An Unintended Branding Lesson from Southwest Airlines
VICTORIA ANDREWS.
A name that was unknown to most of us until yesterday, 28th of December 2022.
Her name has swiftly — and rightly so — become synonymous with generosity, compassion, and LOVE.
She’s an employee of Southwest Airlines who — according to her — “…wanted to help out and do something…”
And this turned out to be her sharing the milk of human kindness in the form of handing out snacks to stranded and hungry passengers.
This level of employee engagement can only occur when there’s the certainty of zero reprimands.
This level of commitment comes with high trust and autonomy to take initiative.
This level of connection is devoid of currying favor or adjusting for the perfect optics.
Victoria internalizes and lives her employer’s core brand values. Another way of saying it is that the core values flow within her. She embodies the brand.
A lot of us — and especially those stranded passengers — have Victoria and Southwest Airlines etched in our memories as THE FEELING BRAND.
I feel as if this experience has unintentionally set the tone and high standards for all other brands; come 2023 and beyond.
Customers will evaluate their decision to continue or end brand relationships by comparing them to Southwest Airlines.
What’s your take?
