JetBlue Telling Tales

• Email
• Share
• Print

Avant-garde airline JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) has unveiled an innovative advertising campaign to attract new customers -- and perhaps reinforce its corporate culture in the process. The storytelling campaign, which started in April, allows customers at a traveling booth to recount their experiences with the discount airline via megaphone. So far, nearly 2,000 anecdotes have been collected from the traveling booth and via email. The campaign aims to reinforce JetBlue's image as an "airline of the people." Given the airline industry's current tough environment, as well as competition from low-cost carrier Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and legacy carriers like Continental (NYSE: CAL), this seems like a savvy move.

One of the stories is a heartwarming marriage proposal from a boyfriend to his girlfriend, with the plane ecstatic as the captain asks "So was it a yes or a no?" It's a great story, and it serves as an emotional connection point between customers and the relatively new airline. That connection could help strengthen the company's brand and attract more repeat business. It's an extremely intelligent way to build relationships with customers.

The campaign could also reinforce JetBlue's customer-focused culture among its employees. Given JetBlue's recent financial woes, with losses the past two quarters and a stock price in the doldrums, it wouldn't be surprising if employee morale were dipping a bit. What better way to lift spirits than by sharing customers' positive experiences, providing examples of the airline's philosophies and values?

A consistent, well-told story is one common thread among diverse successful companies such as Merck (NYSE: MRK). Back in 1991, Merck gave away millions of free doses of a drug called Mectizan, which cured a vicious Third World disease called "river blindness," to customers who could never otherwise have afforded it. This generous gesture inspired employees and customers alike for generations to come. While JetBlue won't get a story like this from its Story Booth this time around, its campaign can only generate goodwill from both customers and employees. For investors, that's a story worth paying attention to.

Fly the Foolish skies:

• Airlines Finally Flying Right?
• The Decline of Southwest and The Rise of JetBlue
• Southwest Airlines Still Soaring

JetBlue is a Motley Fool Stock Advisor pick, while Merck is a Motley Fool Income Investor selection. Try either newsletter free for 30 days by clicking on the preceding links.

Fool contributor Stephen Ellis does not own shares in any companies named above. You can view his holdings here . The Motley Fool has an excellent disclosure policy .