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Disclaimer: I am not a WestJet or Southwest Airlines owner, employee or investor. Neither is a client (yet). I am not trying to fluff their stocks. Nor am I a Barack Obama staffer or influencer. I am not part of his transition team. He is not a client (yet). The ramblings and tangents below are mine alone and may not reflect the views of my editor (yet).
I'm sitting on a WestJet plane currently affixed firmly to a tarmac in the Maritimes. Not a big fan of flying in general. I'm 6'3", fidgety at the best of times, like to talk with my hands, generally impatient. Not exactly engineered for commercial air travel. And we're running a few minutes behind schedule, yet I'm not a) freaking, nor b) incensed. I'm very conscious of the absence of irritation. Fascinated by it. Why am I not in a foul mood?
WestJet is one of the more over-studied companies in Canada, so you likely won't be shocked by any of the following. Check-in was a breeze — the cheery desk representative made it seem like it was no big deal I was flying tonight. I had anticipated this so my stress level was reduced before I checked in, and my thoughts were reaffirmed after I walked toward security: "no big deal." On the plane itself, all the flight attendants are pleasant, relaxed and either help or get out of the way. I had also anticipated this so I my hackles were not up, pre-board. And now I sit here, relatively calm. In other words they had convinced me ahead of time, through brand promises made and delivered, by great people, based on a different strategy, that everything is cool when you fly WestJet.
Barack Obama may never have flown WestJet, but I bet he's flown Southwest, which is more-or-less the same model. Fantastic service. Relentless about hammering an upbeat, low cost message. Fly point-to-point, not hub-and-spoke, and price well below competitors. Genius when it was conceived. Still compelling and relevant today. There are incredible parallels between this model and the winning campaign Obama just ran on his way to the Presidency. And there are very pointed lessons for SMB owner operators to be learned from both the aforementioned airlines and from Obama's campaign.
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Surround yourself with a good, smart team. In that order.
WestJet and Southwest are very careful about who they add to their teams. The folks that you and I see visibly executing company strategy and representing the brand are check-in reps and flight attendants. They are really good people — you can just tell. And the executives and employees behind the scenes are really smart, as demonstrated by consistent financial performance and awards won by each organization.
Obama was also very careful when building his team. He chose a high integrity, experienced, family-oriented running mate. And he had brilliant strategists working on the campaign in the background, crafting plans to win all the swing states. There was no in-fighting. There was no public show of confusion, or contradiction — only cohesion and confidence. His opponent who did not fare so well perhaps was not as measured or calculated when building out his own campaign team, and that could be argued as one of the reasons for a poorer showing at the polls.
No one wins solo in business any more. If you own or run a SMB, it is crucial to surround yourself with top-shelf talent. And character always trumps other attributes. But that doesn't mean you can live without really sharp, strategic team members. You need good and smart, in that order.
Stay on brand/on message.
When you think of WestJet and Southwest, you immediately associate their names with low prices and quirky/helpful service. You do so because they never change their brand promise. And they never change their core message. They are unyielding on the low cost message and persistently positive. They are always on brand. And they hammer the messages over and over and over again. Simple, but brilliant.
Obama took a page from this book. First, he chose a brand message which was emotive, not functional. He chose "hope." Emotive messages are far easier to relate to, warm up to, remember and get behind. Because they make a connection with you. Think of some of the great slogans of all time: "Just do it," "Because so much is riding on your tires," "Membership has its privileges." Each speaks more to you as a human being than about the products they represent. Second he chose a positive message. I believe most people are inherently good natured and well intended, and want to believe in others who think the same way. Obama clearly believes this by the truckload. Positive messages stir emotion and action, while negative messaging can be seen as a show of weakness and lead to inaction. Third, he never once wavered on his brand messaging. He was consistent and insistent.
Take note SMB owner-operators. The best brand messages are simple. And emotive. And positive. And are drilled into customers without compromise.
Break the rules and change the game.
MBAs the world over can tell you why WestJet and Southwest were able to not only survive but thrive as cheeky upstarts in a crowded, mature market. They ignored the rules and found new ways to complete. The employed a new business model entirely. They conceived of stealing passengers not from other airlines, but from buses and automobiles. And they found a way to do so via innovation, efficient operations and service.
On the fundraising front, Obama also broke the rules and changed the game. Instead of playing the conventional win-three-thousand-dollars-at-a-time-from-rich-people-you-know card, he (or more likely one of his genius strategists) decided he could use a new mechanism (the Internet) to win twenty dollars at a time from people he didn't know. It worked. It raised him so much money in additional campaign funding, they had to deliver the cash in 747s. Genius.
The lesson here for you, Ms./Mr. SMB owner, is if you have not had a long look at the fundamentals of your industry recently, it's time to do so again. What market accepted norms can you dispense with? What long-held industry tenets can you break? How can you take what you have to work with and re-conceptualize the space you operate in, in order to win?
I bet the Obama campaign was not based on the Southwest/WestJet model at all. But that underscores the point. There is something fundamental about good/smart people in that order, about positive/emotive/consistent brand messaging, and about finding new ways to compete — which underpins true breakthrough strategy, and sound organizations everywhere.
Mark Healy, P.Eng, MBA is a Partner at Torque Customer Strategy, a boutique consultancy focusing customer experience, innovation and go-to-market strategy. Mark has completed over one hundred engagements in this new space over the last four years. He is a regular speaker and media contributor on topics ranging from marketing to managing professional service firms. Mark is known as much for his aggressive sense of personal style as he is for intense and engaging conversations. He lives with his wife Charlotte and their bulldog McDuff in Toronto. His full bio can be found at www.torquecustomerstrategy.com.
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