At Spirit
Airlines, the Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based carrier that lays claim to coining the phrase "ultra low-cost carrier," going low is something that's taken very seriously. In its latest promotion, it's
asking customers to send the company videos that answer the question: "How low can you go?"
In an email sent to its list of 2.8 million users--yes, email marketing is another
favorite tightwad technique of the airline--it calls for entries. "As you know, our fares are famously low. But we want to know what you think is even lower. Something crude, lewd and just plain low
down," it says. "Ever taken money from a church offering basket? Spit in someone's drink when they weren't looking just because they were rooting for another team? Whatever it is, we want to know."
The contest sprang from a single TV spot Spirit has been airing in Florida markets for the last few months. It shows a young man in a bathrobe, awfully cozy with an older woman--who turns out
to be his best friend's mom. (The theme probably isn't coincidental. This is an airline whose M.IL.F. slogan--as in "Many islands, low fares," got it plenty of publicity in the past.)
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Turns
out the film's amateurish, nanny-cam look was easy to achieve: To save money, the marketing staff shot it themselves, using staff as actors, says Bobby Schroeter, Spirit's senior director of consumer
marketing. The woman who plays the mom is a real actor, he says; she was paid in ticket vouchers.)
The ad generated enough hits on YouTube that a video contest seemed like a natural follow-up,
says the airline. Spirit will choose the Top 10 spots--based on the number of views received--and give the winner a year of free travel, with a companion ticket, anywhere that Spirit flies.
"Our business model is that we allow people to pay for only what they want--why should you pay for your neighbor to have a drink when you're not thirsty?," says Schroeter. "We want to get our message
out there as cheaply and easily as we can. The cheaper we are, the lower the costs for our customers."