Santa Barbara Airport
Proving the demand that got new routes on the map.
The Problem
Santa Barbara Airport sits between two much larger draws, the Bay Area and Los Angeles. For airlines, the question was whether enough demand existed to justify adding a route. For travelers, the question was whether flying from SBA was worth choosing over driving to one of the giants.
All SBA work created in partnership with Hiltachk Marketing Group.
My Role
In partnership with the media team, I built demand-generation campaigns for SBA grounded in catchment data, leakage studies, and visitor profiles, aimed at specific carriers and specific routes: Delta, United, Southwest, Alaska. I led visual creative for the airport's flagship campaigns and various sub-campaigns such as anniversaries and the Terminal Improvement Plan awareness campaign.
The Move
Yeah, It's Like That” was built and validated at every stage of the funnel, from awareness to conversion, so one campaign could convince a traveler and reassure an airline that the demand was real.
Beyond the general campaign, the approach flexed by partner instead of running one generic pitch. A campaign built around Delta's Atlanta to Salt Lake connection had to make a different case than one built around Southwest's run to Sacramento or Alaska's route to San Diego, each with its own competitive set and its own reason a traveler would choose SBA over driving to LAX or flying out of the Bay Area.
What Happened
Passenger volume increased 7%, and the campaign delivered a video completion rate of nearly 80%.
The creative also performed consistently across the funnel, giving SBA a campaign that could support both traveler acquisition and airline route-development efforts.
Work Samples
Transit Ad - Airport
Transit Ad - Airline Route
Paid Social - Airline Route
Campaign Merch
Route Map, Organic Social
Print Ad - Condé Nast Traveller