Skift Q&A: JetBlue’s Marketing Guru on Going Viral and Airborne Indignities
Photo Credit: Marty St. George, JetBlue's senior vice president of marketing and commercial. JetBlue
Skift Take
JetBlue doesn't want to be JCPenney. The airline certainly wants to attract more business travelers, but it adamantly seeks to ensure that changes don't come at the expense of its leisure traveler customer base. The balancing act will gradually become more of a challenge as Mint service expands, but it isn't a huge issue for the moment.
Marty St. George, JetBlue's senior vice president of marketing and commercial, has been at the airline for seven years. With his inclusion in the Skift50, we caught up with him to discuss some of JetBlue's headline-grabbing campaigns over the last couple of years, and to delve into the status of the brand.
Skift: What were some of your signature marketing campaigns over the last year or so?
St. George: Election Protection was during the presidential campaign. It went almost completely viral. We didn't spend a lot of money on it. Election Protection came from one of those simple insights: What do people say during every presidential election? If the other guy wins I'm leaving the country.
Our idea was sign up, tell us who your candidate is and if he loses, we'll give you a free ticket out of the country. We gave away 2012 roundtrips to leave the U.S. to 19 different destinations around the Americas, and it was good for right before the Inauguration. It was a fantastic viral cam
