WestJet makes biggest media spend in years

The latest integrated campaign introduces a new brand platform and identity for the airline.

WestJet is launching a new brand platform and identity under the tagline, “Where your story takes off.” The brand aims to reflect the experiences that passengers have on a WestJet flight because, although everyone travels to the same destination, each person’s story is different.

WestJet is airing 50 different travel stories, from awkward solo traveler introductions, to busy moms and honeymooners, via TV, online video and cinema.

“Our amplification strategy is focused on high reach and high impact placements,” WestJet director of marketing Jennifer Callegaro tells MiC. 

Underpinning that strategy is a hero 30-second video, spot along with a series of bespoke 15-second spots that will be airing on linear TV, with Connected TV, online video and cinema rounding out the video strategy. There are also multiple DOOH and OOH boards in and around major airports and hubs across the country. Additionally, the brand has invested in digital platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, The Weather Network, and YouTube.

Callegaro says the new “Where your story takes off” campaign is the airline’s largest media spend in years.

When you’re ushering in a new era and brand platform, you need to make it unmissable,” she says. “We’ve aligned spend and channel mix in order to be able to translate the emotional impact we needed to convey to the market, which translated in can’t-miss TV, OOH and digital placements.”

According to the marketer, the new platform also brings the brand back to its roots of serving the everyday Canadian traveler and puts consumers’ stories at the centre of its creative strategy. The new platform is an evolution of the previous brand work, “Love where you’re going,” which focused more on destinations than people, she notes.

Media Experts handled media buying, while Rethink led strategy and creative.