{"id":7132,"date":"2020-01-28T17:51:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T21:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=7132"},"modified":"2022-03-30T15:36:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T19:36:21","slug":"southwest-airlines-marketing-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/southwest-airlines-marketing-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Southwest Airlines Marketing Strategy\u2014How It Beats its Rivals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is Southwest Airlines’ marketing strategy? How has knowing their WHY led to a more successful business<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll cover Southwest Airlines’ marketing strategy and look at how they achieved success when they understood their purpose. From Simon Sinek’s Start with Why.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Southwest Airlines’ Marketing Strategy: Leading From the Gut <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Great leaders and organizations start by winning people\u2019s hearts, then appeal to their minds. They begin with WHY–the emotional, ideological draw–then <\/em>focus on the WHAT and the HOW. This is part of Southwest Airlines’ marketing strategy.
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Leading from the gut can lead to counter-intuitive approaches. Visionaries see what most of us don\u2019t see and have no idea to ask for. But when we see it, we know we want it.
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For example, John F. Kennedy assumed the office of United States President during tough times. But instead of focusing on WHAT he planned to do, he famously started with WHY: serving the country. 
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Similarly, Southwest Airlines entered a crowded market where air travel was a luxury that was inaccessible to normal people. Instead of charging more for their tickets to make a profit, they decided to charge less. <\/em>That\u2019s because affordable, accessible air travel is their WHY. This is the key to Southwest Airlines’ marketing strategy: They know their WHY.
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Southwest Airlines<\/strong>‘ WHY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Southwest Airlines was founded by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King in 1967 in order to make low-cost air travel available to everyone. At the time, only 15 percent of Americans traveled by air because it was so expensive. 
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Here\u2019s how they used The Golden Circle<\/a> in order to create a winning Southwest Airlines’ marketing strategy: <\/p>\n\n\n\n