Aeromexico's DNA Discounts would never have become a viral phenomenon in 166 countries if it had not been for the strategy created by the PR team that took advantage of the precise moment of the longest US Government Shutdown, during President Trump administration; to give the boost that it needed on social networks. This PR strategy generated a great debate among the world's main mass media and in the social networks where celebrities, journalists, writers, activists, and millions of people's conversations, allowed the brand to reach a historical increase of ticket sales from the US to Mexico of 33.7%.

Aeromexico, the largest airline in Mexico, obtains a considerable amount of its revenues from Mexico-US flights (58%); but not so much the other way around (flights from the US to Mexico: 28%). For an airline business, this fact implied a long-term unsustainable situation in terms of people, time and budget.

On the other hand, historically there have been xenophobic conversations in the United States, that were proven to raise since the arrival of President Trump. Hatred was at its highest level, and the intention of building a wall was more radical on the southern border.

The challenge for the brand was to increase penetration Americans flying to Mexico, in a context where the political situation was becoming more aggressive; and at the same time reinforcing and reaffirming the statement and position that Aeromexico had been building for the past 3 years, according to which "There are no borders within us".

According to the Department of Homeland Security of the US, Mexican immigration goes as far as the 1800s settling in on the south, meaning that a big percentage of Mexican ascendance in the US, didn’t even know it.

Having this in mind, the brand developed an action that integrated what Americans are proven to love: discounts, with what southern Americans claimed to hate: Mexico.

Aeroméxico created DNA Discounts, a promotion that gave discounts to Americans based on the results of their DNA tests. The more Mexicans they were, the more discount they got.

The promotion was launched for targeted people in several states of the southern border: Texas, New Mexico, Arizona - among others -, where 54% of people tested ended up with a percentage of ¨Native American-Mexican¨ DNA in their results; meaning an increase in sales of tickets from the US to Mexico of 18%, through the promotion.

Once the results of the promotion were known, Aeromexico challenged the PR team. It was clear that the idea was argumentatively effective, but how could a much wider audience in the US be reached, generating conversation without having a significant media budget?

The PR team designed a strategy in which social networks would be the trigger to attract media's attention, and through them ensure that the controversial campaign that affirmed "There are no borders within us", would generate the expected results.

Contextually all media had their attention on President Trump's administration and proposal of building a wall, but we strategically decided to wait for an inflection point, that came when the US longest Government Shutdown took place. It was the news that monopolized all the media which meant the crucial moment to promote the campaign video on social networks.

Aeromexico's social networks did not have the influence in USA needed to reach the target, that's why the PR team decided to use something that many times is taken for granted: the corporate hierarchy of the agency´s network.

On January 9th, the campaign video was posted on social networks of the headquarters agency: Twitter with 300.000 followers, and Facebook with 430.000. Just on the first week, the video reached 150,000 views; but it was until January 17th when CNN included it in its news grid, that the video spread rapidly through all the media and social networks. That same day, Time, Fox News, The NYT, among others, addressed it and started the debate. The following week, The Washington Post, ABC, CBS, Daily Mail, Business Insider, Forbes, and more than 140 media worldwide talked about the campaign that went viral without a single dollar on paid media.

MEDIA OUTPUTS

-166 countries worldwide addressed and debated the campaign.

-More than 140 media around the world gave Aeroméxico coverage in mass media, marketing, advertising, and tourism media.

-More than 1.6 billion impressions.

-More than 1 billion reaches.

-The video went viral with more than 25M views the first two weeks on different social media platforms.

-More than 320,000 shares in social networks the first week.

-DNA Discounts was commented and shared by millions of people including political analysts and renowned journalists such as: Ian Bremmer, Arianna Huffington, Denise Dresser, Malcolm Nance, Kevin Sieff, and even former Mexican President Felipe Calderón. Also by activists, celebrities, and marketing influencers like Cindy Gallup and Edith Brou; as well as renowned TV Hosts such as Rachel Radwall and Ted Allen.

TARGET AUDIENCE OUTCOMES

-The brand's top of mind and spontaneous recall reached historical peaks of 91% .

-All brand indicators in terms of affinity, confidence, quality, service, and uniqueness rose between 4% and 7%.

-Only 4% negative feeling which is totally unusual, especially for an airline on social networks.

-Increase in US search "Tickets to Mexico": 214%.

-Increase in US search "Vacations to Mexico": 321%

-Increase in US search "Aeromexico": 177%

BUSINESS OUTCOMES

-The sales of Aeromexico tickets from the United States to Mexico obtained a historical increase of 33.7%.