benchmark report
airline marketing
seats for switzerland
tv, print, ooh
the idea
SWISS
Originally initiated in September 2013, ‘Seats for Switzerland’ invites Swiss residents to win one of 300 SWISS tickets to meet up again with faraway family or friends – relatives, schoolmates, young loves and more – by submitting a story about why they would like to do so. The most touching, emotional and exciting entries would win. Having proved immensely popular first time around, SWISS resumed the campaign in 2014 with the addition of a mobile film studio that toured the country stopping at 15 locations nationwide to enable people to record their ‘Seats for Switzerland’ story live onto video. “We’re The Airline of Switzerland,” explains SWISS Head of Marketing Bernhard Christen, “and being close to its population is hugely impor tant to us. ‘Seats for
JANUARY 2015 ISSUE
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Switzerland’ gives us the chance to give something back to the Swiss people.” SWISS received over 2,000 touching and emotional personal stories and were assessed by a judging panel consisting of Swiss novelist Joël Dicker, SWISS CCO Markus Binker t and Maître de Cabine Anja Gilgen to find those with the best and most moving reasons for the reunions desired. Three winning stories were also selected based on 30,000 votes from SWISS’ fans on Facebook. The submitters of the six best ‘Seats for Switzerland’ stories also had a film team on hand to document their reunions. The resulting shor t films can be viewed on the microsite, seatsforswitzerland.com while highlights also have been uploaded on YouTube and have been shown on Swiss TV and in selected cinemas.
Ad agency Adam & Eve/DDB’s first TV ad for Virgin Atlantic since winning the airline’s creative account in August challenges customers to pursue their goals and “let it fly”. The spot – which is called ‘The Idea’ – first aired in the UK in early January and will run in 30, 60 and 80-second edits. The fast-paced ad opens on a man coming up with a business idea and then shows him travelling with Virgin Atlantic on a trip to pitch his brainwave. Throughout the spot, a voiceover talks about how ““Life doesn’t come to you, so go to it and let it fly.” The ad is backed by an instrumental version of Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus. Replacing the airline’s ‘Flying In The Face of Ordinary’ advertising campaign, this advert is much more of a direct sell, driving the product, rather than the ethos of the airline. Showcased in just a fraction of the commercial, is the
Upper Class Wing, with chauffeur check-in, Heathrow Clubhouse, 787 Upper Class bar and the new Upper Class Suite. Hamish Rickman, the head of brand engagement at Virgin Atlantic, said: “Virgin Atlantic naturally attracts customers who are passionate about seeking new experiences and this campaign throws down the gauntlet to them to turn their ideas and dreams into reality. We’ll always be a challenger brand but for this campaign, instead of challenging the competition, we are challenging ourselves and the customer to ‘let it fly’.” In addition to the TV ad, the “let it fly” campaign also includes print, digital, outdoor and social media executions.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
