Norwegian - Free Shipping Day

Norwegian - Free Shipping Day

When ordering Christmas presents, one thing a lot of online buyers now look for is free shipping. In December, low cost carrier Norwegian took this idea and turned it on its head.

“Free shipping” meant passengers could fly out to collect presents for free in different Norwegian destinations, or as the airline put it, this was “the only sale where YOU get shipped for free.”

As a result, instead of the shipping happening in a cardboard box, “You’ll be shipped in comfort on a 787 Dreamliner, built to reduce jet lag with its smart lighting and fresher in-cabin air” .

The free shipping campaign was aimed at US consumers, and was developed as a way to combat two awareness problems that Norwegian has as an airline in the American marketplace.

First of all Norwegian needed to put clear blue water between itself and Norwegian Cruise Lines, which has already been established in the US for a number of years.

And secondly it wanted to demonstrate that Norwegian doesn’t only fly to Norway.

The mechanic involved US consumers going to a microsite where they could enter a draw to buy up twenty different products from Europe, for example a silk scarf from Rome or a Sweater from Norway.

If chosen, the winner was first of all flown to Norwegian’s “Shipping Hub” (Oslo Airport) and then onto the relevant European destination to claim the prize. There are a number of reasons why this promotion stood out. First of all everyone understands the concept of ‘Free Shipping’, this took a seasonal trend and put a clever twist on it.

Secondly there was a gaming element involved, you essentially entered yourself into up to 20 sweepstake draws in the hope of winning free flights.

And finally, as destinations and prizes were drip-fed out on three hour intervals up to 20 December, social media fans had an incentive to keep coming back to enter.

Norwegian’s US promotion comes as the airline won approval from US authorities to expand its services.

As a result, the airline claims it will be able to offer transatlantic fares for as low as $69 from New York and Boston to Cork, Shannon and Edinburgh . As all three airports are served by a combination of Ryanair and easyJet, this could potentially put a European vacation within reach of a far wider range of budgets than is currently the case.