With flights due to launch next month, we’ll report on the Primera Air transatlantic launch in a future issue.

Key Take-Away

‘Flip the Forecast’ worked because it really resonated. Anyone living in the NE of the US can identify with the fact that it gets cold in Winter, and many if not most would love to swap for a sunnier climate.

The creative JetBlue used to bring this idea to life was fun and engaging, and the Instagram competition gave a wider audience the chance to take part with some great entries being sent in, in response.

The only other comment we would make is that the idea was if anything undersold and under-exploited. Much more could have been done around it.