FlyBabies
JetBlue Airways
Issue 40 | September 2016
Agency
MullenLowe Boston
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer Mark Wenneker Executive Creative Director Tim Vaccarino Executive Creative Director Dave Weist VP, Creative Director Julia Neumann VP, Creative Director Amy Ferguson VP, Associate Creative Director Ben Salsky Jr. Art Director Alyssa Cavanaugh Jr. Copywriter Sai He Creative Intern Athanasia Efthimiu
Production Team
SVP, Executive Director Integrated Production Liza Near SVP, Director of Broadcast Production Zeke Bowman Senior Integrated Producer Liz Shook Integrated Producer Matt Polski Project Manager Christina Gratton Senior Digital Producer Louise Lloyd Owen Production Supervisor Kristine Ring-Janicki Business Affairs Manager Amy Keddy Production Company Hey Baby Finish The Mill
Other Credits
Account Executive Director Drayton Martin Account Director Molly Bluhm Account Executive Beba Rivera Group Strategy Director Ellie Gogan-Tilstone Senior Strategist Mike Patrick SVP, Group Digital Director Jade Watts Associate Digital Media Director Tracy Barahona Media Supervisor Shoshana Levine SVP Account Director PR Jaclyn Ruelle Account Supervisors PR Becky Brand Lauren Brennan Brittany Topham Account Executive PR Kelsey Labrot
Date
May 2016
Background
Air travel is a pretty miserable experience these days. Just getting on to the plane is a slog. But once they've waded through all the security procedures there's nothing that bothers passengers more than a crying baby.
US carrier JetBlue prides itself as the airline that brings humanity back to travel.
It decided to tackle the problem head on.
Idea
Mother's Day is one of America's big holidays, with families young and old travelling all over the continent.
JetBlue decided to stand up for all mothers flying with crying babies, while inviting everyone else to show some empathy – and rewarding them.
On the flight from New York to Long Beach it announced a surprise promotion giving all passengers 25% off their next JetBlue flight every time a baby cried. Four cries equalled a free flight.
Instead of the usual eye-rolls and exasperated sighing, passengers smiled and clapped when they heard babies crying. The only audible sighing was from relieved mothers.
The entire plane got free tickets.
JetBlue filmed the flight and released it online afterwards.
The film received over 5.5 million video views; 63 million PR impressions; $1.5 million worth of earned media value; and 41,100 social shares, including 10,000 Facebook likes. Overall, JetBlue's brand consideration increased by 80%.
Our Thoughts
Near-genius. In an ever-increasingly competitive travel sector, it's hard for an airline to stand out. Pricing and service is often undifferentiated, but genuine empathy and turning a negative into a positive is one thing it's hard for competitors to replicate. More parents might choose to fly JetBlue with their babies too. Which might be a mixed blessing for everyone else, unless JetBlue repeats the promotion.