A New Brand Icon -- Chief Football Officer, Russell Wilson

The Problem
Alaska Airlines had always been part of the fabric of Seattle sports life, but had recently lost the Seahawks sponsorship to a rival airline.  In turn, Alaska signed the star quarterback, Russell Wilson, as their brand ambassador.  The campaign challenge was to maintain an energetic connection with Seattle's fans, and to link Russell's highly positive personality and work ethic to Alaska Airline's driven service culture.

The Objective:  

  • Blunt competitive pressures and solidify loyalty with Seattle travelers.

  • Build awareness and positive associations of Russell Wilson as Alaska ‘s brand ambassador

The Solution
Identify the shared values between Russell Wilson and Alaska Airlines and create a memorable expression of  Alaska’s service culture:

  • Relentless pursuit of continuous improvement

  • Strong teamwork

  • Commitment to helping youth in the community

Russell Wilson was granted the tongue-in-cheek title of Chief Football Officer.  From this position of leadership, he was able to lead the Alaska Airlines team in efforts to always up their game.   Russell was a great sport, revealing his quirky sense of humor, which helped the fans feel even more affection for their hero.

In the first year of the campaign, Russell was introduced to the Alaska flyers with his new CFO title, and new friend Captain Mike Swanigan, aka Captain Swani.   In the following year, Russell and Captain Swani led actual Alaska employees in football-themed drills at the “Training Camp with Russell Wilson.”  In the third year, Russell and the team bonded in the woods at the“Company Retreat with Russell Wilson.”

Social media helped to extend the campaign and engage Russell’s fans. Advertising was teased out over time, and exclusive behind-the-scenes and blooper content entertained the enthusiastic followers.   Social media was also used to grant special access to events via contests.

The most loyal Alaska Airlines flyers were invited to participate in one-of-a-kind events featuring Russell Wilson and benefiting Seattle Children’s Hospital.  In 2014, Linksmith working with Moderne Communications, transformed the massive Alaska Airlines aircraft hangar into a chic nightclub, with a custom-painted Russell Wilson 737 jet as the backdrop.  Russell Wilson hosted his own variety show, in which he delivered a monologue, threw footballs to the fans, answered questions, and led a the largest ever “huddle” of 1500 guests.  The event was broadcast live on social channels, and became a #1 trending topic on Twitter.

The next year, the major event was the great Alaska Airlines Plane Pull, detailed in this case study.

 

The Results
The advertising campaign immediately broke through with fans in the Seattle area.  Alaska Airlines was able to play a visible role as Russell Wilson led the Seattle Seahawks to their first ever Superbowl win.    The campaign garnered an outstanding 78% unaided recognition by Seattle consumers, and positive sentiment around the campaign and the fit of Russell’s values with Alaska reached 73%. Social media engagement was consistently high and overwhelmingly positive.

As an unintended bonus, Alaska Airlines continued to be recognized by a large majority of Seattle fans as the sponsors of the Seahawks for at least 3 years after the sponsorship ended.

The campaign also won the Silver Addy award 2 years in a row.

Advertising agency credit to Wong Doody for outstanding creative and media work for the multiple years of the campaign.