If you haven’t already seen the heartwarming video that WestJet released last week, you must be living under a rock. As of this posting it’s had over 30 million views and has been showered with praise, having been picked up by pretty much every major and minor news organization in the country and passed around on social media at a mind-blowing rate. In case you do live under a rock, you’ll find the video at the bottom of this post.

More than looking at this from the standpoint of a consumer, travel brands need to look at this as marketers. Here’s what we can learn from WestJet.

1. Heartwarming wins hearts. I know, it sounds really cheesy. It does. But it’s true. People love to have their hearts warmed. It makes them smile. And cry. And share their smiles and tears of joy with a few million of their sappy friends.
2. Spend money to make money. NOT INSTANTLY. ROI is important, but it doesn’t always happen immediately. This video will not likely raise their Q4 or even their Q1 sales. But WestJet is now in the back of our minds. Whereas a month ago, if I saw that Delta and WestJet offered a similarly priced flight, I would have flown Delta, because I know them (and they have those delicious Biscoff cookies). Now I’d choose WestJet. They not only created brand awareness; they earned my respect and admiration. That is a feat that few brands can accomplish.
3. Agencies can play nice together. In this case Studio M and Mosaic joined forces to create, execute, and promote this groundbreaking PR story. Kudos to both agencies for coming together on this.
4. Effort goes a long way. While a great deal of money was required to pull this off, what is more impressive to most consumers is the effort. The lengths this company went to in order to make their passengers’ Christmas a special one. The hiring of extra staff, the research, the attention to detail. This was not an easy thing to bring to life, but WestJet decided to go the extra mile. I’m willing to bet it will pay off in the long run.

Here’s the video in case you missed it or you want to see it for the 5 millionth time: