‘Happy Jetting’ Is a Nice Way to Say ‘F— You.’

I’m a fan of jetBlue.

I’ve had nothing but decent experiences with the company.   Their people are friendly.  The planes are clean.  I like their snacks.  Even during its ingloriously public crises, I’ve always felt that jetBlue approaches corporate communications with a sense of decency, humanity and, most importantly, honesty.

But their (relatively) new marketing campaign, “Happy Jetting,” contradicts pretty much everything I love about jetBlue.  In place of a folksy, humane voice, we’re left with a hollow, snarky campaign that touches on a culturally relevant conversation (namely, the miserable experience known as “flying”) without adding anything meaningful to the dialogue.

I wasn’t surprised to find out that an ad agency came up with this one.  In jetBlue’s attempt to separate itself from “flying,” it breaks a few fundamental rules of marketing in this Web-enabled age:

1. Acknowledge your company’s reality. Look, I’m sure the concept of “jetting” vs. “flying” seemed appealing to all involved over at jetBlue, given the negative connotations attached to air travel.   That said, stranding hundreds of customers during peak travel periods would seem to be at odds with the “jetting” experience.  Anybody consider that?  If so, why isn’t it on jetBlue’s “History of Jetting” page?  Get real, people.
2. If you’re going to engage in a culturally relevant conversation, speak through action, not empty slogans. You know what my favorite moment in the history of “jetting” is?  The moment that jetBlue enacted a Passengers’ Bill of Rights, responding to its own issues by taking a cue from an existing communal conversation.  What’s funny is that, while the Web site’s “History of Jetting” page features this moment, it couches it in some ridiculous fiction about the airline industry and a CEO named Bruce.  What a waste of a real, meaningful gesture.  How about, instead of making up airline fairytales, jetBlue reminds people that it’s one of the few companies that actually listens to and acts on consumer feedback?  That’s jetting.  No quotation marks needed.
3. Create a conversational Web experience. There’s a difference between interactivity and conversation.  The “Happy Jetting” site is immaculately designed, true, but lacks in the kind of experience that brings me, as a visitor, into the real experience of “jetting.”  The site’s “Jetting Cares” page is a perfect example — instead of spitting Flash-based text at me, how about getting me involved in your efforts by, I don’t know, showing me what jetBlue actually does through video or real interaction with its employees.  Considering that jetBlue is all about marketing through amazing experiences, I’m disappointed that jetBlue and JWT decided to abandon their ideals.

But to reiterate what I said at the beginning of this post (albeit in a slightly different way), I probably wouldn’t be as critical if this campaign were coming from anyone but jetBlue.  But that’s just another downside to building a solid brand, ya know?  Happy jetting!

Tags: branding, crappy advertising, happy jetting, jetblue, jwt