Air New Zealand - Election Hangover Cure

Air New Zealand - Election Hangover Cure

In the aftermath of the US Presidential election, which saw Donald Trump beat Hilary Clinton, New Zealand came up as a popular ‘escape’ for Americans unhappy with result.

Air New Zealand reacted by producing a video entitled ‘election hangover cure.’ Rather than being originally produced content, the video ties together existing clips of the airline along with post election news headlines and social media screen grabs of Americans saying they want to leave for New Zealand.

These are then interspersed with scenes from New Zealand, showing travellers what they could be doing to forget the result, from mountain biking to wine tasting.

By using existing footage and screen grabs, Air New Zealand was able to act fast. This video was produced and published on Facebook less than 48 hours after the US polls closed.

It has subsequently gained over half a million video views on Facebook and over 4000 social media shares, which is almost certainly an excellent return on the airline’s original investment. In addition to being topical, the video itself ties into the airline’s brand ethos of being slightly cheeky but also friendly and accessible. It is ‘on brand’ and the sort of thing you could naturally imagine Air New Zealand doing.

As well as making a big impact on social media, Air New Zealand’s video gained extensive media coverage for example in the New Zealand Herald , News Talk New Zealand and Stuff.

According to New Zealand’s immigration authority, more than 1500 Americans enquired about visas in the aftermath of the election, while there was a spike in Google searches on how to move to New Zealand.