• by Fern Siegel , 6 hours ago

Capitalizing on its new passenger policy, Southwest Airlines debuts a new brand campaign, “Boarding Royale,” during the Super Bowl. Assigned seating for flights, first announced last July in the “Are You Sitting Down?” spot, went into effect after Jan. 27.

GSD&M, the airline's AOR, is responsible for creative. Spark handled media buys.

The  30-second spot, directed by Brian Billow from O Positive, airs during the game regionally through broadcast/local cable in six key U.S. markets: Dallas, Austin, San Diego, Chicago, Denver and Honolulu. The commercial will also air nationally only on Peacock.

“Boarding Royale” shows the craziness of passengers dealing with open seating and the calm of the assigned option. It's all part of Southwest's current strategy to address customer preferences. 

Brandon Curl, GSD&M creative director, told Agency Daily: "When it came time to write the jokes, we didn’t have to invent much. We basically just scrolled the Internet. This time, the comments people posted were incredibly helpful. Pretending a seat is taken, setting alarms the night before, families stressing about sitting together. Those bits were lifted straight from comment sections. That’s what makes it feel so relatable, and hopefully a little disarming for Southwest to talk about those things head-on."

According to the airline's July 2024 market research, eight out of 10 Southwest Airlines customers stated a preference for assigned seating. But the shift was strengthened after investor pressure, which was looking to compete financially with rivals.

The new policy changed the cabin layout of every plane in the Southwest fleet to add extra legroom and preferred seating.