benchmark report
airline marketing
happiest travel day
connection day
JETBLUE X ZAPPOS
Last year online retailer Zappos put a positive spin on the notoriously busiest travel day of the year and on Thanksgiving Eve transformed Houston Airpor t’s baggage claim carousel into a mock Wheel of For tune-type game. Zappos Roulette let passengers win prizes such as gift cer tif icates, Ugg boots, Nor th Face jackets, Kitchen-Aid mixers, etc. based on whatever prize their luggage landed on. This year Zappos joined forces with JetBlue to surprise unsuspecting passengers at JetBlue’s JFK T5 base by creating the ‘Happiest Travel Day.’ The brands took over both depar tures and arrivals at JetBlue’s T5. In the depar ture area, the team uncovered personal travel stories of interest from travellers and relayed them to a post-security cheering
DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE
VERIZON WIRELESS
section that was ready to wow customers with customized cheers, well wishes and Zappos merchandise gift packages. For example, one passenger was wished a happy retirement with handmade signs and cheers. In arrivals, a baggage belt was transformed into a prize wheel where lucky customers had the chance to win prizes from both JetBlue and Zappos, ranging from every thing from slippers to free round-trip f lights. Watch passenger reactions unfold here and here .
Another Thanksgiving campaign in the USA that saw a consumer brand partner with airlines in order to surprise passengers with a generous gesture is Verizon Wireless’ ‘Connection Day’ initiative. The US telecom company took a page out of Google’s playbook (who has provided free wifi to passengers during the holiday season on several occasions) by handing out free digital treats that made passengers’ holiday trip on the busiest travel day of the year less painful. In order to do so, Verizon has partnered with Amazon, Apple, Conde Nast, Pandora, Boingo, Gogo and JetBlue to declare the day before Thanksgiving (November 26) ‘Connection Day’ and make WiFi access and digital content available for free. In the content area, there were free music downloads from Amazon, free magazine
downloads from Conde Nast, and free access to Pandora’s music-streaming service. With regard to connectivity, passengers travelling on a JetBlue flight received a free Wi-Fi session for the duration of the flight, while Gogo (for passengers flying on American, Alaska, Delta, Air Tran, United, US Airways or Virgin America) and Boingo each offered one-time 30 minute free Wi-Fi sessions in airports and in-flight, respectively. Verizon Wireless’ initiative is a good example of the Brand Butler trend (coined by trendwatching.com) as the brand provided travelers with a bit of distracting entertainment as well as saving them a few bucks on one of the most stressful of all travel days.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
