Historically, consumers could only book Southwest flights through the website or app— this unique business model allowed Southwest to save money and pass those savings on to their flyers. However, a new generation has entered the market. A generation that is less loyal and more price-conscious. They’re more likely to compare and book the cheapest flight on travel search engines, which caused Southwest to be overlooked by these consumers. Our objective was to win over this audience, as they made up only 15% of our revenue. We needed to future-proof the airline by becoming relevant and showing up where they are. The idea was clear: come up with an idea that meets Gen Z where they are (social) by disrupting how they currently book travel.
Our driving insight was clear: Sixty-five percent of Gen Zers say TikTok is their preferred platform for travel inspiration, using it to find destinations. In fact, only 11% opt for a Google Search. So instead of fighting the same game with booking sites, our strategy revolved around revamping how the booking process is built. Our biggest challenge was that we knew that Gen Z was value-conscious and we also knew they didn’t want to leave TikTok to find travel inspiration or even book a flight. It wasn’t enough to just make ads saying we have great flights at great prices - we had to create a disruption.
So, we partnered with TikTok, turning content creators into travel agents by allowing customers to book Southwest flights directly through TikTok. A by-product of our collaboration with TikTok was that our flights became the first non-physical items sold on the platform and they even had to develop new back-end features so these sales could occur. With Shoppable Flights, Gen Z can now turn search inspiration into travel booking without ever having to leave the content that inspired them. To launch, we partnered with 10 creators, each with a unique interest, and sent them to a key Southwest market that authentically aligned with their brand. Each influencer made their own content announcing this new way of booking with TikTok. This allowed us to reach a variety of followers through different interests (animation, cooking, music, etc), covering a wider pool than if we had just focused on travel influencers.
Not only was this strategy the first of its kind on TikTok, we also ensured that Southwest was not missing out on any additional revenue opportunities.
We found this to be a success because it was a new way of thinking about reaching Gen Z. We created the first of its kind ad unit with TikTok that leverages creators to sell flights and experiences, not just material items from TikTok shop. “Shoppable Flight” assets had a higher shop rate (5x total) than all other Southwest ads running at the time, showing how effective this idea was at meeting our goal of more Gen Z engagement. The campaign overall had: 29.9M Total views; 1.3M Native Views, and 270K Total Blended Engagement, a 1.03% Engagement Rate Blended (compared to a benchmark of 0.63%).
