How can two mega celebrities use an Alaska Airlines jet to help end childhood cancer?
By pulling a 60 ton Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 jet as fast as possible for 25 feet!
The Opportunity: Rewarding loyal Alaska Airlines flyers with a one-of-a-kind experience and unique access to celebrity brand ambassador, Russell Wilson, while extending the event outward in social media to invite thousands of fans to join the fun. This turned a single experiential event and personal appearance into a complete campaign with impact over time.
The Objective: Raise national awareness and money for Strong Against Cancer while building positive brand associations for Alaska Airlines.
The Campaign Story:
The initiative started when star Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson used social media to challenge Joel McHale, comedian, actor, and Seattle native.
Over the next three weeks, Russell and Joel built their teams with Facebook contest winners and Alaska employees. The motivating stories of team members were also shared on Alaska’s social channels.
Engaged fans texted TEAMJOEL or TEAMRUSSELL to donate $10 to Strong Against Cancer. Alaska Airlines loyal customers bought tickets to the event and a VIP reception, with all proceeds benefiting Strong Against Cancer.
The humorous ribbing between Russell and Joel on social media kept their millions of followers engaged until one sunny day at the Museum of Flight when the rubber hit the tarmac. Firing up their teams and playing to an audience of 600 screaming, tweeting fans (and the press), Team Joel and Team Russell grabbed the pull ropes and threw their backs into the challenge. In the end, Team Russell officially won the contest with a time of 16.9 seconds.
The Results:
14.6 million impressions on #AlaskaPlanePull
#1 Trending topic on Twitter during event
Almost $1 million earned media value, with 82 individual press stories
$186,000 in funds and in-kind value donated to Strong Against Cancer
Over 1000 viewers on the live stream of the event, and 15,000 views of the recap video.
Plus a lot of energized fans, happy participants, and renewed hope in finding a cure for childhood cancer.
Agency credit to Wong Doody for campaign creative design and management, and Blue Danube for event staging and execution.