Finnish airport operator Finavia has put much effort into customer experience in recent years. However, Helsinki Airport is still widely unknown globally and especially in China, the primary target group for the airport’s services. How do we communicate with Chinese travelers that Helsinki Airport is the best choice for a stopover airport on their way to Europe? How do we increase Finavia's brand awareness in China, and globally? Chinese are the major spenders at Helsinki Airport (Source: Red Note, Helsinki Airport Flight Passenger Study 2018) and Finavia wished to increase their overall spending, which is expected to grow organically if they increase in number. The first goal for the campaign was to grow the number of Chinese passengers by more than 25% in 2018.

People hate being stuck at the airport.

What if one man would be stuck there for a month, and find out the airport is so good you never want to leave?

#LIFEINHEL was a disruptive online airport reality show, where “The Terminal” and “The Truman Show” met “Survivor”. Chinese movie actor Ryan Zhu lived inside Helsinki Airport for 30 days to test and review its services. His adventures were published as daily reality episodes to social media.

Fans followed his adventures inside the airport every day, engaging with the hero and the campaign for an entire month and well beyond that.

Among other KPIs, the aim was to reach at least 5 million people and accumulate 1,5 million views on the daily episodes. The more people hear and write about Helsinki Airport’s excellence, the better it is for business, meaning an increased number of passengers and airlines.

Without a significant media budget, we relied on active PR seeding and efficient influencer mechanics to reach a staggering 2.4 billion people worldwide (Source: Meltwater media monitoring report), 81,7% of which in China. The videos were watched over 13.8 million times all together but what was remarkable was the number of engagements: 135 000 across all channels, with more than 11 500 comments, 98% of which had a positive sentiment. (Source: Meltwater media monitoring report)

These results have brought to a growth rate of 37% in Chinese passengers in 2018, who now reach 419 000 annually (Source: Red Note, Helsinki Airport Flight Passenger Study 2018).

With over 500 editorials (Source: Meltwater media monitoring report) written around the world worth €17 million in earned media value, Helsinki Airport attracted positive buzz and succeeded in standing out from its competitors in a unique way.

#LIFEINHEL has also impacted the lives of everyday passengers at Helsinki Airport. Ryan's feedback brought permanent changes to the airport infrastructure, enhancing especially the services available to Chinese travelers, such as new signage and a new Chinese restaurant.

In an industry that markets mostly destinations and countries, Helsinki Airport #LIFEINHEL campaign showed that you can advertise an airport as well, and engage a lot of people along the way.

If your brands best asset is and experience, let your marketing be the experience.