1.0 Introduction
West Jet Airlines Limited has been one of the game changers in the airline industry, not only in Canada but the rest of the world, although it has had its share of challenges. Wright et al. (2018) noted that the evolution and transition journey of the company in its attempt to establish social media presence has been tedious since 2016. West Jet Airlines Limited had previously begun an official Facebook and Twitter page to post their business portfolios. Cespedes (2015) highlighted that only 2% of Twitter posts account for the people who could directly interact with them, although only 0.07% encompasses the customers of the marketed products or services. This is something that has threatened the marketing department of firms like West Jet Airlines Limited. The organization has sought to channel its expansion on the Eastern parts within the threshold of Canada by increasing its social media presence (WESTJET, 2021). This cased study report aim’s at establishing the background, problem statement, company analysis, recommendations, and action plan within West Jet Airlines Limited in escalating its social media presence via Pinterest.
2.0 Background Information
West Jet Airlines Limited was established in 1994 by Clive Beddoe, Tim Morgan, Mark Hill, and David Neeleman. Culnan, McHugh and Zubillaga (2010) ascertained that the company took two more years to be fully operational in Canada. The headquarters of the firm were in Ontario, which is Canada’s capital city. West Jet Airlines Limited has since managed to be the country’s second-largest airline company, although it has constantly competed with other companies. Customers have grown to trust in the firm’s products and services over the years. West Jet Airlines Limited has sought to expand locally and internationally hence its constant interest in increasing its social media presence. Therefore, the organization has found it fit to adopt and execute business strategies categorized as local, international, and corporate levels. The evolution and transition of West Jet to increase its social media presence began in 2016 (Flying, 2021). This is after Richard Bartem and Greg Hounslow realized that the company must wholly conquer Eastern Canada’s market share.
Figure 1: WestJet’s social media use
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3.0 Problem identification
West Jet Airlines Limited peacefully terminated its contract with Air Transat as of 2009 because of the social media influence it had gained over the years, although it lasted until 2016. The company’s management felt it was ready to expand into Eastern Canada despite its dominance in South Western Canada. This business expansion move required substantial social media traffic to be successful and an added advantage to curb competition from other airline companies such as Flair Airlines. Bartem and Greg Hounslow noted that the company’s budget for establishing a corporate social media presence was tiny. This has left the two leaders to decide whether to vouch for Snap Chat or Pinterest as the best social media platform to adopt and execute for both short-term and long-term prosperity.
4.0 Analysis
4.1 WestJet’s social media efforts evolution over time
Culnan, McHugh and Zubillaga (2010) situated that corporate social media influence is one of the markers of how thriving companies are trusted by customers and their capability to attract potential ones in the future. This is something that West Jet Airlines Limited realized since it felt out with Air Transact in 2009. The company was interested in expanding its activities to Eastern Canada. However, it was a tedious process because of the stiff competition from infant and existing airline firms. The financial report, which was evaluated at the end of the business period in 2015, showcased that West Jet Airlines Limited was at a threat of losing its competition with other airline companies such as Flair Airlines (WESTJET, 2021). Given this, the organization has been forced to choose a social media platform that will help it in sustaining its short-term and long-term goals. This is the very reason that West Jet Airlines Limited conducted a market analysis of the viability of interacting with its customers via Snap Chat and Pinterest in 2016.
4.2 Snap Chat‘s evaluation and viability
Snap Chat was founded and released for use in 2011 by Reggie Brown, Bobby Murphy, and Evan Spiegel (Jiwani & Tong, 2016). Young adults excited the social media platform to the extent that it attracted a more massive audience than Facebook. This occurred for the very first time since Facebook was launched for use. However, although many young adults could stay consistent in using the platform, many companies had not adopted the idea. Jiwani and Tong (2016) dictated that most organizations in the airline industry do not find it fit to use Snap Chat in advertising their products and services. The companies were too afraid to risk or thought that the platform was less viable for their business activities. The social media platform had an audience growth of 2% in three months to the extent that it registered approximately 100 million users monthly (Cespedes, 2015). This attracted about four airline companies to advertise their products and services via the app. The increase in their revenue was noticed since customers increased their views on the posts made daily or in intervals depending on the company. This would serve an airline organization like West Jet properly because it would create short advertisements before placing them on their stories for viewing.
Figure 2: Snap Chat’s Outlook
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4.3 Pinterest’s evaluation and viability
Evan Sharp, Paul Sciarra, and Ben Silbermann were the main brains behind the establishment of Pinterest in 2009 (Wright et al., 2018). According to many social media enthusiasts, the app was developed because a small audience was supposed to view or place an advertisement for viewing. This activation mode within any social media platform was known as a closed beta, although the platform’s support reversed it to an invite-only beta. This aided entrepreneurs in coming up with their business portfolios before their audiences were able to interact with them officially. This increased the monthly users to at least 478 million within the same year Pinterest launched (Culnan, McHugh & Zubillaga, 2010). Many airline companies have since trusted the social media traffic that the platform can bring to them. This would serve a company like West Jet properly because it would have the capability to create business portfolios and correct them before they are viewed or reposted by their customers.
