WestJet Airlines - Still good airlines out there?

I had this link sent to me by a buddy and found it pretty cool. With the way the world has been going its nice to see that there are still some good things to report and talk about. Even more so when its done by an airline, and industry that is continually getting bad publicity lately...

Flying can be stressful, especially for families / children. While life is complicated and stressful, its nice to have a break from it, even if it is for a season, day or even few hours while in the airport.

Either or, pretty cool WestJet- nice job.

Westjet has had some other pretty good campaigns in the past. Some people will be critical and say "so what" but its the spirit of the ads and the campaigns that resonate with people. A very positive way to spend marketing dollars IMO.

I saw this the other day. It's a win win for the company and their customers. They will get great positive advertising for a lot less than they would have had to pay for a campaign. Classic guerrilla marketing.

UnifiedSerenity
I saw this the other day. It's a win win for the company and their customers. They will get great positive advertising for a lot less than they would have had to pay for a campaign. Classic guerrilla marketing.

Not only that but their santa doesn't look like one of those creepy peso-in-disguise alcoholic ones from the mall waiting for kids to sit on his lap…

I saw bits of this on the news the other night.
They're definitely a better airline than the others. Flights are always cheaper.
This is a good ad campaign. Did they actually do this though?

violet
I saw bits of this on the news the other night.
They're definitely a better airline than the others. Flights are always cheaper.
This is a good ad campaign. Did they actually do this though?

From what I have been able to find yes.. There is a bloopers video floating around showing some of the people who did not make it in the ad.

violet
Did they actually do this though?

They did and it was quite involved:

Don’t be so modest, Richard. Christmas Miracle was a huge undertaking. In the works since August and filmed in November, it involved some 150 WestJet employees who did everything from coordinating logistics at the airport to high-speed shopping and wrapping, clearing gifts through airport security and serving hot cocoa at baggage claim.

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There are a lot of reasons why this is so much better than a huge campaign done on billboards, tv, et al.

In this case, 150 employees got extra work to shop, wrap and clear gifts through security. Whether it's lumped in with their regular duties or added on top, those people had more work for the campaign.

If you look at the reaction on the people's faces, it does the one thing that a lot of businesses forgot how to do, it made their customers happy. And when it passes down the line it will make their family and friends happy, and to a stranger it might even kick up a little "pay it forward".

It cost the company less than a traditional campaign. Here's where the criticism kicks in, "See, they're greedy, using our emotions while they save more money!"

Normally millions go to agencies which some gets doled out to production, and the rest to media owners. These are all large corporate owned distribution channels, the executives are well paid, and the money rarely ends up being appreciated the way it is here.

Not to say all campaigns should be done like this, but if you think about it, there are thousands of corporations in the US (many also operating in Canada) that could afford to do campaigns like this. If each on did, they'd be making a positive impact, perhaps not a complete solution to the problem, but certainly a step in the right direction.

A few are catching on. I was on the phone with one the other day trying to upsell me, when I called them on their shady upwelling tactics, and they replied, "Oh yeah we know, we stopped that, this one I'm trying to get you is actually beneficial to you."

Which at the time I didn't fully believe, but he was actually telling the truth.