San Diego’s ‘Let’s GO Safely’ Campaign Gives Passengers a Warm Welcome Back to the Airport

“Wear a mask. Wash your hands. Stay 6 feet apart. Monitor your health daily. Cover coughs and sneezes. Disinfect regularly.” These messages are critical to keeping passengers and employees safe, and helping stop the spread of COVID-19.

But when San Diego International Airport set out to develop its recovery campaign, Let’s GO Safely, it started by asking, “What if safety messages could be delivered in a way that not only promoted compliance, but also facilitated an enjoyable passenger experience?”

Developing a recovery campaign that reached both hearts and minds challenged SAN to look inward, toward its brand, and extract a few key attributes that would inform the creative process – warmth, friendliness, and authenticity. Drawing upon its unique brand attributes gave SAN the inspiration it needed to create a campaign that encourages people to stop and pay attention to important safety messages, and to smile while they’re at it. Let’s GO Safely also communicates to passengers that no matter how many changes they see during their trip through the airport, they can count on the same exceptional service they’re familiar with – the service that reflects the warmth and friendliness of the city that’s a beautiful home to some and a magical vacation destination to others.

Let’s GO Safely is being deployed at SAN in three phases across digital and in-terminal channels over the next several months as the pandemic evolves. Phase 1, launched in June, focused on what SAN is doing to keep passengers safe and what passengers can do to protect themselves and loved ones while traveling. The initial phase of the campaign has received attention from local businesses and other airports, who have requested (and of course received) the rights to use the creative for their own purposes.

Phase 2 of Let’s GO Safely, currently in development, will inspire confidence in travel by focusing on the customer experience while reinforcing safety precautions (think air hugs). And when the time is right, SAN will move into the third and final phase of the campaign with a heartfelt welcome back to the world.