What if on your trip coming home for christmas They surprised you at the airport offering to fly you for free to the destination of your dreams? Of course, in exchange for not being able to enjoy these holidays with your loved ones.

This is how Iberia’s Christmas ad begins this year, an idea from the agency McCann under the title “The Christmas Dilemma.” Through a real experiment, several travelers in Madrid and Lima (Peru) who already had their trips planned back home for Christmas were selected, to offer them the possibility of changing their destination, at no cost and with everything included to the place of their dreams. A proposal that would replace spending Christmas with their families and friends in those places to which they had always dreamed of traveling.

The ad is partly shot with format hidden camera, without the protagonists knowing the real reason for the recording; They simply thought they were going to be part of a documentary for the airline, and were surprised with this proposal when boarding their flights. Besides, Their reactions were streamed to their families, who were able to see in real time what was happening with the uncertainty of knowing whether or not they would give up returning home.

“By connecting people we make the future” It is the purpose of Iberia and, with this campaign, it is once again highlighted. As Miguel Madariaga, Executive Creative Director at McCann, tells us, they had “a kind of intuition about pending trips and in the Christmas context there is one that is always there, which is the return home.” Therefore, the agency wanted to verify that this was real and do it through an experiment. “We appeal to everyone, we have found a universal and transversal feeling and Iberia has legitimacy to bring it to a campaign”he adds during a conversation with reason.Why.

Nevertheless, the experiment was a risk. But Gemma Juncá, Marketing Director at Iberia, explains to us that in the company they have a stomach reaction and ”I cringed at this idea, so we tried to be brave. It had its risk because a real experiment makes you tremble a little, but he who does not take risks does not win.”

And as Gemma says, for some time Iberia has been asking in its briefings that the campaigns show more than just people hugging in airports. “We complicated their lives but we had to show the reactions of the families”recognizes Miguel Madariaga. Because teaching that part in real time added more risk to the experiment but “We would have been left without all the emotionality that this campaign has.” The fact that the filming was partly carried out in a hidden camera format is what has allowed us to offer a non-acting that conveys real feelings that anyone can empathize with. “The protagonists make a decision and resignation exercise in real time. “If we had had to direct it we would not have obtained this result.”

Iberia It could be considered an endemic brand of Christmas because millions of trips and journeys are made at this time of year, but, in terms of marketing, how do campaigns like this impact at a company level? “People buy tickets before we launch the Christmas campaign, but if you don’t put yourself at the top of mind at this moment you lose a golden opportunity for next Christmas, for the summer…”Gemma Juncá tells us.
Furthermore, he says that it is a campaign that has a lot pride of belonging for the company’s more than 10,000 employees. “The management team met on the third Friday in December and everyone is waiting to see how we have been able to strike a chord.” Convinced that this year her classmates will enjoy it, Gemma says that The greatness of this idea is that it has everything to do with the brand what’s behind “Something that is not easy. It is not easy to get excited every year with a different idea.”

Below you can listen to the full conversation we had from reason.Why with Gemma Juncá (Iberia) and Miguel Madariaga (McCann):

In parallel, the week prior to the launch of the spot, some personalized boarding passes on facades of different places in Spain where someone has returned home for Christmas. A teaser action that has been carried out to give visibility to the campaign and thus generate expectation before the launch of the advertisement, which will have durations of three minutes, 90″, 60″ and 20″ on prime time television, cinemas and actions specials on social networks.

The campaign is activated today, December 16, and will have activations on television, social networks and cinema, and on social networks in Colombia, Mexico and Argentina with pieces of durations of 3 minutes, 90″, 60″ and 20″.

Technical sheet

• Campaign name: The Christmas Dilemma
• Advertiser: Iberia
  • Client contact: Gemma Juncá, Sophie Deslandes, Jesús de la Torre, Paula Gasch
• Creative agency: McCann Worldgroup
  • Global Creative Partner, Global Brands: Emiliano González de Pietri
  • Creative directors: Ander Mendivil, David Valgañón, Guillermo Santaisabel
  • Creative team: Lucía Comba, Ricardo Rovira, Daya Muñoz, Ana Beneto, María de la flor
  • Chief strategy officer: Lucas Rodríguez
  • Strategy director: María Goñi
  • Business lead: Carmen Marfil
  • Account team: Clara Mateos, Adrián Méndez, Marta Torrecillas, Mercedes Mínguez, Almudena Ruiz
  • Social Media Manager: María Balado
  • Executive producer controller: María Iglesias
  • Audiovisual production: Carlos Lucas
• Producer: Jupiter
  • Director/director: Santiago Zannou
• Image and sound post-production: Craft
• Music: OEO
• Media agency: Havas Media