Appropriately, given the generous prizing, Air Transat has launched a domination campaign for its ‘Vacations for 20 Years’ contest. To leverage its 20th anniversary, the charter airline is joining with Nolitours and Transat Holidays to offer four trips for four people to Barcelona, London, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, plus a grand prize of a trip for two winners every year for 20 years.
Contestants can try their luck until November, with draws for lesser prizes held on the 20th day of every month from July to October, after which the grand prize draw will take place on Nov. 20.
The contest is being supported by a massive newspaper, radio, television and web campaign jointly handled by Montreal agencies Cossette, Croizad, Les Évadés and Optimum Public Relations.
Highlighting the print component are two three-week stand-alone campaigns in the Toronto Star. They began on July 2 and will be repeated starting September 3, with ads appearing in Wednesday’s News/World section, Thursday’s Travel Extra section, and banners in the Saturday issues. Advertising is also running in: Journal de Montreal, La Presse, Le Soleil, the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald and Vancouver Province.
On radio, timing of 30-second promotional spots is identical to that for print, i.e. three-week stints which began July 2 and will resume on September 3. Stations include: Quebec’s Énergie 94.3 FM and Rock Détente 107.3 FM; Ontario’s Mix 99.9 FM, 104.5 CHUM FM, 1050 CHUM AM, Z103.5 FM, Country 95.3 FM, 680 News AM; Vancouver’s The Beat 94.5 FM and QMFM.
A direct marketing initiative will be take place at the beginning of September, with door hangers announcing the contest distributed to 400,000 households throughout Canada.
But the most amusing component of the marketing campaign for the contest will be the appearance at more than 20 major public gatherings across the country of street teams costumed as an airline pilot and two cabin crew members driving brand-wrapped Mini Coopers. They will distribute boarding pass replicas encouraging people to participate in the contest at events including the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Yale Street Party in Vancouver.
To give the initiative viral power, the contest’s website invites participants to enter the email addresses of friends who would like to also participate in the contest. These contacts will receive emails inviting them to enter.
Additionally, a television spot is in the works for airing during the first three weeks of September, but no other details were available at press time.
