Is Southwest Losing More Than Just My Luggage?
This Week:
How to Deal With Backlash After Delivering Bad News
ICYMI: Guidance On Deleting Negative Social Comments
The One Thing
Before We Go…
1. Southwest Drops a Beloved Perk—Then Fumbles the Fallout
The reasoning was clear: shareholders expect more from Southwest. CEO Bob Jordan said in a statement, “We have tremendous opportunity to meet current and future customer needs, attract new customer segments we don’t compete for today, and return to the levels of profitability that both we and our shareholders expect.”
For a company whose longtime slogan has been “Bags Fly Free,” the backlash was immediate. Combined with last year’s decision to eliminate open seating, customers felt like Southwest was rapidly losing its identity, along with any reasons to fly the carrier. Many vowed to abandon the airline altogether, and some even predicted its downfall. What can we learn from the fallout?
2. ICYMI: Do I Delete That Comment?
Southwest’s current social woes made it the perfect time to revisit this story. Social media can be a powerful tool for engagement, but it also comes with the challenge of managing public commentary. When an off-topic remark, a negative critique, or outright hate speech appears in the comments section, the question arises: do you delete it? The answer depends on context, and having clear guidelines in place can help you navigate these decisions with confidence.
3. The One Thing
Each week, we’ll share one task that takes about five minutes to complete and can make an impact on your communications strategy.
In times of crisis, it’s critical to know what’s being said about your organization.
Your Task This Week: How are you monitoring media mentions? Do you use a service like Meltwater or Truescope? When was the last time you updated your keywords? Take a few minutes to make sure they’re up-to-date.
Not using a media monitoring service? Sign up for Google Alerts, and choose some relevant keywords so you’re notified if something new pops up about your organization on the web.
4. Before We Go…
From Marketing Dive: In a story that perhaps our comms friends at Southwest should read, marketing leaders at SXSW share how consumer backlash strengthened their brands.
From Marketing Brew: Women’s sports advertising was up triple digits in 2024, with companies spending more than $244 million in TV advertising.
From Tech Crunch: Google published a policy proposal calling for weakened copyright rules that would allow companies to better train AI.
Know a communications pro who loves to travel? They might love this edition of The EO Report — forward it their way.