Finnair is promoting itself as ‘The Official Airline of Santa Claus’ this holiday season.
Montana Steele Advertising of Toronto developed the outdoor and print creative for the airline’s campaign, which features airplanes dressed up as reindeer.
The plane, which is photographed head on, sports antlers and a Rudolphesque red nose. The headline reads, ‘How Santa travels the globe in one night.’ On the billboard execution, the nose lights up after dark.
‘We wanted to come up with a campaign that would help build a relationship with the customer,’ says Joe Latobesi, senior account director at Montana Steele. ‘This was different than what we saw out there.’
The airline is targeting both business travellers and families with its playful ads. The advertising is running in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.
Finnair has also launched a direct mail campaign using the same creative. The information is being sent to the travel industry and to preferred clients.
Montana Steele is using a similar approach for Finnair’s upcoming campaigns. For example, a winter travel ad will feature an airplane wearing a scarf, according to Latobesi.
Finnair is Finland’s national airline. It has a fleet of 56 jets and has been in operation for 73 years.
