Business Travel Awards 2016: Best Social Campaign WestJet's "12,000 mini miracles" campaign is a social media miracle of its own.
This story appears in the May 2016 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Each year, the Canadian airline one-ups its own Christmas shenanigans: In 2012, it choreographed an airport flash mob of singing elves. In 2013, a Santa asked boarding passengers for their wish lists, then scrambled to buy and wrap those items before they landed at their destination; for 2014, the airline took the idea to a village in the Dominican Republic. And last year, says Greg Hounslow, the airline's manager of emerging media, "we realized we could create something that felt more like a movement than a moment."
All 12,000 employees were given Blue Santa hats and encouraged to perform a mini miracle on December 9 in their local community. The random acts of kindness spanned the globe -- and as photos and videos were shared on social media, the do-goodery spread beyond employees. The campaign clocked 31,793 miracles, ranging from free coffees to a free family vacation for a soldier. The results: #WestJetChristmas snagged nearly a quarter of a million Facebook likes, shares and comments, and execs calculated that the campaign helped buoy revenue by almost $900,000. It was a gift for all.
