On Oct. 13, Nickelback is taking 80 fans hostage on a WestJet airplane. Well, not exactly. But thanks to a lofty promo conjured up by the marketing brains at Mississauga, Ont.-based EMI Music, the quirky airline is lending the record label a 737 for a day-long promo centred on the Canadian band’s new CD All the Right Reasons.
And according to Richard Bartrem, director of brand and communications at Calgary-based WestJet, the airline had all the right reasons to get involved. ‘EMI approached us with this idea, and we jumped at it. We offer an exceptional guest experience, so it fits that way, and it also fits in line with us wanting to do something different that traditional airlines wouldn’t touch.’
On the day in question, 20 media reps from across Canada (plus five international press folk) and 80 lucky winners will fly cross-country with the band, touching down in Halifax, Toronto (where they will visit MuchMusic and a nearby HMV), Calgary (where they will perform a concert in a hangar for winners), and finally Vancouver (where the guys will participate in a photo shoot at the HMV megastore). A photographer has been hired to take shots of the guys in flight and around town. These will be posted to a site accessible to fans.
Paul Shaver, VP marketing at EMI, says there will likely be a special mid-flight acoustic performance, but that not much else is planned as of yet, in an effort to encourage spontaneity. The campaign is being promoted for three weeks on MuchMusic, as well as in various print and radio media sponsors in each market. The deal was done direct.
