The Making of a Remarkable Campaign
Without a doubt Integrated Marketing Communication a.k.a. IMC is one of the most influential marketing frameworks of our time. The role of IMC in delivering a consistent message that is carried through different traditional and modern media cannot be ignored.
It has been more than five years when the airline company WestJet did something remarkable and captured the hearts of unsuspecting consumers. Although this campaign took place a long time ago, it is still fresh in my heart and to my opinion it’s one of the most successful digital campaign that a company has done.
In December 2013, WestJet produced an outstanding social media campaign to capture the hearts of consumers. WestJet brought pleasure and gladness to its consumers, and employees by crafting a real-time gift-giving experience that signifies the essence of Christmas.
The campaign was not only timely, it was also engaging and it attracted global attention. The campaign unexpectedly became viral all over the world; garnered international attention and became one of the most-viewed and shared viral ads in 2013. It was evident that the WestJet Christmas Miracle: Real-Time-Giving campaign boosted brand awareness as seen by the positive impressions and consumers feedback and the rise in WestJet’s sales by more than 80 percent after the campaign.
Have a look. It’s worth the view.
Details below are the reasons why it’s been recognized by the Shorty Awards as one of the best ad campaigns.
The Campaign:
- Guests at airport departure gates scanned boarding passes at virtual kiosks to share their Christmas wish list with WestJet’s live “Virtual Santa."
- The WestJet “Digital Command Centre" compiled shopping lists and 150 volunteer WestJetters purchased, wrapped and personalised gifts for 250 WestJet guests.
- Guests were surprised at their destination when a festively decorated baggage carousel came to life and it was not just their suitcases that arrived but the gifts they had requested merely hours before. This experience was captured by nineteen hidden cameras.
- On December 9 2013, the WestJet Christmas Miracle video was unveiled on WestJet’s YouTube page and amplified through PR and social, including promoted posts on Twitter and Facebook.
- WestJet announced it would provide free flights to reunite a family in need through its long-time partner, Ronald McDonald House Charities, once the video reached 200,000 views.
After The Campaign:
- WestJet grew brand awareness globally, with 235 countries having viewed the video. Top countries include: US, UK, Brazil, Finland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Russia, Philippines, Czech Republic, Mexico, France, Netherlands, and Australia
- 35MM+ views on YouTube – one of the most watched viral ads of 2013 worldwide (exceeded goal of 500k by 7,000%)
- Video received 192,500 YouTube likes, 172,800 shares, 26,800 favorites, and 29,000+ comments
- 328MM+ media impressions world-wide from 1,600+ media stories (exceeded goal of 26MM by 1,200%)
- 11,000% increase of new subscribers to WestJet’s YouTube page (30,747 new subscribers) 42.2MM Twitter impressions specific to #WestJetChristmas and related keywords
- Trended in Canada for 2 days (December 9-10, 2013)
- 3.2MM Facebook impressions combined on two promoted posts
- WestJet received approximately 4X the number of daily Facebook fan posts when compared to its competitors throughout launch week
Interactive Press Release:
- Distributed nationally across the wire ensuring timely media pick up and in-depth stories.
- The release was accompanied by the video, a blooper reel, and a b-roll interview with a WestJet spokesperson.
- After listening to top radio stations to find out what hosts wanted for Christmas, WestJet hand-delivered personalised gifts and media kits the day the video launched.
- They also armed television shows across the country with flight giveaways and offered interviews with “Virtual Santa" live via Skype.
- Due to international success within 24 hours of launch, they initiated a reactive media relations strategy, fielding global inquiries, arranging interviews and monitoring coverage.
- Promoted posts on Facebook and Twitter, and two WestJet blog posts, drove views of the video amongst media and consumers alike.
- Having become a source of pride at WestJet and reaffirming its fun and caring culture internally, employees shared the experience with guests, stakeholders and their personal networks.
From this, one thing is for sure, viral marketing is probably the most cost-effective way to build awareness about a brand or a cause and engage consumers in ways we can’t predict. However, like others I am also aware that there’s not really a single formula for a successful viral campaign.
My question is, do you think paying ad placements on traditional media channels is worth the investment these days or, is it worthier to just invest in creating remarkable digital contents and hope it will be picked up by tv channels for free publicity?
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Source:
https://shortyawards.com/6th/westjet-christmas-miracle-real-time-giving
Hey, I really enjoyed your blog! That's such a cool campaign! I think it's worth making such videos and doing campaigns like this. It's free publicity if people share and talk about an ad or campaign. Although initially they can be quite expensive, it's definitly worth it as not only will the campaign and the brand stick in customers minds, it will also be shared gloably for free! I actually wrote about a viral marketing campaign, feel free to give it a read and let me know what you think!
ReplyDeletehttps://mytakeondigitalmarketing.wordpress.com/2019/05/19/viral-marketing/
i definitely agree. Investing in IMC is worthy because it helps in reinforcing the value of the brand in the consumers mind. Although it can be quite expensive as you mentioned, the long-term impact of this strategy is paramount.
DeleteI definitiely agree that it is super cost-effective! But the unpredictability of viral marketing is what concerns me! Great blog
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree with the unpredictability of contents that goes viral. Oftentimes even the most nonsensical contents goes viral. I think its influenced by the constant changes in what consumer behaviour. So i think it's important to really analyse what's going on in the market before organisations develop such campaigns.
DeleteCreating remarkable ads! Free advertisement from television outlets will definitely help the brand to be exposed to many other markets.
ReplyDelete-Paul
I agree something remarkable for the target consumer, something they can talk about that will eventually reach the media. But i guess it is not really easy to determine what is remarkable for consumers. So i think it boils down to understanding the attitude and behaviour of the organisation's target consumers.
DeleteI really enjoyed your blog and the video, I remember very well the ad and loved it to, very effective, they really thought outside the box. I think that creating viral content is hard for business, having different and interesting content is a must but talking about the way to go to promote it, yes social media is very effective and can spread awareness very fast and sometimes without the use of traditional media but as a strategy i think using both to support the message is more effective as not all the target audience will be on social media.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. The rise of social media usage is unprecedented but it doesn't mean everyone is on social media so companies really need to integrate to reinforce the message as well. IMC is indeed essential in this day and age. Brands need to be where consumers are and must deliver a consistent message across.
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