WESTJET MINI CASE

So much of what you read about WestJet, in this or any other source, will tell the story of Western entrepreneurialism turned wildly successful based on two key competencies: low-cost structure and high-quality customer service. But, while always easier said than done, this is the value equation that will lead any business toward success. Those strengths began as a series of puzzles, which ultimately required solutions. Finding those solutions, as Merridy Mitchell, WestJet manager of market research, can attest, begins with asking questions—lots of questions, many times, to countless guests and WestJetters. “We’ve actually been doing post-flight surveys with customers since 2005 so we have a lot of historical data to assist us with key questions around satisfaction and loyalty drivers,” explains Mitchell. Data mining through this ongoing research and analysis sets off a chain reaction through the company. “Not surprisingly, customer interaction tops the list of needs guests have with WestJetters … more than seat comfort, TV not working, even on-time departures. So, knowing how important that is to our guests, it permeates into our training programs, our internal materials, and our creative as well.” Conventional forms of market research such as surveys and focus groups prevail as battle-tested forms of intelligence gathering; however, digital and social media communication has been a game changer in this field. So infinite is this knowledge resource that it is often overwhelming as to how to use it. “Social media and even email are different forms of intelligence than that which comes from traditional research tools. If you think about it, the feedback tends to be reactionary.” The challenge, then, would be developing methods to not only mine the data, but also to make sense of it in a way that can truly benefit the company and, ultimately, its customers. WestJet has been using what Mitchell refers to as a “voice of the guest” tool, which combines a survey system with text analytics. “Its original intention was to be used across the social digital space, but we began first using it only on email to provide us with quantitative and qualitative analysis.” The result is a sophisticated tool that not only counts tweets about WestJet, for instance, but also classifies them as positive or negative and even begins to answer “why.” Because, as suggested, whether it’s a pen and paper survey or a Facebook post, there’s a question being asked or answered, and that process, as Mitchell puts it, is what motivates her team of “research geeks.” QUESTIONS 1. 2. 3. What research approach has WestJet been using since 2005, and how has data been gathered? How does WestJet’s market research affect other areas of the organization? Why should a market research analyst be particularly cautious about information gathered through social media?