MIS 6713Case 1: Jet Blue & Twitter

Group 3

Joseph Kissinger

Josh Lanier

Lauren Massie

Caroline Starnes

Executive Summary

JetBlue has experienced low sales figures in the past several years leading up until 2009. Some of this blame has been placed onto the marketing department’s strategies. JetBlue’s marketing directors have created this memorandum for executive management in order to provide a recommendation and plan of action for how to boost sales from a marketing standpoint.

        The marketing department recommends that JetBlue proceed with a 30-day customer engagement campaign called “Destination of the Day”.  During this campaign each day JetBlue’s Twitter followers will be asked to identify a selected location based on clues provided by JetBlue. A limited number of followers who correctly guess the location will each receive a one-way ticket voucher good for any U.S. continental flight within one year.

This recommendation was selected because it utilizes two-way communication via Twitter, which has already been an effective form of customer engagement for JetBlue. This campaign will be evaluated and monitored using Social CRM software by Nimble Inc. as well data from JetBlue’s Twitter account and surveys from the promotion.

Memorandum

To: VP of Consumer Relations

From: Corporate Marketing Division

Date: June 30, 2009 (change date to latest article referenced as a citation)

Subject: JetBlue Client Engagement Initiative - Twitter Platform

JetBlue places great value on communicating with its customers.  The JetBlue Twitter account that was created in 2007 has provided a medium for a display of the company’s humanity.  Twitter has allowed JetBlue to communicate with its customers in a real-time setting. The company’s new use of this social media platform provides endless opportunities for marketing initiatives.

Recommendation

In line with our findings, it is recommended that JetBlue encourage enhanced client engagement through deployment of the “Destination of the Day” campaign slated to run for 30-days.  Throughout the campaign, Twitter followers each day will be tasked with correctly guessing the selected location. Each day a limited number of followers to correctly guess the destination will receive a free ticket voucher for a continental flight. Followers will be provided with clues to guess that day’s location through JetBlue’s Twitter account as well as fellow Twitter users engagement in the form of tweets.  

Analysis

Per the Pew Research Center (Lenhart & Fox, 2009)1, the average Twitter user is between the ages of 18 and 35.  This age range is representative of a younger demographic of users who are most likely to utilize social media platforms wirelessly on mobile devices compared to access the Internet via laptop or desktop.  As such, Twitter users are apt to participate in two-way communication in a timely, real-time, manner in order to provide the communication needed imperative to the success of the campaign.  For reasons of timeliness in regards to two-way communication, implementing this campaign on a Facebook platform would be an inferior approach as its communication style fosters a more one-sided interaction, which would not maximize our key criteria.

Also, according to the aforementioned Pew research, Twitter users typically reside in areas with more urban settings and represent a greater “melting pot” effect in terms of racial and ethnical diversity than the US population on the whole. As a result, information is disseminated to greater populations in ways limited by traditional-media often controlled by divisive politics (i.e., network news, national/local print, etc.).  The ability of a post to reach the masses via peer-sharing of post is powerful and should not be 1 Lenhart, A., & Fox, S. (2009, February 11). Twitter and status updating. Retrieved May 24, 2015, from http://www.pewinternet.org/2009/02/12/twitter-and-status-updating/

underestimated.  Using the Twitter platform also maximizes our criteria regarding the ability capture market demographics on a national level.

Lastly, as for the “Destination of the Day” campaign, the implementation of the marketing initiative is expected to increase brand awareness, strengthen brand loyalty, and provide JetBlue with valuable data to enhance customer relations through engagement via Twitter, customer surveys, and rewards offered by the company.

Criteria

Due to the increased competition abound within the airline industry (Wassener, B., 2009)2, it is imperative that JetBlue move forward with proactively pursuing a new strategy to differentiate the company from its competitors.   Withstanding making changes,  the company will likely continue the trend of depressed sales.

Per utilization of the DECIDE decision-making model, JetBlue’s key issue to resolve is the low sales figures over past years primarily attributed to the marketing department’s failure to generate targeted revenues.  Our department needs to increase brand awareness and customer interest in order to bolster sales and to remain an attractive entity to investors.

In order to achieve JetBlue’s marketing goal of increased brand awareness, the following criteria are important in the examination of potential marketing initiatives:

Two-way communication with current and potential customers.  JetBlue’s use of Twitter has lead to a gain in direct engagement with its customers. This type of communication has allowed JetBlue to exhibit a sense of loyalty and empathy for its customers. Twitter has proven itself to be a successful medium for communication for JetBlue on the basis of customer response and growth in followers (Higgins, M., 2009)3.

Ability to effectively capture market interest demographics for use in future promotional efforts.  A possible marketing initiative should include a way to collect and store demographical data to an information system while the initiative is in progress. This would allow the company to reduce uncertainty and research costs long term.    

