Why Openness, Passion, Spirit & Fun Beats Blandness & Polish Every Single Bloody Time

There's no doubt the corporate world globally takes itself waaay too seriously. 

There's also no doubt that such conservatism often manifests itself in a company's marketing and corporate communications.

Okay, so let's check off some common hallmarks of today's corporation:

• bland and unoriginal marketing (in the box thinking),
• obsession with control of message (top-down approach to communications),
• predilection for chest-beating (we are the greatest, you too will love us),
• an unwillingness to take risks (in an era where not taking a risk is often the riskiest option),
• far too much emphasis on 'vanilla' TV advertising (at the expense of cheaper and more effective marketing communication mediums), etc

...and yet companies still want to stand out from the crowd - I just don't get it.

Which leads me to the purpose of this post, and that is to highlight a company that 'gets it' - a company that is not afraid to have a bit of fun, to put itself 'out there'. 

I'm speaking of Southwest Airlines, the highly successful US airline (being from Australia, I'm not overly familiar with Southwest so apologies if I state the obvious at any time).

I've heard over the years that Southwest is a fun and quirky brand and that it's highly popular with its customers, and it's not hard to see why. The fact Southwest has an interesting blog scores a big tick, but that the CEO gets involved and has a bit of fun simply ratchets it up a whole new level. 

PHOTO: Southwest CEO Gary Kelly as Gene Simmons from KISS

I recently stumbled upon this post by Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly and was absolutely blown away by this man's willingness to show his quirky side. Put simply, Kelly's personality epitomises the company's brand perfectly, which is a bonus for the company's marketing team you'd imagine.

The upshot of the blog post is that every year, Kelly has a bit of fun with his Halloween costume. On this occasion, he's asking the blogosphere (i.e. his airline's customers) for some suggestions as to which character he may become this year.

At time of writing, the blog post had attracted some 180 comments and Kelly had received some pretty interesting suggestions!

PHOTO: ...and as Edna Turnblad from Hairspray

How many C-level executives at large corporations do we see freely expressing their personalities like Kelly? Unfortunately, not too many and the world is all the poorer for it.

Do I believe that every company should be fun and quirky? Not at all (that would get a little tedious, don't you think?).

But, I do strongly believe the corporate world could learn a lot from Gary Kelly and Southwest Airlines i.e. stay true to your roots and be open and genuine and authentic in everything you do.

FOOTNOTE: Just in case you think Gary Kelly is a complete fruitcake, here is another of his blog posts - this time his tone is a little more serious.