In this week's blog post, we explore the concept of "brand experience", the idea that your brand equity and customer experience are inextricably tied together. Most would agree that the two attributes are linked, but just how closely?
We have an ideal case study to help us explore this. Southwest Airlines this week announced that they will be moving to assigned seats in the coming year, setting loose a unique distinction that has been so closely tied to its brand for over 50 years. No traveler has to think hard to conjure up the image of open seating when they hear "Southwest Airlines".
The decision to make this radical change is reportedly based on disappointing financial performance. Being able to move to the business models of other airlines is likely to provide Southwest with opportunities to boost revenue and profits per passenger from upselling and segmenting seating.
Not having had a chance to be a fly on the wall in their boardroom, I can't speculate on whether the airline had no other choice when they made this decision, not to mention the pressure from financial markets given a high-profile public company they have become.
Let's consider how this radical change is likely to impact brand performance.
- Southwest has held a special brand distinction and affinity because of its unique seating arrangement. Coupled with this has been the connotation of egalitarianism. As an online commenter stated, he appreciates not having to walk past first-class cabins on his way to his seat. This is a brand value that will likely disappear.
- Southwest expects to gain additional segments of the market as a result of the change. Presumably, they have research data supporting this expectation and hopefully some kind of choice modeling showing them the net effect of gaining customers versus losing this distinction. But let's examine this closer.
- On the surface, the notion of premium seating is anathema to Southwest's current brand connotation. "First class on Southwest" is likely a statement to be followed with a "?".
- Considerable brand lift investments will be required to reposition and couple "premium" with "Southwest". The market will adapt to the change eventually, but Southwest will lose its current distinction and will need to create new ones to stand out.
- What happens to the loyal fanhood they company has enjoyed for decades? Online reviews and comments show the traveling public expressing either extreme love and loyalty or total avoidance with little in the middle. Moreover this bifurcated brand preference does not perfectly align with the price-senstive consumer segment versus the more amenities and convenience seeking business traveler. Online comments also indicate business travelers appreciating the no-fuss aspects of the experience, especially regular short-distance fliers making the same route regularly willing to forgo other business traveller-friendly amenities for the simplicity of onboarding and open-seating on Southwest.
- Last but not least, the friendliness of the in-flight personnel creates an ambience that passengers place a high value on. A Southwest flight is entertainment. While there is no reason to expect the company will give this aspect up, segmented seating based on class and type of seat is not likely to yield the same experience as the current universality of the cabin. In effect, each Southwest flight’s passengers and crew create their open -special community for the duration of the flight. Segmented seating and other divisions created within the cabin as a result of this change is more than likely to fragment this community sense.
In short, regardless of well-reasoned justifications, there is no doubt we are looking at a classic case study (idea for a class project for business schools?) of a company making a trade-off on a major brand value. We can anticipate it will be a business case study at major business schools. And only time will tell if the gains outweigh the losses of shedding this very unique brand distinction.
Technology marketers also contend with this issue each time design and development teams update solutions. Not all updates are improvements! Would note-taking app Notion be as big as it is today if Evernote had not significantly changed it's simple but elegant customer experience tin order to move to a new platform to create a more complex note-taking ecosystem?
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Alan Nazarelli is Founder & CEO of Silicon Valley Research Group. Based in San Jose, CA with offices in Seattle and New York, the company works with the world’s most innovative brands to provide timely and actionable market intelligence and strategic guidance to enable them to make well-informed decisions to positively impact revenues and profits and to achieve their growth targets. Connect with Al on Linked in