Southwest Airlines
Hashtag Contest to Drive Brand Engagement
Southwest drives engagement with a viral hashtag contest
Most airlines have long-standing loyalty programs, but can struggle with both acquisition and engagement of current members. Southwest Airlines came to us to re-introduce a past tagline (Wanna Get Away), drive acquisition for their loyalty program, and increase buzz in the social media space. We ran a hashtag contest inviting people to share their own Wanna Get Away moments, allowing Southwest to be top-of-mind and authentically interact with the individual. People posted contest submissions via Twitter or Instagram or replied to Southwest's post on Facebook using the campaign’s hashtags.
How to Enter
Consumers were invited to follow @southwestair on Twitter and Instagram, then share their funny or embarrassing moments to explain why they deserved an all-expense paid vacation to Belize to get away from it all. Consumers could upload a video or photo with their entry and were required to include #WannaGetAway and #contest.
Merkle (formerly known as HelloWorld) aggregated and moderated all hashtags and shares and also hosted a gallery on the campaign microsite.
For data acquisition purposes, there was also a separate microsite where members entered personal information to receive sweepstakes entries for another chance to win.