Figure 3: Pinterest’s Outlook
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4.4 Bartem and Hounslow possible take
Pinterest has proven since time immemorial that it is easy to adopt and use in marketing strategies. Bartem and Hounslow would choose to use Pinterest because it has proven to attract at least 478 million active users monthly instead of Snap Chat which has 100 million active users in a month. Cespedes (2015) purported that maintaining a good rapport with customers increases their trust in the current brand of any company that is out to attain a consistent corporate voice. Moreover, West Jet Airlines Limited is interested in establishing dominance all over Canada by acquiring at least half of the market shares with the intent of sustaining its annual income and revenue contribution. Attaining at least three-quarters of the active users on Pinterest only would push West Jet to greater heights.
4.5 New social media platform that can be adopted
West Jet Airlines Limited has been on a continuous journey of establishing market dominance in Canada’s airline industry since many infant and existing firms compete with them (Flying, 2021). This is why West Jet Airlines Limited would consider adopting and putting into use one of the social media platforms that are less than two years old such as TikTok. Zhang Yiming is TikTok’s founder, China’s country of origin (Jiwani & Tong, 2016), and initially founded the social media platform in 2016 before its full launch in 2021. This app has taken over the social media industry because it can bridge ordinary and extraordinary advertising. West Jet has beautiful planes, restaurants, and employees showcasing in their regular videos on TikTok. Furthermore, consistency is the key to attaining a powerful corporate voice and long-lasting customer relations.
5.0 WestJet Limited’s execution
5.1 Best fit for short and long-term social media goals and success criteria
West would be able to achieve both its short and long-term goals if it adopted and executed Pinterest as its go-to social media platform. Jiwani and Tong (2016) highlighted that consistency and sound quality are success criteria that any firm can use. The company will use consistency and good quality as its success criteria in achieving all its goals. Likewise, the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) would provide the metrics for grading the success criteria used by West Jet after every business period.
5.2 Possibility of adopting a new social media platform
WestJet would not have the capability of pushing through with the adoption and implementation of TikTok as their aiding social media platform. The budget will be at $0, making it harder for the company since advertising via social media is very expensive. The company would be able to generate revenue while running the new and existing social media platforms because of acquiring a larger audience.
6.0 Recommendations
- West Jet should consider increasing its capital share that is wholly designated for advertising. This would ensure that it can adopt social media platforms that it deems fit and execute them immediately.
- The company should consider adopting Pinterest as its go-to platform. This is because it has showcased a consistent growth in the number of active users over time; hence it will help the company attain a more significant social media presence.
- The firm should not adopt a new social media platform with a nil budget of the same. This is because more time will be lost in striving to achieve something that may not be viable at the moment.
7.0 Action Plan
West Jet will adopt and put to use Pinterest to advertise its products and services. Adopting TikTok with a nil budget will be avoided until the company finds it fit to allocate some of its capital shares. Most customers have shifted their dire interest to conscious consumerism because they choose products and services of good quality. However, both should be able to sustain or better their surroundings.
8.0 Conclusion
West Jet Airlines Limited had begun its evolution and transition journey of increasing its social media in 2016. The company did not have enough capital share secluded to ensure that the noble cause was seen to completion. The company had been struggling for quite some time since most airline firms had fallen out of business following their inability to retain their customer base. Richard Bartem and Greg Hounslow, the acting vice president, and social media manager, had to establish whether Snap Chat or Pinterest would be the social media platform they would bet on.
9.0 References
Cespedes, F. (2015). Is Social Media Actually Helping Your Company’S Bottom Line?.
Culnan, M., McHugh, P., & Zubillaga, J. (2010). How Large U.S. Companies Can Use Twitter And Other Social Media To Gain Business Value.
Jiwani, N., & Tong, H. (2016). Westjet: A New Social Media Strategy. Ivey Publishing.
WESTJET, a. (2021). WestJet reports its second-highest ever third-quarter net earnings of $119.4 million. Newswire.ca. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/westjet-reports-its-second-highest-ever-third-quarter-net-earnings-of-119-4-million-893518013.html.
What Flair Air is doing right – Ultra-low-cost carriers in Canada – The Flying Moose. The Flying Moose -. (2021). https://theflyingmoose.net/what-flair-air-is-doing-right/.
Wright, B., Nadler, S., Borders, A., & Schwager, P. (2018). CORPORATE SOCIAL MEDIA: A TYPOLOGY OF CONSUMERS.
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