By Jeff Goss, CEO/Creative Director
Down 40% over a 3-year period, Asheville Regional Airport was “leaking” travelers to Charlotte and Greenville by the thousands monthly. Some said, “It’s the dated facility”; others said, “Not a powerful and long-enough stay destination”; and some said, “Hey, it’s business travelers driving to Greenville and Charlotte to save a couple hundred dollars.” What to do? Being a father of two daughters, 8 and 11, and a frequent business traveler myself, I had a hunch. Then it was confirmed in intercept quantitative research: “An overwhelming percentage of business travelers had families with children, and to no surprise, the No. 1 issue with travel was missing their family. Our solution? We put a value on the extra hours (as much as 8 hours per trip), and spending that additional time with family. Guess what? The time was worth far more than the average $200 being saved on airfare.
The branding campaign “Nice Going” was created with “Put you in your schedule” and “When you’re home, you’re home” — phrases dropped throughout a radio, TV, outdoor print/digital campaign. One of the print ads had a father and daughter swimming in a pool. I volunteered our daughter as a model, and she was very confused as to who this strange man was and why I was not with her in the pool. The airport was up 37% after 18 months. The rest is history.