There likely aren’t many—especially among podcast fans—who haven’t heard of luggage company Away by now, but the brand got its biggest fans to tell holiday shoppers why they should buy its products this holiday season anyway. Away is choosing this festive time of year to try its hand at a massive, traditional marketing campaign, “Everyone Wants to Get Away,” and is relying on customer reviews to spread the word.
Away is increasingly top of mind for shoppers when they think about travel, according to the brand’s vp of creative strategy, Sarah Wattson. But the brand can make some improvements in getting people to think about Away when buying gifts for others.
Wattson and her team decided that this holiday season, it would let satisfied customers do all the talking—and marketing. Away created four feature focus spots in an effort to “really let our customers be the people to tell that story,” Wattson said, adding that the brand has learned “the vast majority of people are looking for peer feedback to influence their purchase decisions.”
“We felt like this was a great opportunity to allow more customers to do the talking, rather than allowing another brand in the overly saturated holiday time period,” Wattson added.
Up-and-coming comedian Yedoye Travis stars in four different TV spots in which he reads four customer reviews each focusing on different product highlights: how much travelers can fit in their Away suitcases (20 different outfits and two pairs of shoes), the durability of the product, the sturdy wheels and, of course, the ejectable charger. The brand is also creating cuts of the campaign across social. Creative agency Ghost Robot worked on the campaign.
“This campaign allowed us to take a really creative approach to that direct marketing, product-led advertising, but really let us do that in a way that felt organic to our core values, which is keeping our customers at the forefront of every decision and every initiative that we are tackling,” Wattson said.
While Away has done holiday pushes in the past, this campaign is by far the biggest and most integrated for the brand. It’s also the first time the brand has truly utilized its core product—the colorful range of suitcases. Previously, the brand has focused more on limited edition lines and launches.
