Hotcow Expertise
The Brand
Aer Lingus is Ireland’s national airline and offer low-cost, low fare flights to worldwide destinations. Consistent with their low-cost model, Aer Lingus’ primary channel is its website aerlingus.com with approximately 75% of their passenger revenue coming through the site.
In 2009, Aer Lingus launched 8 new European flight destinations from the UK for £9.99 with no hidden extras.
Our Challenge
Promote the launch of Aer Lingus’ new £9.99 flights from LGW with no hidden extras offer.
Implement a stunt that would capture the imagination of London and the national media.
Hotcow Insight
The press are interested in big, bold and relevant picture stories. With this in mind we set out to link the £9.99 with no hidden extras message together to enable the brand to stand out and make an impact.
What we did
To promote the launch of Aer Lingus’ £9.99 flights to European destinations, we organised a show-stopping PR stunt featuring 999 nudes on London’s South Bank.
We launched an online drive to find 999 people who would be nude for a stunt to spread the word about the event and direct people to www.999nudes.com. Registrants were offered return flights to one of the 8 European destinations as recompense. We spread the word to various online site to recruit people interested in being involved in the stunt. People that were interested signed up online.
In addition to the recruitment process, Hotcow booked 25 promotional staff to lead the pack on the day.
On the 15th March 2009, we led 999 naked people along the Embankment to congregate at Jubilee Gardens, with only shamrocks to cover their modesty.
Once there, they had a quick sunbathe followed by an exercise routine, attracting huge attention from both the public and press.
So, what happened..?
- Aer Lingus received record hits to their website.
- 90% full capacity on all seats for 3 months post-activity.
- Coverage on radio, TV and newspapers including XFM, London Tonight, The Times, The Metro.
- Cost per brand awareness – £0.005p
Quote
Hotcow proved to be an essential part of the team from the very early stages. Their commitment and professionalism meant that no problem went unsolved. Hotcow were brilliant at management and took the stress out of the planning, logistics and staffing so that we could focus on getting the PR results.
Head of PR, Golley Slater