 Nationwide coverage. Any marketing initiative JetBlue enacts should receive nationwide coverage. Customers across the United States should all feel included in JetBlue’s marketing endeavors.

Potential for national and local organic media publicity. A potential JetBlue marketing initiative should naturally attract its own attention from the media. This

2 Wassener, B. (2009, June 8). Airlines Predict $9 Billion Global Loss. Retrieved May 26, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/business/global/09air.html?_r=0

3 Higgins, M. (2009, July 5). Twitter Comes to the Rescue. The New York Times, p. TR3. Retrieved May 26, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/travel/05prac.html?_r=0  

can create the opportunity for a free form of advertising for JetBlue that is viewed as more credible by an audience (Barnes, B., 2009)4.

Ease of implementation. Marketing initiatives that exhibit the possibility of presenting significant difficulties and that could cause hardships for JetBlue should be considered as less favorable options.

Our team has identified the following as potential, viable marketing initiatives for JetBlue :

“Destination of the Day”. Use Twitter in combination with a 30-day contest for free tickets to increase brand awareness and encourage customers to engage with JetBlue to create a "buzz" and bring some excitement and fun to the process of purchasing tickets and travel-planning.

Offer “All You Can Jet” for 30 days. Offer customers any open seat on any JetBlue flight for $599 for 30 days (in a limited timeframe).

 Advertise on social media. Advertise promotions on social media, specifically focusing on Facebook.

Do nothing. No new marketing initiatives will be enacted. Twitter will continue to be used for two-way communication with customers.

Implementation

A small team of dedicated individuals within our marketing department will be formed to manage this short-term initiative.  The team will be tasked with, among other things, working closely in partnership with our IT department to ensure efficient integration with Nimble, our Customer Relationship Management software to develop a virtual campaign. This allocation of human resources dedicated to this initiative is most parallel to a first-order change as the people component doesn’t vary greatly from the current Twitter efforts.

Over the course of the 30-day campaign, a destination of the day will be selected out of the 52 destinations currently served by JetBlue.5 Each day throughout the campaign, the aforementioned team will release multiple clues starting with the most obscure details to the more specific regarding Jetty’s whereabouts. Twitter participants will then be able to respond with the correct answer at any time for the opportunity to claim a limited number of one-way vouchers on a first-come, first-serve basis.

It will be through the monitoring and analysis of the data collected from our information system integration with Nimble that future marketing decisions will use as a basis.

4 Barnes, B. (2009, November 21). Add Budget Tight? Call the P.R. Machine. The New York Times, p. BU7.5 JetBlue 2008 Annual Report (10K). (n.d.). Retrieved May 27, 2015, from http://investor.jetblue.com/~/media/Files/J/Jetblue-IR/Annual Reports/jblu2008annual-report.pdf (Page 6).   

Evaluation & Monitoring

JetBlue can monitor the success of the “Destination of the Day” campaign by accounting for their number of Twitter followers. Since Twitter provides its users with their number of followers, JetBlue will be able to record any changes on a daily basis. Trend analysis can be utilized to identify correlations in increases/decreases in Twitter followers and revenues. To ensure a correlation, it is essential to engage and entice followers to participate in the promotion.

To best engage our customers, we must first understand our customers. To do so, JetBlue can utilize Social CRM software available from Nimble, Inc. The software would cost JetBlue $15 per month, per user assigned to the software. This minimal cost is considered valuable because it would provide JetBlue with the following functions:

JetBlue should create CRM databases using Nimble to store data for use now and in the future. The software will allow JetBlue to monitor its Twitter presence and find potential customers simultaneously. Monitoring customer sentiments in real time makes it possible for JetBlue to address any concerns as they are communicated. Here is an opportunity to manage customer expectations and complaints, which will help to increase brand awareness and loyalty through enhanced customer service and engagement.

6 CONTACT MANAGEMENT, REIMAGINED. (n.d.). Retrieved May 28, 2015, from http://www.nimble.com/how-it-works/

As for contingencies, we believe if the initiative were to be unsuccessful the best plan of action would be to cease the “Destination of the Day” campaign. The minimal costs of the promotion would still be worth the valuable data acquired over the course of the month (or shorter period). This data could still be utilized by JetBlue to implement more effective marketing initiatives in the future.

Conclusion

If JetBlue successfully engages its Twitter followers to partake in the “Destination of the Day” contest, there is a significant opportunity for JetBlue to create a competitive advantage as a leader in the airline industry in social media marketing and customer relations. This campaign utilizes a free marketing medium in Twitter which would provide JetBlue with a plethora of customer data. We believe acquiring customer data, increasing our presence on Twitter, and requiring each voucher winner to book another flight with JetBlue would mutually benefit the consumer and company. We trust that the customers’ flight experience with JetBlue will increase the likelihood of repeat customers, increase brand awareness, and strengthen brand loyalty. For these reasons, we recommend implementing this initiative.