AA LAXtraordinary
idea
American Airlines was launching new nonstop service to 10 destinations from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), including a nonstop flight to Shanghai, its newest gateway to Asia.
We created and implemented an integrated non-traditional campaign to capture the attention of AA's core customers and key customer segments. In addition we sought to generate buzz, cater to the press, and make the American brand feel more approachable while maintaining its position as the preferred premium airline in LA.
ignition
Create our own media. Go guerrilla. Reach our target in their neighborhoods, where they live and work, and where they are less distracted and less rushed. Surprise and delight the target audience. Make them smile. Give them a story to tell and something to share.
Our first idea was to turn a fortune cookie into media. We delivered nearly one million fortune cookies to Chinese restaurants around Los Angeles during the week of the new Shanghai service launch. Each cookie contained a fortune with a promotional URL and code, which gave the recipient the chance to instantly win frequent flyer miles and trips.
In addition, beginning on April 5, AA provided fortune cookies as the in-flight snack on all departing AA flights out of LAX for two weeks. The messaging (in English and Chinese): "Fly AA non-stop from LAX to Shanghai beginning April 5, 2011."
We also celebrated the new service launch with performance art. After secretly securing a permit to take over the U.S. Bank Plaza, we coordinated with a local LA dance-troupe and launched into a surprise live music and dance performance at 12:15, catching bystanders by surprise and capturing the performance and their reactions on film. We then edited together footage from six cameras to create a viral video for YouTube. Using our five-person team of social media experts we secured relevant blog integrations, build video exposure and generated targeted views through social contextual placements.
impact
We successfully created a unified, integrated, and non-traditional campaign that generated over 50,000 YouTube video views in the first week, engaged more than 25,000 participants with the fortune cookie promotion, and secured over 100 media placements.
