Gen Y makes up 12% of U.S. leisure travelers and 13% of business travelers. We take an average of 3.9 leisure trips per year and 4.2 business trips per year.
It’s pretty clear that we like to travel. We want to see the world beyond our apartments and dorm rooms. That’s why it is so important that airlines appeal to us – cheap flights, friendly service and great amenities are key. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?
While some airlines are capable of providing what we need and making sure we know it, others just aren’t as successful.
JetBlue is the perfect example of an airline that knows how to communicate with Gen Y. We want an airline that is simple, cheap and gives us all the extras without the extra cost. JetBlue delivers – free snacks, leathers seats, DirecTV in every seat – what more could you want?
The “Happy Jetting” campaign very clearly let members of Gen Y know that JetBlue is here for us. With the catchy music, interesting characters and clear message, it was no-nonsense and cut right to the point – JetBlue is the airline that will satisfy the needs of any Gen Y traveler. Whether it’s for business or pleasure, they’ll get us where we need to go.
Happy Jetting was JetBlue’s first national advertising campaign and made the airline a household name. Needless to say, the effort was a success. The microsite for the campaign got millions of visitors spending an average of nine minutes on the site, compared to the usual average of 55 seconds.
Virgin Atlantic is another airline that has used their advertising to successfully communicate with Gen Y. First of all, they have been able to recognize us as a very important group of travelers. With their Jetrosexual campaign, Virgin Atlantic spoke directly to the newest and youngest class of jetsetters. They even had a list of Jetrosexual Commandments including, but no limited to, “Thou shalt have at least one passport stamp from a country that now goes by a different name.”
The Virgin ads are also pretty sexy. Gen Y loves sex, and sex sells, so why not use that to their advantage? In February 2009 the airline came under fire for a UK ad that some considered sexist, and whether or not you consider the advertisement to be sexist, it is pretty sexy. Clearly Virgin is “Still Red Hot” after 25 years.
Virgin America‘s advertising is pretty sexy, too. In 2008 they launched their “This is How to Fly” campaign, which was able to reach varied, young audiences at the same time. For the musicians, one ad featured a guitar player surrounded by girls because the airline let him plug in his equipment. Another ad featured a nerd who had his dreams come true; playing video games next to beautiful women. Sounds like a pretty awesome way to fly, huh? The deep reds and purples of all the images evoke a feeling of sexiness, and by the looks on all of the passengers’ faces, they might meet their dream man/woman on their flight, or maybe just become members of the Mile High Club.
However, Delta is, without a doubt, one of the worst airlines when it comes to their advertising and targeting Gen Y. Back in 2007, they released their Change campaign, the whole idea of which was to change their image and the way travelers saw their brand. The tagline was “Delta is Change” and was built around the Greek letter delta, which signifies a change in physics. It’s a cool idea that wasn’t conveyed at all well.
Their advertisements featured copy like “Change Is: 16,000+ MP3s. That’s Fly,” and “Change Is: Never Being Bored on Board.” Frankly, showing that your airline has TVs and MP3s doesn’t make your brand cooler. The fact that it took them so long to address key issues doesn’t mean that people are going to change their minds. They’re so often the butt of jokes that most of us would only think of giving Delta our business if they absolutely had to.
Advertising is an essential part of the communication between airlines and Gen Y. Whether it’s on television, on billboards, at bus stops or online, companies need to know what to say to keep Gen Y interested. Those brands that feed us the right lines are the ones that will thrive and stick around the longest.
Photos by: x-ray delta one (top) rick (middle) agencyspy (bottom)
Another airline that I consider having absolutely terrible advertising is Spirit Airlines. I have often flown on Spirit, but that is ONLY because they are the only airline that flies directly from Boston to Atlantic City.
Beyond their incessant and obnoxious discount emails, their banner ads are AWFUL. Remember the one that exploited the BP oil spill? http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/06/22/spirit.airlines.ad/index.html What about the more recent one that made fun of Jet Blue’s flight attendant difficulties? http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/08/spirit-air-of-course-exploits-jetblues-saga.html
I’m not going to respect an airline that doesn’t respect themselves or their competitors.
I completely agree. In my opinion, Spirit is so bad that I think anyone could understand why. I think you’re the only person I’ve ever heard of to use Spirit airlines.
It’s just not tasteful.
I’ll be honest, Spirit got a laugh out of me with those banner ads. Distasteful? Yes. Attention-catching? Absolutely.
Flying with Spirit is a completely different story though. I try to avoid it at all costs. Sure, it’s cheap, but my flights are almost always delayed and the cabins are dirty. No thanks!
Interesting that you singled out Delta. When they ran those ads they were either in or just coming out of chapter 11 (I’m actually not defending the work although I have to admit, after living in their hub city for a while, they were straight up luxury compared to the only alternative – airtran … mind you, no one’s even heard of jetblue in that town). But before they declared bankruptcy, delta had a boutique brand (song) that was almost identical to jetblue … and it was a failure.
The brand launch was actually featured on Frontline, very intriguing if you’re into that kind of stuff — http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders
Part of the reason why I singled out Delta was that they were going through a difficult time for their company. The campaign was supposed to help, and it didn’t. I’m currently living in Boston and Airtran isn’t as big as airlines like Delta, Southwest and JetBlue here.
Thanks for your comment!
Can we add USAir to the list of bad? I feel like their advertising is non-existent! Maybe it’s just because JetBlue and Virgin are so in-your-face (especially in a city like Boston), but I hardly notice ads for other airlines, with the exception of Southwest — that “Wanna Get Away?” campaign was kind of funny, as are the commercials interviewing the bag handlers.
If only I had the time to talk about every airline, USAir would totally be on the list. I love the fact that JetBlue and Virgin are so in-your-face in Boston, and thats part if the reason why I talked about them. I didn’t necessarily talk about the ads that you see in subway stations in city landmarks, but it definitely helps keep them in mind.