United’s New “Good Leads The Way” Ad Campaign

Scott Kirby is the leader of United Airlines. The airline just launched its first national brand advertising campaign in a decade.

United launches “Good Leads The Way” campaign

The new ad campaign is called Good leads the way and it tells the story of United's leadership in areas like customer service, diversity and sustainable living.

Scott Kirby is the CEO of United Airlines.

“In the past few years, United has emerged as a force for good and an industry leader. We’re taking actions that inspire pride among our employees and customers – everything from historic investments to fight climate change and training more women and people of color to become pilots to getting rid of change fees and upgrading our fleet with 500 new planes. This campaign serves not only as an exclamation point on our recent actions, but also as a commitment to how United Airlines intends to show up in the future.”

More than 60 real United employees are featured in a single United content series in this ad campaign, which features more than 150 different pieces of video, digital, social, and out-of- home content.

Content on United aircraft and in airport terminals, as well as in television spots, streaming platforms, billboards, and across social media, will be available this week. At a time when travel demand is surging, United saw an 88% load factor in April, the highest-ever for a non- summer month.

The main 60-second ad is below.

There are a bunch of 15-30 second ads about specific topics, ranging from saved connections, to new aircraft interiors, to sustainable aviation fuel.

The print ads are part of the campaign.

How “Good Leads The Way” at United

What are United's claims about being a good company? To give a bit of context on the campaign, I would like to copy and paste United's claims about how the company is good for employees, customers, and communities.

For employees.

• Careers, not just jobs: United offers competitive pay and benefits, the chance to grow, and flight privileges to see the world
• Only major U.S. airline with its own pilot training school: United Aviate Academy
• New, state-of-the-art inflight training center opening this year in Houston
• World’s largest flight training center in Denver
• Surprised active employees with a special award of $1,000 each last fall
• First major U.S. airline to roll out an employee COVID-19 vaccination program

For customers.

• 500+ new aircraft – and hundreds of plane upgrades – by 2026, with features like larger overhead bins, screens in every seatback, Bluetooth connectivity and fast Wi-Fi
• First major global U.S. airline to eliminate change fees on most tickets
• Helped more than 288,000 customers and counting make their connecting flight this year via United’s exclusive ConnectionSaver technology
• This summer, United will serve more transatlantic destinations than every other U.S. carrier combined and be the largest airline across the Atlantic
• The award-winning United app brings ease to customers, through features that allow you shop by map, get the latest trip details, plan trips with friends and makes travel easier for people with visual disabilities.

For communities.

• Hiring more than 50,000 people in the next five years, providing unionized, well-paying careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers
• Will aim to train 5,000 new pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the goal that at least half will be women and people of color
• Invested more in sustainable aviation fuel production than any other airline in the world
• In 2021, United donated more than $10 million in cash and in-kind contributions to non-profits across the country and worked with its customers to donate another 100+ million miles to charities that depend on travel
• Industry-leading investments in electric aircraft designed to help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions
• Committing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions by 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets

My take on United’s new ad campaign

I'm really impressed by what's happening at United under Scott Kirby's leadership, as the airline is headed in the right direction. United has become innovative and committed to competing more with Delta than with American, and I think that is a good thing.

United has a long way to go.

• While United has a great vision for refreshing its narrow-body fleet with great interiors, that’s a far cry from the current experience, and it’ll be years before a majority of planes feature these kinds of cabins
• While I think everything possible is being done to change this, United still has a culture and customer service problem, and as of now the airline is more in line with American than Delta when it comes to interactions with frontline employees

I like the direction United is taking.

What do you think about the ad campaign? The message United is going for is something I like. I'm not sure how to explain why I don't like the delivery.

I love an ad campaign that makes me feel connected to the company, whether it is due to a compelling storyline or a theme song. I love the United commercial that aired after 9/11.

I agree that there is a time and place for everything, but do I feel any emotion watching the new ads? It feels new.

I like the idea behind the message, but I think the delivery is a bit too infomercial or designed for TikTok. I don't want an airline to make me cry, but maybe I do want an airline to make me cry? Is it possible to at least feel something?

I don't know if I'm the only one who feels that way. Can anyone describe it better than I can?

Bottom line

The new United Airlines ad campaign is intended to highlight the positive changes the airline is making. I like the idea of the commercial, but the delivery doesn't appeal to me. Maybe that is just me?

What do you think about United's new ad campaign?