United Airlines celebrates employees doing the right thing for customers and communities
"In the past few years, United has emerged as a force for good and an industry leader," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "We're taking actions that inspire pride among our employees and customers – everything from historic investments to fight climate change and training more women and people of colour to become pilots to getting rid of change fees and upgrading our fleet with 500 new planes. This campaign serves not only as an exclamation point on our recent actions, but also as a commitment to how United Airlines intends to show up in the future."
The national campaign is United's first, fully integrated, national brand advertising campaign in nearly a decade and was developed in partnership with creative agency of record 72andSunny. It includes more than 150 different pieces of video, digital, social and out-of-home content and features more than 60 real-life employees, the most ever featured in a single United content series.
Starting this week, people can see Good Leads The Way content onboard United aircraft and in airport terminals as well as in television spots, streaming platforms, billboards, across social media and through unique, contextually relevant and unexpected spaces. This launch coincides with the kickoff of the summer travel season and a historic increase in demand – United's April seat fill in was the highest ever for a non-summer month, with 88 percent of seats occupied.
The Campaign
"At the heart of everything we do and say at United – every decision – is doing the right thing. That's why, even at the depths of the pandemic, we didn't dodge the tough questions facing our business. We confronted them head-on with optimism and a determination to be a force for good for our customers and the communities we serve," said United chief communications officer Josh Earnest. "As the industry emerges from the pandemic, we are entering a historic new era of commercial travel, which makes it the right time to unveil our ambitious 'Good Leads The Way' campaign."
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Creative highlights include:
- Anthem Film: In its hero video, United puts an emotional stake in the ground around the intention and impact of Good Leads The Way. The film features a patchwork of employee and passenger-sourced photos and videos, as well inspirational scenes shot for the campaign, as a narrator tells the true story of an airline on a mission to be a force for good on their planes and in the world. It will be featured within a national broadcast campaign and on broadcast in local hub markets.
- Out of Home: While the anthem tells the full story, each piece of out of home represents a different chapter, from major milestone actions to small, impactful moments with passengers. The imagery includes a mix of inspirational moments to authentically document United employees and passengers. The out of home campaign includes large-format outdoor and in-airport placements within United hub markets.
- Digital/Social: Leveraging a social-first approach to truly engage audiences where they are, the storytelling continues via bite-size content, like social videos and a pithy Twitter thread. Additionally, employees get their own custom Instagram sticker to showcase their pride. The social campaign will live on owned and paid social and digital channels.
How Good Leads The Way at United
For Employees
- Careers, not just jobs: United offers competitive pay and benefits, the chance to grow, and flight privileges to see the world
- Only major U.S, airline with its own pilot training school: United Aviate Academy
- New, state-of-the-art inflight training centre opening this year in Houston
- World's largest flight training centre in Denver
- Surprised active employees with a special award of $1,000 each last fall
- First major U.S. airline to roll out an employee COVID-19 vaccination program
For Customers
- 500+ new aircraft - and hundreds of plane upgrades – by 2026, with features like larger overhead bins, screens in every seatback, Bluetooth connectivity and fast Wi-Fi
- First major global U.S. airline to eliminate change fees on most tickets
- Helped more than 288,000 customers and counting make their connecting flight this year via United's exclusive ConnectionSaver technology
- This summer, United will serve more transatlantic destinations than every other U.S. carrier combined and be the largest airline across the Atlantic
- The award-winning United app brings ease to customers, through features that allow you shop by map, get the latest trip details, plan trips with friends and makes travel easier for people with visual disabilities.
For Communities
- Hiring more than 50,000 people in the next five years, providing unionized, well-paying careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers
- Will aim to train 5,000 new pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the goal that at least half will be women and people of colour
- Invested more in sustainable aviation fuel production than any other airline in the world
- In 2021, United donated more than $10 million in cash and in-kind contributions to non-profits across the country and worked with its customers to donate another 100+ million miles to charities that depend on travel
- Industry-leading investments in electric aircraft designed to help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions
- Committing to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets
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