Air Transat is building on its new positioning with its latest campaign, setting sights on younger travelers with optimistic messaging about the positive impacts that travel can have.

Called “Come Back Changed,” the campaign was developed with AOR partner Sid Lee, and is tied to coincide with a promotion that the airline is running, offering low-cost flights and packages to the tropics, Florida and Central America.

“We believe, and it’s part of our overall brand platform, that travel has transformative powers and gives you the opportunity not only to reset, but also to learn, discover, experience new things and ultimately, to come back changed,” explains Valerie Martin, marketing director for Air Transat. “It was very important for us to have a campaign that’s different from what you usually see in the industry in January, where everyone is focusing on an escape from winter. We wanted to focus on the real benefits of travel.”

In a 30-second spot that anchors the campaign, the airline focuses on a fictional woman – Maggie – who is on the verge of burnout, giving a delivery person a bad review over a trivial issue and hiding her family from her social media feeds. “All of that changed when she traveled south with Air Transat,” the narrator intones, suggesting that the trip offered her a chance to refresh and, perhaps, revisit her perspective on life.

“The campaign focuses on the traveler, not the season, which is unusual in the travel industry,” explains Brian Gill, CD at Sid Lee. “Rather than simply saying, ‘Escape Winter,’ Come Back Changed is about the benefits of travel on the individual and how it brings us closer to our best selves.”

The spot is running online on various social and digital platforms, while it is also being supported by radio spots in Montreal, Quebec City and the GTA, and is running online in consumer and trade media. Those mediums were chosen specifically to target a demographic Transat has identified as key: namely, younger travelers who are looking for inexpensive opportunities to see the world.

“They’re not necessarily our main consumer base, but we felt that using the digital platforms would help us to reach them,” explains Martin.

Sid Lee also handled media for the campaign.