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JetBlue gives away 1,000 tickets on Twitter
In: IT news
15 Mar 2010
Twitter seems to be one of the first places disgruntled flyers turn when they think an airline has done them wrong. But that doesn’t mean the airlines don’t love Twitter.
When it came time to celebrate its 10th anniversary, U.S.-based airline JetBlue turned to the popular social media hub and its more than 1.6m followers.
The idea: give away 1,000 free tickets in three undisclosed locations in Manhattan. The requirements: you have to watch JetBlue’s Twitter account for the announcement of the location, and you have to bring an item specified in the announcement. The fine print: virtually none. The tickets JetBlue would be giving out were of the round-trip variety, and could be used for any destination the airline files to, including the sunny Caribbean.
As you might expect, the JetBlue Twitter promotion was a success if you believe success is defined by the number of people who turned out. Within minutes of JetBlue’s announcements, the mobs descended and within 20 minutes, there were no more tickets.
Not surprisingly, JetBlue’s social media promotion is largely being portrayed as a success. But I’m not so sure the acclaim is warranted. To a certain extent, I see these ‘free giveaways‘ as a social media crutch. Giving anything of value away will attract a response, and make those who received the benefit happy. But my concern is that social media marketers rely too heavily on the
free giveaway and it’s not at all clear whether these promotions truly move the needle or not. Obviously, flying 1,000 people round-trip comes at a cost, and it’s not clear how much new business this promotion will generate long-term. Certainly there’s media value to be considered as well, but ‘media value‘ is a difficult metric for a number of reasons.
None of this is to say that giveaways can’t be a very effective marketing tool, or that companies should avoid these promotions on principle. That said, nobody should be surprised that social media is a highly effective medium for marketers to give stuff away. Determining what it brings back in return, however, is where the challenge, and reward, lies.
Photo credit: Silenus81 via Flickr.
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5 Responses to JetBlue gives away 1,000 tickets on Twitter
goldwing
March 15th, 2010 at 6:03 pm
not really…but they do have a good warantee package.
This system is not that different than any around from private companies…but the cost seems high to me..I would think you could get this for about 1300.00 and NO POSTAGE! If I were you, I would opt for Windows XP..the Vista is not going over so well ! Unless you are a serious gamer, you do not need video card on most computers, the mother board has a very good video section in it. Internet speed is determined by your connection, not computer. IF you need blue tooth, USB adapters are only about 30.00 or so. And these computers will be preloaded with Windows XP or Vista (your choice, choose XP) I would also consider dual core AMD processors, very fast, better than Intel at this time, and cheaper. Good luck
mew77
March 23rd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
most likely no
the idea is that youll take the survey/quiz and youll be excited for a ps3, while theyll say at the end theirs a chance youll win it or something to make you have a chance of not getting it, or if its money maybe send you fake money or a bunch of magazines that equal it
they will give you a free ps3 or money or what ever, if its a miniscule amount like 5-10$ which is rare but they might but its so small that i dont even care about it, and theyll probably not even send it, by making a mistake or something so dont even try it….it may also cause you to get viruses, or if they send you a email, you might open it somehow and get a keylogger, or virus, or even get a leak into your accnt informations
Ms.Sniffles
May 8th, 2010 at 6:49 am
It would be effective, but I would not say the most effective. I've found that guerrilla marketing works best for products aimed at a certain demographic (mostly younger). Where as espresso drinkers are classified generally not by age or race, but by a personal preference.
So therefore it depends on which specific demographic you're looking to reach. If it's say college students… then yes, go with guerrilla marketing. But if you're gearing towards say middle class working families… then no. A lot may find it aggravating and annoying.
Hope this has helped!
heyDavid
May 17th, 2010 at 7:05 am
I think what they're saying is that it can be used in an unhealthy way to avoid dealing with the problems their patients are facing. Most monotheistic paths simply tell their followers to "give it up to God" through prayer. But while prayer can have a measurable calming effect on a person, they will eventually have to deal with their issues and problems if they expect things to get any better. God's not just going to wave his magic wand and make everything better, no matter how devout you are.
knig
June 20th, 2010 at 2:05 am
Only the employee giving you the buddy pass can answer that, it's different for each airline. For the airline my wife works for, you have to pay the tax based on a ticket to that destination (domestic flights only).
Buddy Pass seating is by space available. So have your friend check flight loads on the day you want to fly. You might have to take the first flight in the morning, for example.