ANA: Redefining “class”
Launching Experience Class and five-star awareness for All Nippon Airways in the US
In 2016, ANA was in a predicament. As Japan’s largest five-star airline, they were a well-known, well-respected carrier that continued to achieve major success across Asia. However, in the United States, the company was thought of as a traditional airline, and in turn lacked consumer affection and consideration. In order to break through to consumers and generate media buzz about their world-class offerings, ANA launched a targeted communications campaign centered on the ANA Experience Class.
H+K used proprietary research tools to identify what matters to U.S. travelers, and built a campaign tailored to these insights. Our research revealed a cross section of interests across travel, style, music, food and the curiosity to explore new places. And that travelers generally do not enjoy air travel because the experience is often stressful, complicated and lacks service.
ANA set out to change the concept of what it means to be a passenger today by launching ANA Experience Class to redefine the meaning of “class.” We leaned on PR and a small media budget to deliver against aggressive campaign goals.
Across a two-year period, spanning 10 months of activation, H+K employed a rollout of news-generating tactics and rich content to generate buzz and establish ANA’s reputation in the U.S.:
- Introduced ANA Experience Class with original produced content, including a content shoot in Tokyo to create a new campaign video and creative assets
- Developed a custom-created microsite to serve as a resource for U.S. consumers and media
- Created an influencer mapping strategy, grounded in our research, to create authentic partnerships with celebrity and social influencers to share ANA Experience Class with their fans and followers
- A consistent cadence of storytelling produced coverage for ANA across travel, news, entertainment/music, lifestyle and fashion/beauty outlets
5.2M+ organic views of video
7% increase in share of voice
3B impressions
