In my recent webinar on airline branding, I used the examples of JetBlue Airways to demonstrate how an airline can successfully adopt a holistic Web 2.0 branding strategy. A number of webinar participants wanted to learn more about it, so I got to the heart of the matter.

So that you could hear it from the horse’s mouth, I got in touch with Morgan Johnston, who leads the Twitter initiative at JetBlue Corporate Communications. This is the same Morgan who famously started “following” the popular blogger Jonathan Fields, who got freaked out and wrote a story about it.

Here is an email interview with Morgan, regarding JetBlue’s digital branding strategy and a good behind-the-scenes look at how JetBlue does it.

SimpliFlying: Who’s the driving force behind the technology initiatives at JetBlue, and how big is the team?

Morgan: Responsibility for our online initiatives span many groups, from our brand, sales, or web teams, to corporate communications, or customer service.  We each have different requirements and ideas that we bring forward to create an overall strategy.  Our eBay sale, for instance, was brought up by someone on our sales team, while our Twitter presence was an idea I worked on.  It’s easy to get tied into one goal and one drive for an online presence. Having the checks and balances of multiple departments, and outlooks keeps us moving forward in sync and broadly distributed.

SimpliFlying:  What does JetBlue see as the biggest merit of using new technologies?

Morgan: Certainly there are a number of advantages in engaging online.  We’re a company founded on the idea of innovation.  We were the first airline to provide live DirectTV and XM radio to every seat, we pioneered the idea of electronic ticketing, and last year we were the first US carrier to have free wireless email and messaging connectivity with BetaBlue. 

Bringing that same innovation to our online activities is a natural progression for us, and our customers respond favorably to that tech-forward thinking.  The more we can do to engage with our customers online with the same dedication our Crewmembers engage with them when they travel, the better we can understand the desires of our customers, and work to provide them with a level of service they’ve come to expect.

SimpliFlying: How is it decided which technology is to be used for which purpose?

Morgan: Ultimately, we look to the community for the best use of the tools.  When we first launched our Twitter account, we went through several iterations of our ‘voice’ there.  A standard marketing voice announcing new routes or fare sales just didn’t work in that environment of hyper-transparency and conversation.  When we opened ourselves up to the group and asked quite plainly, what THEY would like to see from us in that space, the response was overwhelming.  Twitter is made for conversation, and informing, not pitching or promoting.  In any of these online spaces, the informal ‘rules’ of the community may seem counter-intuitive to the promise of the tool, but those rules are what dictate the dynamic.  It’s important to work within those boundaries.

SimpliFlying: What are the challenges in “selling” new initiatives internally, given most senior people tend to be averse to such experiments?

Morgan: Leadership at JetBlue has always been open, and encouraging of innovation.  When I first moved to the corporate communications team in February of 2007, my very first suggestion was to have our founder and then CEO David Neeleman address our customers directly via YouTube in the wake of a massive ice-storm that hit the Northeast.  I shouldn’t have been at all surprised at how readily everyone all the way up to David himself agreed that this was an idea worth exploring – even when it came from ‘the new guy.’

SimpliFlying:  How much can you “control” the brand, in the new world of consumer generated media?

Morgan: Can you control your brand in the new world of consumer generated media?  I think the best way to positively affect the perception of your brand, is to make sure your product is top notch.  To that, our Crewmembers on our planes, and in the stations are our front lines in a number of ways.  Augmenting that by making ourselves available to customers in places they are comfortable means a great deal to them, and to us.  We’ve always relied on word of mouth to spread our brand.  Online tools just further enable that existing drive.

SimpliFlying: First a CEO blog, then Live blogging, then Twitter, Flickr, eBay….what’s next? Online communities like Facebook?

Morgan: We won’t join a community in any ‘official capacity’ simply because it exists.  The responsibility to maintain the relationships built in online communities is too great and the tendency could easily become one of, set-up a presence and let it go, hoping a community will spring up around the straw man. 

We’ll certainly continue to monitor all the spaces we can, and will work to engage with individuals when we see an opportunity. But we’ll continue to look at communities on a case by case basis to understand the degree we should or could be involved.

So, what did you think of JetBlue’s digital branding strategy? Is it something easily duplicatable in other airlines? What are some other things JetBlue can do to engage its customers online? Let’s discuss.

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For about 21 hours from Oct 21 to Oct 22, JetBlue Airways did a fantastic job of what Rohit Bhargava calls “short term blogging“. They set up a Live blog, to coincide with the opening of their new Terminal 5, at New York’s JFK Airport. There were a couple of posts every hour, keeping track of the latest happenings at the new terminal, updating not just customers but also employees. The blog was quite a hit!

Today, the blog still exists as a reminder of how well JetBlue has embraced technology in order to engage its customers – both internal and external. But the airline has a history of tapping on the Web to interact with customers on their own terms.

David Neelman’s flight log

JetBlue was one of the pioneers in the airline industry to add a “personality” to the company – when David Neelman started his personal blog on JetBlue’s website in September 2006 (way before Web 2.0 became the craze it is today). In his first post, David wrote:

I try to fly JetBlue at least once a week, and it’s on these flights that I get to meet so many of our customers, who tell me what they like about our airline and what we can do better….Every week or so, I’ll update this log with information and news that I hope you’ll find interesting or useful…Your ideas keep JetBlue fresh and inviting, so keep ‘em coming. You can send us an email anytime, and we always respond as quickly as possible.

True enough. The blog became an important medium for David to interact directly with the customers and seek their feedback. It probably reached its epitome in February 2007, when he posted an apology on the blog for the massive delays caused due to severe weather in New York. At the end of the day, JetBlue’s efforts resonated well with customers, who lauded the personal touches from an airline. The conclusion: leveraging on blogs to add personality to an airline is a time-tested way to increase traction with customers. Other examples of airlines that run successful blogs include Southwest Airlines and Malaysia Airlines.

JetBlue on Flickr, Twitter, eBay…what next?

Blogging is just one of the tools JetBlue has adopted so well. All pictures from the Live blog for T5 were posted on Flickr. Moreover, JetBlue regularly posts pictures from its events, including BBQs and Thanksgiving parties, for all to see. It’s like sharing experiences with your family over holidays! Both customers and employees who were or were not part of the event feel part of the family through such spontaneous sharing.

Already famous for “following” passengers on Twitter and having an exclusive eBay store, JetBlue has been setting standards for interacting with the customer without interrupting them, and in a way they are comfortable with. In tough times like these, it’s important that airlines make the best use of technology available to them to get closer to the customers to retain them. Customer loyalty in tough times pays off many times over in good times.

In my opinion, JetBlue has led the way among domestic US carriers in using technology to improve customer service. Do you think there are other examples of airlines in the US and globally doing a job as good as Jetblue, if not better? Do you think venturing online is too risky? Let’s discuss, in the comments…

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