Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) recently executed a multi-pronged advertising campaign that speaks to strategic, technological ways airports can connect with potential passengers. The main message to consumers? Any reason is reason enough to travel from IAD.
The “Because Reasons” campaign ran October through December 2024, and was designed and implemented in the Washington, D.C. metro area by Hart, a brand transformation agency. In addition to traditional formats like bus ads and posters, it included video and audio messages on streaming media and digital display ads on bus shelters.
Jaimini Erskine, vice president of Marketing and Concessions for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), explains that the campaign was designed to characterize IAD as the ideal point of departure for travelers—wherever they want to go, and for whatever reasons. “This was our way to inspire travel,” says Erskine.
The campaign was a cooperative effort of MWAA’s Marketing and Concessions Department and Air Service Development Program, which are siblings within the Revenue Division. The Airports Authority and Hart had worked together on previous campaigns for IAD that ran from November to December in 2022 and 2023. During that post-pandemic recovery period, IAD saw a 15% increase in passenger traffic from 21.4 million in 2022 to 25.1 million in 2023. But MWAA officials believed there was potential for even more growth.
| facts&figures
Project: Advertising Campaign Sponsor/Subject: Washington Dulles Int’l Airport Airport Operator: Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Campaign Timeline: Oct.-Dec. 2024 Target Audience: Residents & commuters in Washington, D.C. metro area Content Theme: Any reason is reason enough to travel from Dulles Int’l Sample Phrase: “Because the globe isn’t going to trot itself.” Media: Traditional, digital & streaming Of Note: Digital outdoor ads on bus shelters changed in real-time to play off of local weather Advertising Agency: Hart Ad Illustrations: Studio Posti Animation for Streaming Ads: This ’n That Studio Mobile Billboard Displays: Do it Outdoors Media Bus Shelter Network Services: Clear Channel Ads on Bus Exteriors: OutFront |
Tactics
The “Because Reasons” campaign used outlets including Amazon Prime Video, where animated versions of the campaign posters were featured in pre-roll ads—the commercials that play automatically before viewers’ selected content appears. Audio ads ran on Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music.
Digital signs on bus shelters leveraged internet connectivity and network services from Clear Channel to respond with humor to changes in the weather. For instance, temperatures below 40 F would trigger a beach scene with the phrase, “Because your drink should be frozen, not you.” When it rained, an all-purpose ad would be switched out for an illustration of a sunny destination with the phrase, “Because the rain won’t go away. But you can.” Overall, the campaign had dozens of mix and match options.
Ads on the back of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority buses targeted commuters on local roads—again, with a humorous twist. That series included slogans such as “Because your butt fell asleep two miles ago and it’s dreaming of a beach chair” or “Because traffic isn’t your jam,” along with an illustration of a beach.
Naturally, all the ads included “Dulles International” and the airport logo.
Voice and Balance
Erskine describes the campaign’s humorous tone as kitschy. Dan Marvin, creative director at Hart, explains that the wit and attitude were modeled after the style of comedians Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. He describes the so-called voice of the campaign as that of a fun friend you want to travel with—the one who says, “Come on, let’s take a trip.”
The humorous catchphrases were coupled with illustrations of idyllic destinations. Idyllic, but not specific. MWAA and Hart made sure of that, because specific destinations could have pertained to some of IAD’s carriers but not others. Erskine credits her Air Service Development Program colleagues as being the critical conduit to the airlines. They kept carriers informed about the even-handed campaign and explained that its purpose was to help draw more people to IAD and all airline destinations. As Marvin puts it, “We were advertising for the airport as a whole, so we went out of our way to not show favoritism for one airline over another” in terms of destinations and price points. Instead, the campaign focused on general desire for travel.
“For solo travelers, the Spring Shoulder (early spring, when travel is not as busy as peak season) and Winter/Holiday are heavy travel times. Family travel is very light at those times,” relates Kasey Anderson, senior media planner/buyer at Hart. “Family travel planning occurs December through February with most booking happening at the beginning of the year. The goal was to have family messaging marketed prior to December for the following year, even as early as August. And then we trickled into solo messaging directly afterward. Business target messaging was on throughout the year.”
Armed with this data and guidance, the creative team at Hart crafted ads targeting three kinds of travelers during different times of the year: solo passengers, families and business.
Impact
Strategic timing and clever phrases are great; but, as Erskine puts it, “Obviously, results matter.” To that end, MWAA is compiling passenger figures for the last quarter of 2024, which coincides the campaign activity. For now, the anecdotal feedback is encouraging. For instance, staff have observed passengers in the terminals contemplating “Because Reasons” signage. “These are fast travelers, and there’s not a lot of time to grab their attention,” Marvin notes. He also reports positive reactions and keen interest in the real-time aspects of the campaign from his counterparts in the advertising business.
According to Hart, ads on streaming media reached more than 2.7 million viewers and key travel audiences appear to have been notably interested. “OTT [over-the-top/streaming media] drove a high volume of completed views, reporting a 97% video completion rate on average, which is slightly higher than the industry standard of 90%,” Anderson explains.
From Marvin’s perspective, the unique selling point of the campaign is that it “personified Dulles.”
Consistency and Data
“Because Reasons” was rolled out amid ongoing MWAA communication initiatives. Both IAD and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA), also run by MWAA, have several improvement projects recently completed or currently underway, including parking expansions, concessions upgrades and a new concourse at IAD. “We can’t overcommunicate about those things because there are so many changes coming,” Erskine explains.
The messages on some outdoor ads changed to reflect changes in the weather.
Erskine explains that two general rules guide MWAA’s messaging. The first is consistency. “It’s about getting the message right in a consistent manner across all media,” she remarks. The second is leveraging business intelligence and data to hone strategy and messaging to propel communication programs moving forward.
Whatever advertising initiatives may come next for MWAA, the technologies and creative content shown in the recent campaign indicate there will likely be more novel options ahead. Stay tuned.
