WestJet wanted to stand out during Christmas by bringing a memorable and heartwarming “real-time giving” experience to both guests and employees alike. The goal was to create an activation whereby guests could truly witness, and interact with, WestJet’s fun and caring culture in an environment that is typically slow and dull, giving them a warm and joyful holiday experience they would share with friends and family and remember for years to come.

At a time of year when stress levels run high for travelers, Canada’s preferred airline, WestJet, aspired to spread holiday cheer by creating a remarkable and interactive activation for guests and employees. With the success of the 2012 WestJet holiday campaign, WestJet set out to create a way for its guests to engage with its fun and caring brand culture online/offline, with a goal to exceed the 2012 campaign results in views (500K) and media impressions (26MM). WestJet wanted to spread the joy even further, taking their activation to multiple airports, providing an opportunity to interact with guests from coast-to-coast.

328MM+ media impressions worldwide from 1,600+ media stories (exceeded goal of 26MM impressions by 1,200%)

Expected that actual impressions are higher than those measured due to the volume of international coverage $0.0001 cost per contact

35MM+ views on YouTube – one of the most watched viral ads of 2013 worldwide (exceeded goal of 500k by 7,000%)

192,500 YouTube likes, 172,800 shares, 29,000+ comments

42.2MM Twitter impressions for #WestJetChristmas and related keywords

Action/Business Impact

Comparing December 2013 vs. same period in 2012:

86% revenue increase

77% bookings increase

100% WestJet.com traffic increase

11,000% increase new subscribers to WestJet’s YouTube page

WestJet is Canada’s most preferred airline, offering scheduled service to 88 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. While WestJet is well known for its corporate culture and for creating fun, timely video content, WestJet wanted to provide a unique experience for its guests to stand out amongst a greater audience during the Christmas season and maintain their reputation of being Canada’s fun, friendly airline especially during a chaotic holiday season. The challenge in 2013 was to bring a memorable, heartwarming, and shareable “real-time giving” experience to both airline guests and employees alike.