Spirit Airlines Uses Novel Approach in E-Mail Campaigns

Oct. 21--If you're a frequent customer of Spirit Airlines Inc., you're probably used to receiving one or two e-mails a week pitching low fares, and often something silly.

There was the sale in honor of Charles' wedding. Who's Charles? He's Charles Rowe, who manages Spirit's schedule. In the spring, Spirit asked fliers to pick Rowe's honeymoon spot -- Jamaica.

Then there was the Mullet Sale. Spirit compared the hockey haircut (business in front, party in back) to the two classes on its planes (business in front, coach in back).

The shtick and the accompanying fare sale worked well enough that the airline brought it back a couple of weeks later.

While offering deals like $16- and $29-fares, Spirit veers from more traditional e-mail messages of bonus frequent flier miles, and tries to use quirkiness to break through the clutter of spam aimed at inboxes.

The Miramar, Fla.-based carrier wouldn't disclose its advertising budget, except to say that it meets industry standards that permit low-cost carriers to spend about 2% of annual revenue. Based on last year's revenue, that puts Spirit's annual ad budget as high as $10 million.

For Spirit, the second-largest carrier at Detroit Metro with 22 daily flights, e-mails to more than a million travelers are inexpensive but effective ways to sell tickets.

"If you've got something outrageous, your open rate goes through the roof," said Barry Biffle, Spirit's chief marketing officer.

But for frequent Spirit customer Mike Witkowski, 22, of Livonia the gimmick doesn't make a difference.

"I really don't think it matters what they call it. If they're giving cheap airfares, people are going to buy it," said Witkowski, an engineering student at the University of Michigan at Dearborn.

Spirit is not a pioneer of wacky airline ads. Southwest Airlines Co. and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. have tried to use humor to win customers.

But there are some industry observers who say that Spirit's ads and image need to mature.

"I think that they've tried to be kind of hip and cool," said Stuart Klaskin, a partner with KKC Aviation Consulting in Coral Gables, Fla.

Klaskin says they're trying too hard.

"Their customers, their historical customers who have had experience with the airline, want to hear that this thing has grown up. This is more of a traditional airline customer experience," said Klaskin, who remembers when Spirit used to share gates with other carriers at Detroit Metro.

Klaskin argues that Spirit needs to focus its advertising on its fleet of new planes, to show off a polished look.

Spirit is promoting its new planes in billboards, where it also pitches fares and sunny destinations. The airline also takes a more conservative approach in its TV ads, which Biffle expects to spend more money on in the future.

But as Spirit tries to be funny, there is a line where humor can work against a company, said Alan Bender, airline economist with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Spirit may have crossed that line in the summer when it created an online click-and-seek game to find Jimmy Hoffa after FBI agents searched for Hoffa's remains in Milford.

"We had the highest open rate on that e-mail that we ever had," Biffle said.

The airline received complaints and took the game down a few hours after it was posted.

To the critics, Biffle says Spirit wants to be distinctive.

"We can be polished, and we may not stand out," he said."... We have brand new airplanes. We have leather seats. We have a great product. But we also have a customer base with a sense of humor."

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.