Southwest Stole Christmas. It Still Has Superfans.

It’s a tough week to be a Southwest Airlines influencer.

Take Kody and Kyler McCormick, brothers who have been making videos and social media posts boosting Southwest for years, in exchange for vouchers or cash from their favorite airline. 

Click here to read the story at nytimes.com.

Discussion Questions:

1. What is a brand?
2. How would you describe Southwest Airlines’ brand?
3. What is brand loyalty?
4. What is a “super fan” as it relates to businesses and brands?
5. What is a business model?
6. How would you describe Southwest’s business model?
7. What happened over the holidays that has everyone talking about Southwest Airlines?
8. What is publicity?
9. How has Southwest responded to the situation?
10. How would you have responded?
11. How do you think the publicity surrounding Southwest Airlines will impact the company moving forward?
12. What is customer service?
13. Why is customer service important to the airline industry?
14. What is the customer experience?
15. Why is it important to airlines?
16. What do you think airline brands do to improve the customer experience?
17. What is an influencer?
18. How do influencers and brand loyalty impact Southwest’s business?
19. How might the current state of Southwest Airlines test that loyalty?
20. In your opinion, will Southwest be negatively impacted in the long term by what happened over the holidays? Why or why not?