As one of HBO Max’s top performing original series, there was a need to match this superlative with an experience that would pique enough interest for people to want to learn more about the series. To do so, we created the Preflight Lounge: an exclusive tastemaker experience promoting the series through thematically aligned touchpoints and luxury wellness treatments - a true relax and recharge moment. Our objective was to drive awareness and push tune-in among millennials (A25-44), who are the predominant audience of The Flight Attendant and at Coachella and one that would be in need of an indulgent experience amid a chaotic festival.

Season 2 of The Flight Attendant finds our main character, Cassie Bowden (played by Kaley Cuoco), about to hit her one year of sobriety mark and with a new lease on life living in Los Angeles. As she juggles this new normalcy with her secret gig as a CIA asset, Cassie finds it difficult to escape her highwire life without unraveling everything else. To match her quest to do better and turn her life around, we created the Preflight Lounge as an extension of her journey on the series. By taking the exciting elements of the series’ international jetsetting and Cassie’s personal growth, the lounge created an atmosphere that both celebrated the show and provided festival goers some respite not offered anywhere else.

For a returning series, we were looking to raise awareness, bring existing viewers back and simultaneously grow our audience. Because this was a true tastemaker experience, we attracted a high profile guest list with dedicated followers we knew we could reach authentically. Invitations were sent to notable influencers, A-list talent, and buzzy media and press outlets to max out on exposure for the event and series. We attracted a bevy of brands that would speak to the caliber of our event and to consumers further outside the festival including Sameday Health, Brentwood Home, TravelPro, Loops, Liquid IV, Supergoop!, Rise Brewing, Noshinku, APL and more. With a curated collection of wellness programming, activities and lounging, the TFA preflight lounge utilized press outreach, influencer engagement, strategic partnerships, media amplification via iHeart radio, social extensions through international and multicultural marketing and more to execute one of Coachella’s must-see experiences.

Located at the sought after Ace Hotel due to its proximity to the festival, the Preflight Lounge took over the two floors of the clubhouse space directly next to the hotel’s highly trafficked pool. After 9 months of conceptual planning and development, the activation came to life during Coachella weekend one (4/16-4/17), perfectly timed to land one week before the season premiere. We built out an entire luxe airport lounge and upstairs treatment center, all featuring distinct touchpoints that laddered up to the series themes. The airport lounge featured a chic check-in station upon entrance, photo moment, smoothie bar, newsstand with easter eggs from the series sprinkled throughout, and luxury gifts with products secured through an extensive list of barter partnerships. The upstairs area housed the main attraction of the event, which featured reservation-only treatments including cryofacials, B12 Vitamin Boosters, lymphatic drainage massages, guided yoga and more.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with some news outlets calling it one of the top brand activations of that weekend. Through our collective efforts, the activation saw 1.67 billion impressions across press write-ups, organic social, influencer support, paid media, sponsorships and barter partnerships. The sweepstakes was promoted via live reads on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest and American Top 40 as well, with a total of 434 entries and 6.7M impressions. In total, the equivalent ad value of our efforts far surpassed the budget to activate.

The Preflight Lounge contributed to an increase in awareness for the series among A18-64 nationwide, all during that week before premiere. Not only did it bring The Flight Attendant to a young and socially engaged audience, but the series became HBO Max’s #1 returning Max Original series.