Last year’s holiday season brought little cheer for Southwest Airlines—inclement weather and operational snafus resulted in the stranding of thousands of passengers and made the carrier the butt of a subsequent “Saturday Night Live” spoof. Now, ahead of what is expected to be a robust travel season, Southwest is working to restore consumer confidence and encourage consumers to give its brand another chance.

“Our priority has always been to connect our customers to what matters most in their life—we fell short on that purpose this past December,” said Julia Melle, director of brand and content at Dallas-based Southwest, speaking on the latest episode of Ad Age’s Marketer’s Brief podcast. She noted that the carrier conducted an internal review and is investing in better capabilities, technology and operations to avoid repeating the mistakes of last year. New offerings include more self-service options and bag tracking, for example, along with improved communications to customers, Melle said.

“We are prioritizing taking care of our customers first and foremost, to connect them to what matters most in their life,” she said.

To reinforce its branding with customers, Southwest recently rolled out new spots for its long-running “Wanna Get Away” slogan. The spots, created with the brand’s agency-of-record GSD&M, detail funny situations people would prefer to be traveling far, far away from—rather than living through.

Southwest is also ramping up its focus on digital marketing channels such as TikTok as it tries to reach younger travelers. Melle said that Gen Z and young millennials now use TikTok as their main travel search engine. In comparison, older generations still use traditional apps and travel apps for such needs.

“So, it's really important for us to be there from an entertainment and engagement perspective, but also from a utility perspective to help them search and get inspired,” she said.

On the podcast, Melle also discusses travel trends and how Southwest is thinking about the 2024 Super Bowl.