In part one, we introduced the JetBlue proposition and the process behind their product and pricing strategy. It was a story of value innovation — but how do they discover where the opportunities to innovate lie?
In line with the teachings of Blue Ocean Strategy by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, JetBlue managed to create its own blue ocean — unknown market space, untainted by competition, where demand is created rather than fought over — by looking at what its competitors weren’t doing.
With that in mind, let’s take a deeper look at how JetBlue used this mindset to redefine the transatlantic flight market, framed around the remaining two Ps of marketing, with insight from JetBlue’s general manager for Europe, Maja Gedosev.
Promotion:
When they sought to expand into the European market, the JetBlue team was keenly aware that few had heard of the brand. They also knew they didn’t have the marketing budget to go head-to-head with their rivals — giants like Delta and American Airlines. But it didn’t matter, because they weren’t interested in doing so.
Instead, they boldly chose to take their inaugural dive into Heathrow during the pandemic — not in spite of the industry being temporarily kaput, but because of the opportunity it presented.
‘This is not our home market. [...] Whatever we do, it will be a drop in the ocean. We will never be able to pull out campaigns that last over months and have that continuity that our competition has,’ says Maja. ‘But what we definitely do is rely on partnerships with tourism boards.’
While everyone was disintermediating the travel industry, JetBlue recognised the potential to develop a symbiotic relationship. ‘What we need to do is get ourselves good, strong partners through the travel trade to actually push the message out. So we talked to the trade, worked with them closely [and] they became our ambassadors over time,’ says Maja. ‘The trade was also on their knees at that point. They needed something fresh and new. It was a win again.’
Alongside this, at a time when most businesses were focusing solely on staying afloat, JetBlue used their competitors’ withdrawal from the media to amplify their arrival from the states. ‘PR was extremely important and I think we kind of rode on that wave,’ says Maja. ‘People were trying to look inwards, asking what do we do with ourselves? How do we save our companies? And we basically announced: we’re coming.’
Their entrance to the UK market filled the gap in positive industry coverage, getting people excited for the future of air travel at a time where it seemed like the future might not exist. Their CEO, Robin Hayes, did interviews in major news outlets from The Telegraph to The Times, while the brand ramped up its social output to captivate audiences stuck inside and glued to their phones. These were the perfect multi-channel tactics to reach their consumers at that time, particularly when competitors were only using those platforms for dismal apologies and harried customer service assistance.
JetBlue’s success here is a testament to how much you can achieve by spotting hidden opportunities — a key tenet of blue ocean strategy. But it’s not as simple as blindly aiming for unexplored territory. Being able to recognise how your rivals are using their resources poorly or failing to capitalise on their own opportunities is crucial. After all, in the words of Michael Porter, 'The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.'
JetBlue could so easily have blindly attempted to copy and improve upon their competitors’ existing marketing models. But they recognised they didn’t have the budget to best them in that area and instead chose to re-write the playbook for how a modern airline markets itself, starting with filling in the gaps that their rivals had left behind.
By doing so, they’ve been able to make the most of their blue ocean and expand into new markets during the most difficult period their industry has ever endured.
Place:
Around 90% of JetBlue’s bookings are made online, and customers typically book through third-party agents before coming back to book directly for better deals. Where many would immediately start thinking about how to lessen their reliance on third-parties and balance this ratio in favour of more direct sales, JetBlue set out to nourish their relationships with the travel industry instead.
They arranged trips for agents to visit their airports, experience their flights, and understand the merits of their key destinations and brand. They investigated which agents shared their ethos and values, choosing to focus on those that aligned with the business — something that their affiliate-burdened competitors don’t have the liberty of doing.
‘[Our] non-aligned status gives us the ability to be flexible in our approach,’ says Maja. ‘A lot of carriers want to talk to us and we want to talk to a lot of carriers, especially now that we're entering these new markets.’
And they decide which new markets to conquer by — you guessed it — observing what their rivals aren’t doing: the underserved cities, untrodden paths, and destinations where the competition was trains and buses rather than other airlines. Crucially, they ensure to only expand their business in ways that allow them to maintain the great experience they pride themselves on providing.
Offering around 100 different routes (compared to American Airlines' ~350 destinations, Delta's 275, and United Airlines' ~330), JetBlue doesn’t provide a mass-market service, and their placement within the market reflects this.
They ensure they’re able to keep their standards consistent, thereby maintaining customer trust, by not trying to do everything, everywhere, all of the time. JetBlue’s focus is always on grabbing those hidden opportunities to do better, providing excellent value, and putting their customers first — blue ocean strategy at its finest.
And if you want to disrupt the market, capture new audiences, and become a renowned case study for branding done right, this should be your approach, too.
The theory behind blue ocean strategy is that just about any business can find a blue ocean, but you don’t have to make this idea the core of your brand to benefit from it. Merely thinking through the process will give you a different perspective on your market, your customers, and your competition.
Next time you’re making marketing decisions, just ask yourself: ‘Are we doing this to out-do our competitors, or are we doing this because it’s what our customers want?’ You’ll be surprised how many times the answer is the former.
Listen: Hear the full story of JetBlue’s promotional strategy, from staying on-brand during customer service damage control, to creating positive local impact across their termini: Value Innovation in Action: (Part 2) Promotion and Place.
Got a burning question about JetBlue's success? Record them here for the chance to have them answered in a future episode.
