Southwest executive to share secrets to brand success

Ginger Hardage, this year’s James C. Bowling Lecture speaker and vice president of public relations and corporate communications at Southwest Airlines Co., insists that the secret to Southwest’s success is not flying around the country but landing back at home.

Her speech, “Building a Brand from the Inside Out,” will focus on engaging employees and telling an organization’s story through public relations, a strategy that has been the driving force of Southwest for the last 15 years. Southwest believes that when employees are taken care of, they will want to take care of the customer. If customers are happy, then profits will increase.

“Public relations,” said Hardage, “holds a mirror up to the inside of an organization so that the outside can see. If an organization is good on the inside, the public will see that.”

Hardage began her 25 years in public relations at the Life Insurance Company of the Southwest, where she held a position in marketing communications, according to the Southwest Airlines Web site. She also held various public relations positions, including director of communications at Diamond Shamrock Corp., which became Maxus Energy Corp., and she came to Southwest Airlines in 1990.
She chose a career in public relations because it allows her to focus on writing, creativity and human interaction, which she feels mirrors her personality.

In 2000, she was named one of the 50 most powerful women in public relations by PRWeek and PR Practitioner of the Year by the Texas Public Relations Association. She was named Top Corporate Public Relations Practitioner in 1995 by Inside PR, and she received the Gold Quill for media relations from the International Association of Business Communicators. Southwest also has received many public relations awards under her leadership. These include being recognized by PRWeek as having the top communications department in the nation in 2000.

Hardage is surprisingly humble in light of all her recognition, as she considers among her best decisions as a PR professional that of choosing to have a decision-making team. “Any recognition that I’ve received,” said Hardage, “is because of Southwest. They are the ones winning the awards. They respect the reputation of Southwest for me.”

She participates in Southwest’s “Days in the Field” program, which requires employees to spend one day each quarter doing someone else’s job. Her next assignment involves taking on the job of an appearance technician. Appearance technicians work through the night to make sure planes are clean and presentable for the next day’s flights.

Hardage says it is an honor to have the opportunity to speak with UK students and emphasizes the importance of listening to professionals in the PR field.

“I know how helpful it was for me to learn about day to day communication,” she says. “There are so many directions you can go with a communications degree. I hope to give some insight into the opportunities available to students.”

— Dustyn Bowman