The Campaign

70 years of signature Asian service has helped establish a strong reputation for Cathay Pacific. But with so many airlines now talking the same service language, Cathay needed a new truth that would make a fresh emotional connection with our audience. After looking deep into Cathay’s DNA we found that they shared a special belief with 21st century travellers: namely, travelling well is a vital part of living well. We call this Life Well Travelled. To launch, we used a bold strategy that would help us start a genuine movement. So for the first time ever, an airline’s new brand positioning was not launched by the airline, but by like-minded travel influencers who represent the notion of “travelling well”. Cathay then drove the conversation with brand films, print, outdoor and a range of curated, multi-channel online content to own this new movement and inspire its adopters.

Success of the Campaign

The results far exceeded any previous Cathay Pacific brand campaign. In just a few weeks: • Shared hashtagged travel experiences went from zero to 90,000. • Brand engagement rates were up by a huge 400%. • The films received over 12 million views and thousands of shares. • The content hub received over a million unique visits. • Brand consideration rose by over 12%. But most important of all, we made a meaningful and lasting emotional connection with real travellers in an increasingly disposable world.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

To create a lasting movement, we didn't want to join an existing conversation. We needed to start a new one, with travellers shaping the story themselves. So, for the first time ever, a brand launch was entrusted to influential travellers from around the world. They introduced the campaign hashtag, sharing personal images and stories celebrating a Life Well Travelled. Fans were quick to adopt it themselves. Once the movement began trending, Cathay Pacific drove the conversation with 3 genuine “well-travelled” Film stories. Print and Outdoor married Cathay’s role with the wider world of travel. Online, we launched At the Gate – a story series sharing passengers’ hopes for the journey ahead. Content collaborations with key partners such as BBC, CNN and New York Times helped frequent flyers to travel well. All traffic was then driven to the content hub, where Cathay’s travel experience could be explored in more depth.

With Cathay Pacific’s service-led brand message becoming redundant, we needed to create a more meaningful emotional connection with today’s travellers. To achieve this, we looked for the truth of why Cathay do what they do. We dug deep into the DNA of the airline and found that its Asian roots combined with Western influence has created a culture of considered design and empathy – with every passenger’s wellbeing at its core. This raised an intriguing question that airlines had never asked before: Is there a connection between wellbeing in travel and wellbeing in life? To help find the answer, we spoke to Cathay’s most loyal customer base. They agreed the right kind of travel experience can help enable richer life experiences. We had found the new connection we were looking for: a shared belief that travelling well is a vital part of living well. We call this Life Well Travelled.