airlines

Southwest Trolls Twitter For #FeesDontFly Day Promo

When consumers want to complain about a bad customer experience, social media is often the first place they turn. That makes it a great place to show off tangible points of difference for a competitor, apparently.

On Tuesday, Dec. 15, Southwest Airlines took to Twitter to find users who had recently complained about unfair fees charged by other airlines (particularly baggage fees). Upon finding a few dozen disgruntled users, the airline created custom responses to their complaints (using their hashtag #FeesDontFly) and reimbursed these fees in the form of a Visa gift card, as well as a chance to try travel on Southwest in the form of a free ticket.

“Unfair and insane fees have been a hot button topic for a while now,” Lara Bridger, group creative director at Southwest’s agency GDS&M, tells Marketing Daily. “Southwest already knew that people were airing grievances about airlines and fees on Twitter. So [we] took it as an opportunity.”

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The promo is part of Southwest’s “Transfarency” positioning, which asserts the airline doesn’t charge extra for amenities like checked baggage or snacks. The airline launched the “Transfarency” initiative last October; Tuesday’s “#FeesDontFly” Day was a way to bring it into the real world, Bridget says.

“With #FeesDontFly Day, the goal was to walk the walk of Transfarency and #FeesDontFly did that,” she says. “We hope that’s what brings more people to Southwest — the fact that it’s fair and does what’s right for customers.”

In addition to taking to social media, Southwest also visited an airport baggage claim area, interviewing travelers who had just paid fees to check their bags, and then reimbursing a few of them for their troubles (along with a ticket on Southwest). The brand posted a video of that experience on YouTube.

While #FeesDontFly day was a one-time-only promotion, Bridger hinted there may be other surprises in the offing as the company continues its “Transfarency” initiatives.

“This December seemed like an especially impactful time after learning that some airlines were increasing their unfair fees during the holidays,” she says. “Transfarency is something Southwest does every day. But #FeesDontFly Day is over for this holiday season.”

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