So a guy walks onto a plane…
Air Transat has enlisted Canadian comedian Mark Little to star in a new YouTube video campaign, “More Time,” promoting its direct flights to 28 destinations in 12 European countries.
The videos are based on a question the Montreal-based airline posed to its 270,000-plus Facebook followers earlier this year: What would you do with five extra hours in three of its leading European destinations, Glasgow, Barcelona and Venice?
Each video shows Little engaged in one of the top three suggestions (spending time with loved ones, “chilling” and eating) in the respective city. The campaign was developed by Cossette, which also handled media.
The first of the three videos, “Mark Little Loves Glasgow,” has garnered more than 130,000 views since it debuted on May 31, while the second video, “Mark Little Chills Out in Barcelona” has more than 14,000 views. A third video, “Mark Little Eats Venice,” went live in mid-June.
Joseph Adamo, vice-president of marketing for Air Transat, said that consumers are predominantly researching and booking vacations online, which made YouTube and Facebook the most logical venues for the campaign.
“We sell travel, which is generally a pleasant experience – particularly when you have a direct flight,” said Adamo. “We wanted to engage and entertain [our online communities] while remaining true to what differentiates us.”
Little, whose acting credits include the CBC series Mr. D and the Comedy Network show Picnicface, as well as a successful stand-up career, was recommended by Cossette.
“We were looking for somebody who had obvious presence and comedic talent,” said Adamo. “The brief was for somebody who could embody the three uses of time with a good comedic touch.”
The video series complements a bigger campaign promoting Air Transat’s non-stop flights that broke in April and includes newspaper, magazine and digital banners. The traditional advertising embraces the same creative insight, said Adamo, but has a different in look and feel. “It gives us that extra reach and quality of engagement,” said Adamo.
The series is intended to appeal to the leisure travelers who comprise the majority of Air Transat’s customer base, said Adamo. “We are first and foremost a leisure airline, so we have this USP that means you get to point A to point B without a stop in between. You save time, you have less hassles and fewer delays, and that translates into additional vacation time.”
Air Transat is nearing the end of a $40 million refurbishment of its fleet of 21 aircraft that includes enhanced mood lighting – which Adamo said has been shown to mitigate the effects of jet lag – new high-definition personal TV screens on it’s A-330 (the biggest plane in its fleet) and leather seats.
“There’s a lot of competition and we try to differentiate ourselves on the convenience of offering direct flights. Once you’re on our plane we want you to be comfortable, we want you to be entertained, we want you to be relaxed – all at very affordable prices,” said Adamo. “Our overall value proposition is unrivalled, particularly on transatlantic flights.
The upgrades are part of what Adamo called a “concerted effort” by the airline to invest in an enhanced in-flight experience and promote those upgrades to consumers.
Adamo said the approach has contributed to increases in both its brand perception and customer loyalty scores in the past two years. “The really encouraging part is that they go up after usage, so we think we’re doing something right,” he said.
Public relations outreach for the campaign is overseen by Toronto-based Elevator Communications.
