Our client, Avinor, operates 46 airports all across Norway. In a country of only 5 million people, this is a costly model, raising the issue of centralisation. This would, however, have a great negative impact on Norway’s many remote communities. The problem is that people are unaware of the company operating the airports, and take aviation services for granted.
To prove the value of Norway’s airports and Avinor’s role in society, we launched “Fly with us” – an aerial web experience documenting Norway from above, from airport to airport. Together with Norway’s largest commercial TV station, Avinors helicopter travelled every day for 3 weeks across the country, streaming 90 hours of aerial footage online. Highlights were broadcasted in 15 daily TV shows.
Norwegians love their nature and the freedom to live wherever they want – much thanks to the airports. This key insight underpinned the idea.
The campaign was primarily driven by the collaboration with TV2. Avinor´s mission and values were a natural part of the experience, delivered across all TV2s platforms (TV/Web). Local media helped build regional engagement.
The TV shows gathered 4.7 million viewers on aggregate, averaging a 25 % share of audience. The webpage attracted close to 1 million users, each spending an average of 25 minutes. There was no traditional media budget, but earned media generated an estimated value of over NOK 50 mill (USD 10 million). Brand reputation improved by over 30%, the 3rd highest increase among Norwegian brands in 2014.
The Brief
The goal of the campaign was to increase the knowledge about the Avinor´s value to society and strengthen the brand reputation. Research showed a great potential.
In Avinor’s case, the target audience is divided into two categories: airport users and politicians. Facing such a geographically and culturally broad target group, the campaign aimed at generating as much attention as possible nationwide – on a limitied budget. The key to succeeding was to balance branding and entertainment and reach the audience with engaging and relevant content.
Results
“Fly with us” proved a massive success. Not only did we create Norway´s largest archive of aerial footage, valuable for Avinor and their stakeholders for years to come. “Fly with us” led to a massive mobilization of people, promoting their local communities and airports in spectacular ways.
Results:
TV shows agg. 4.7 million viewers
TV shows avg. 25 % share of audience. Highest rating: 34,4 %
Website 1 million users / 430.000 unique
Avg. time spent 25 minutes.
Est. earned media USD 10 million
Brand reputation improved by 34 points, the 3rd highest increase among Norwegian brands in 2014.
(Source: Ipsos, TV2, Retriever)
Execution
The first press conference and the official launch of “Fly with us” was April 22th 2014.
The helicopter took off from Oslo Airport Mai 18th and for the next 3 weeks visited Norway´s 46 airports – exploring the country from south, to north and back again. Except for minor delays due to weather condition, the plan was carried out as planned. The proposed route was changed several times, to cover events and attractions arranged and requested by the people. But that again, was part of the plan. The level of local engagement and physical activity exceeded everyone´s expectations, creating valuable content for an extended promotion of “Fly with us” on TV2 and in local press.
The Situation
Having many remote airports in a country with a small population is an expensive business model. Consequently Avinor frequently faces shifting governments with diverse views on the privatization and/or centralization of Norwegian airports. With a low unaided awareness and a poor reputation (Research 2011), Avinor urgently needed to build a greater understanding of the company´s role and value to the general public. By building a closer relationship with the travellers, Avinor was more likely to secure the social license to operate, broad political support and its own future.
The Strategy
As Avinor is a state owned company, spending taxpayer money on traditional advertising could easily lead to negative publicity. A key decision was therefore made to collaborate with TV2, a national media player.
Projects like this usually take years of planning, yet we only had a few months. Establishing a newsroom staffed by key representatives from the agency, Avinor and TV2 proved to be crucial.
First, we defined the campaign period, the flight plan, identified the airports to host the TV shows, and settled on a storyline.
Next, we focused on promoting the “big event” and the first TV show, including news features, program previews and interviews on TV2. We also planned a pre-launch press conference, inviting nationwide media. Later, local press/organizations/schools also received press releases prior to the arrival of the helicopter. Regional highlights were used to continuously promote “Fly with us” across all TV2’s platforms.
User-generated content in social media helped the campaign to recruit new fans and enriched the TV shows.