Southwest Airlines' Marketing Strategy

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the strengths of Southwest Airline's marketing strategy by comparing it to United Airlines, an airline which has had considerably less success than Southwest. The paper also describes Southwest's short-haul, no-frills marketing strategy, the low-fares and larger number of short-haul departures the company offers, Southwest's carefully planned advertising campaign and high level of employee loyalty. The paper explains how each of these factors contribute to the company's success and suggests that Southwest's principle strength is its president, founder and CEO, Herb Kelleher.

From the Paper:

"Flying on Southwest Airlines is not the most comfortable way to go. Usually, the planes are jammed full of vacationers and families including children, as well as business travelers. Seats are crammed together. There is no advance seat reservation system. The crowds at the departure gates are usually enormous. Yet, somehow, through it all, Southwest is tremendously successful. In TIME Magazine's issue of May 1, 2000, Southwest continues to be rated No. 1 in on-time arrivals and departures and in overall quality ratings. How does it do better than the large, established airlines? "Economic history shows that an airline based solely on lower airfares does not work...Customer service is the only strategic marketing tool a carrier can use to pull passengers from an established airline." (Donnelly, p. 53) Thus, calling Southwest merely a low-cost carrier would be doing its marketing strategy a disservice."

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