Tame the Mobile Beast Ensure Loyalty from Point A to Point B with Southwest Airlines, Featuring Jonathan Clarkson & Megan Self
On today’s episode, host Tom Butta is joined by two amazing guests from Southwest Airlines, Jonathan Clarkson, VP & Head of Marketing, and Megan Self, Senior Manager of Digital Experience. Needing no introduction, Southwest has consistently stood out from other airlines, and now aims to continue their deep focus on customer experience as they retool their mobile app for the future.
Jonathan has been with Southwest for more than fifteen years, with prior experience at Pepsico, Pizza Hut, and Dr Pepper/Seven Up. Megan joined more recently back in 2019, but brings a wealth of experience to the team. In the conversation, you’ll hear how they view the Southwest mobile app as the way-finder to their customers’ flight paths, navigating them through each step of the process and providing them key, up to date details along the way.
Additionally, listen for some of the ways Jonathan gauges customer engagement through each step of the process. With a lot of drive focused on the initial app download, there are other key milestones he outlines that you can’t leave behind when building everlasting brand loyalty.
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Jonathan’s Bio
Jonathan joined Southwest in 2007 to help start the first Customer Insights Team in Marketing. He then moved his talents to the Loyalty Team to help launch the All-New Rapid Rewards program, and later took on additional responsibility for ancillary and boarding products.
Now, as VP Marketing with a focus on Southwest Airlines’ Loyalty, Partnerships and Products, Jonathan and his Teams are responsible for all ancillary and loyalty revenue initiatives at Southwest. These include general management of the Rapid Rewards program; the Chase Visa co-brand credit card portfolio and other partnerships; fare and day-of-travel products including Early Bird and Upgraded Boarding; ancillary revenue products including Hotels, Vacations, and Ground Transportation; and Customer Insights & Analytics. Prior to joining Southwest, Jonathan held marketing roles at Pepsico, Pizza Hut, and Dr Pepper/Seven Up.
Megan’s Bio
Megan is a proven leader with over 22 years of experience building brands and driving results across multiple industries. Prior to joining the team at Southwest Airlines, Megan was responsible for leading key agency accounts at the Richard Group as Principal, Vice President. The Richards Group, located in Dallas, Texas, is the largest independent branding agency in the U.S. Quadratic is a wholly-owned subsidiary focusing on direct response, CRM, digital analytics, data intelligence, and advanced analytics.
At Southwest, Megan is the Senior Manager of Digital Experience, where she is focused on using data to build the brand while driving results. Just some of the skills she brings to the table include business development, team leadership, marketing strategy, branding, traditional advertising (television, radio, print, and out-of-home), direct response advertising and marketing (direct mail, email, and mobile) digital, social media, customer relationship management (CRM), loyalty marketing, product marketing, media planning, media buying, test plan development (A/B and experimental design), data analytics, data visualization, web design, site analytics, site testing and personalization, and user experience.
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Guest Quotes
“It goes back to a customer-centric focus in recognizing that everything starts with the customer, and that we need to appeal to the customer's needs first and foremost, because that's what generates brand loyalty.” - Jonathan Clarkson
“Once you're checking in for your flight through completing your flight and getting to your destination, the app is what's in your hand facilitating that journey. It's truly the wayfinder in the person's hand to get them where they need to go as quickly as possible, and to make that as frictionless as possible is the goal.” - Megan Self
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Time Stamps
*(01:30) Background
*(03:30) How data has changed things
*(05:36) The Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Program
*(08:07) Leveraging data to offer relevant promotions
*(13:58) First time app-users, first time flyers
*(17:56) Why you should merge your digital and customer experience teams
*(19:56) Rapid Fire Questions
*(22:26) New live activities
*(24:56) Best advice given and received
*(28:47) Wrap-up
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Links