A RETURN JOURNEY THROUGH SCENT

TitleA RETURN JOURNEY THROUGH SCENT
BrandCATHAY PACIFIC
Product / ServiceAIR TRAVEL
CategoryD02. Data-driven Targeting
EntrantMcCANN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation McCANN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement UM Sydney, AUSTRALIA
PR FLEISHMANHILLARD AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production McCANN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Pat Baron McCann CCO
Jerker Fagerstrom McCANN Executive Creative Director
Adam Lee McCann Managing Director
Nicole Gardner McCann General Manager
Jonathon Shannon McCann Copywriter
Long Truong McCann Art Director
Leah Elder McCann Account Manager
Will Craven McCann Account Executive
Colin Tuohy McCann Head of Broadcast
Matthew Flinn McCann Senior Editor
Charlie Bruton McCann Head of Digital
Stacey Szabo McCann Digital Producer
Terry Chisolm McCann Head of Craft

The Campaign

A return journey through scent - most travel memories tend to get stuck on phones and social media. Neuroscience has proven that the best way to evoke a memory is to use the sense of smell, transporting you faster than any airline to that time and place. So, we gave people a chance to re-live their travel memories more vividly than ever before with bespoke perfumes made from their individual social data. With unique designs delivered and a personalised note describing their return journey through scent consumers were transported back through senses and memory. With return journey through scent we now know exactly what data smells like.

Creative Execution

By breaking down tourism metadata of 600,000 Australian travellers, we were able to assign each memory a key scent such as teahouses, flower markets, temples and spices, opening up infinite possibilities of fragrance combinations. Then collecting data from passengers’ social media, geo-location information, and using image recognition software we recreated an exact scent profile of the memories from their time in Hong Kong. By utilising PR and media, we created a whirlwind of hype that reached over 80% of the population. Throughout course of 4 months, we made 10,102 bespoke fragrances and distributed them on select flights and to lucky social media users, connecting Cathay and Hong Kong in the minds of all Australian travellers.

Results

• 10,102 bottles of Hong Kong memory fragrances • 82% media and PR reach of the combined Australia/Hong Kong population • User generated content reached 94% of the 2.6 million annual passengers on the route. • Over 500,000 likes, shares, comments, and engagements in social media and on social content. • The equivalent of every passenger on 1.407 Boeing 777’s interacting with our campaign.

A return journey through scent was specifically built around developing and nurturing meaningful experiences with individual customers. Each scent was custom built with data to invoke select memories and emotions with the individuals, whether it was hiking in the mountains, or wandering through the spice markets. We now knew exactly what data smells like, and Cathay Pacific could speak to consumers in a way that had never been done before.

The sense of smell can take you places faster than any airline. Cathay is Hong Kong’s flagship home airline, so we needed to show Australian travellers that only Cathay could deliver truly authentic Hong Kong experiences and memories. As Cathay Pacific had fallen off the consideration set, we needed a conversation starter that firmly connected Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong in the minds of Australian travellers.

Links

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