Through social listening, the opportunity for a PR social stunt was identified, the community engaged and a corporate apology was issued via Swoop's social media accounts.

Swoop is a Canadian ultra-low-cost airline. The ultra-low-cost airline model typically means carriers operate out of smaller, more rural airports, allowing them to keep their fares low, but making them less accessible to the majority. Breaking that norm by securing a contract with Canada's largest airport was big news for both Swoop and people looking for cheap air fares out of a convenient major hub: Pearson International Airport, Toronto.

In true low-cost airline style, the brief was to come up with a no-budget concept to highlight this important expansion to Swoop's network. The objective was to take a humorous, PR worthy approach alerting Torontonians to the fact that there was a new low-cost carrier in town.

When Swoop announced they were going to start flying from Pearson, they assumed everyone would know they were talking about Canada’s largest airport – Pearson International, in Toronto. But there also happens to be a tiny town in northern Canada named Pearson. And a woman who lives there, named Barb Higgins, mistakenly thought that Swoop was going to start flying from her hometown – taking to Twitter to voice her excitement.

The brand released a real-time video apology, clearing up the misunderstanding through its social channels and generating awareness around Swoop’s new service announcement in Toronto.

We needed to reach the population of Toronto without any media spend, so the strategy was to publicize this misunderstanding in a press release and support with a humorous video available through Swoop's own social channels. The hope was that the ridiculous story would prove to be press-worthy and share-worthy. The added kicker was that Swoop would donate an ice-rink to the township of Pearson to show that there weren't any hard feelings over the misunderstanding.

We immediately saw the misunderstanding as an opportunity to generate awareness around Swoop’s new service announcement in Toronto. So, we scoured Barb’s Twitter posts, and within a matter of days responded with a video, offering to pay for the township of Pearson’s new outdoor skating rink as a way to apologize for the confusion. All while hammering home the difference between Pearson the township and Pearson the International Airport in Toronto, in a not-so-subtle way.

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