airBaltic - Let's Be Together This Christmas - Ad Analysis
AI Editor notes
Straight from the gut!!
“Another Christmas schmaltz-fest. It's well-made, I'll give them that. The 'love story through the years' trope is as old as the hills, but it works if you're a sucker for it. The paper airplane is a decent creative device. But two minutes? It's a big ask. It feels more like a short film than an ad, which can be a problem if the branding gets lost in the story.”
Quick Summary
This ad successfully positions airBaltic as the emotional bridge connecting loved ones during Christmas. It uses a classic, sentimental love story that spans years, culminating in a holiday reunion, to bypass rational price-based decisions and forge a powerful association between the airline and the profound feeling of coming home.
Executive Summary
airBaltic's 'Let's Be Together This Christmas' is a textbook example of holiday brand-building through emotional storytelling. It eschews any mention of price, routes, or service in favor of a two-minute narrative designed to occupy a single, powerful position in the viewer's mind: airBaltic is the airline that brings you home. The core insight is potent and universal: during the holidays, the greatest gift is not a thing, but a person. The ad leverages the inherent tension between distance and desire, a feeling acutely understood by anyone living away from family.
The execution follows a classic Setup-Turn-Payoff structure. The Setup (0:00-0:22) rapidly builds an emotional foundation, showing a couple's relationship blossoming over years, all tied together by the simple, charming motif of a paper airplane. This device is clever, visually linking their innocent childhood connection to the theme of flight. The Turn (0:22-1:27) introduces the conflict: separation. The woman moves to Paris, and the tone shifts to one of melancholy and loneliness, amplified by the festive Parisian backdrop. This long, patient sequence makes her isolation palpable, building anticipation for a resolution. The Payoff (1:27-1:59) delivers the emotional catharsis. The reunion on the bridge is the pinnacle of the story, and the final reveal of the whole family together at a Christmas dinner solidifies the ad's message. airBaltic isn't just a plane; it's the enabler of the moment that matters most. The final tagline and logo feel less like an advertisement and more like the signature on a Christmas card.
The debrief for the creative team would be positive but with a key strategic caution. The film is beautifully crafted and emotionally resonant. However, its emotional power comes from its universality, which is also its strategic weakness. The story is so generic that the brand feels almost incidental—a phenomenon known as 'vampire advertising,' where the creative execution is so strong it sucks the life out of the branding. While effective for a seasonal campaign, relying solely on borrowed emotional territory without weaving in more distinctive brand elements is a risky long-term strategy.
Theme Keywords
Brand Position
airBaltic is the carrier that connects people to the moments that truly matter.
Brand Archetype
The Lover
Creative Game Plan
Tell a universal, dialogue-free love story to associate the airBaltic brand with the powerful, culturally significant emotion of reuniting with loved ones for Christmas.
Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions
Primary Issue: Strategic Sense
The Problem:
The brand is almost completely absent until the last ten seconds of a two-minute film. This creates a high risk that viewers remember the sweet story but not the brand that told it, defeating the advertising purpose.
The Solution:
Integrate the brand more subtly and earlier. The paper airplane could have been folded from a page with a visible (but out-of-focus) airBaltic logo, or a shot of their distinctive green tail could appear in the background of the graduation scene, creating a subconscious link before the final reveal.
Secondary Issue: Clarity of "What's Next?"
The Problem:
The ad does an excellent job of creating an emotional peak but gives the viewer no outlet for that feeling. There's no hashtag, no landing page for reunion stories, no prompt to even consider booking a flight.
The Solution:
Add a simple, non-intrusive end card after the logo with a URL like 'airBaltic.com/together' or a campaign hashtag. This would provide a path for engagement without undercutting the film's sentimental tone.
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