NEW YORK – A JetBlue executive at Forrester’s Marketing 2016 Forum described how the airline leverages programmatic data to serve dynamic ads and drive relevant sales, such as sharing a mobile or digital ad when sales drop for applicable flights.

During the session, “The Practice of Programmatic,” the JetBlue executive explained that the company taps into various data, such as when the weather drops below a certain degree, to serve digital users dynamic ads to entice them to go away to warmer weather. While the airline has stepped into more programmatic strategies and digital venues, it is readjusting its goals for the new era focused on the lifetime value.

“We do a lot of dynamic display ads,” said Philip Ma, manager of brand advertising content at JetBlue. “For example, when temperatures go underneath a certain degree, we will advertise to you.

“We saw a huge conversion rate after that,” he said. “The ability to test and learn is huge.”

Flying high on programmatic
JetBlue wants to create a lifelong customer and is adjusting its goals and KPIs in order to do so. The airline is focused on creating a dialogue and leveraging tools such as in-app messaging to create that loyalty bond with consumers.

The JetBlue marketing teams is working tight with revenue management, analytics, loyalty, to create more realistic goals and a cohesive brand image.

The airline also was able to leverage data to recognize that it was over-serving its ad to some users who had seen the content thousands of times, compared to those who had only been exposed four times. After registering that it was being over-served, the brand was able to scale back, and being able to recognize that is a big deal for marketers.

Keeping up with the JetBlue
JetBlue also relaunched its iPad application, adding 100 percent native booking and making it easier for users to quickly search for a flight without the need to create an account, part of a wider mobile upgrade that updates the airline’s iPhone and Apple Watch offerings as well (see more).

The airline buckled in MasterCard’s MasterPass platform as it ramps up to maximize sales made via the airline’s mobile app, showcasing the necessity of offering travelers multiple payment options (see more).

“We have a lot of data on everyone, but we have so many different silos,” Mr. Ma said. “For us, it is really about how do we dig into that data better.

“So right now we have on board data measuring platforms and secondarily, programmatic is a great tool,” he said. “However, we really need to figure out the attribution to it as well.

“What is it really driving for you?”