Travel is good for the ❤.
I don’t care if you’re taking a short walk down the street or making a cross-continent trip to pet turtles in the Galapagos; it’s on the wide-open road that we put boots to the ground, shift gears, and open our minds to many of the more complex thoughts babblin’ about the brain. This opportunity, handed to us by the new people, places, and things we meet, is one of the key joys of travel.
And it’s this desire to better understand our planet that separates humans from our lesser formed mammalian peers, like the sloth. They go nowhere at all.
Just look at this dude. Guy can’t even shower.
On a recent shifting of my gears, something unusual happened to me. My suitcase had a wheel snap off on the airplane. Suddenly, my bag, which was supposed to be a quiet companion, became this annoying forty pound baby I had to cradle and carry absolutely everywhere and my ability to consider all the cool things I was seeing rapidly devolved.
As my back became sorer and my arms became weaker, I got to thinking.
How could something that’s made to go wherever seem to break… whenever? This bag was designed (or so they said) to survive airplanes, cobblestones, inclement weather, and everything else life seems to through at us. Yet, it broke as I lifted it into the overhead bin. I had to know, was there any way to I tell if a bag might fail before it actually does?
This question brought me to Google. Here I typed five simple words:
“How to spot an injury”
The answers were many and none of them had to do with my suitcase. However, I did discover one interesting suggestion: the MRI machine.
Next, I typed:
“Cheap MRI machine near me”
Within fifteen minutes I had found one man in Serbia shelling them out from some warehouse for under a grand and a more legit company in China that requires you to confirm your medical license.
I don’t have a medical degree, and besides, I couldn’t afford the more realistic half a million-dollar price tag.
Option 2: Domino is not fun to talk to
Domino is this guy that sells soap. That’s one of the two things I remember about him. The first and only time I met Domino was at some party years back. I was in the bathroom washing my hands with some name brand soap, maybe Dial or Palmolive, and big Dom kept trying to heave his homemade batch of compostable soap on me. Though a locked door. Suffice to say, I was not loving it.
The second thing I remembered about him was that he had a cousin who’s a defense contractor.
I’m not sure what defense contractors actually do but I figured if they’re any good at protecting things they might have some valuable advice on how to better defend my suitcase. An exciting lead.
So, I reached out to Captain Clean about his cousin.
Domino did not reply. Probably some form of karma for not trying his soap.
OPTION 3: Get a better suitcase.
This was by far the most boring option of all. But seeing as I could not purchase an MRI machine and had no connections in the defense industry, it seemed my best bet.
After binging nine whole hours of luggage review videos, I was feeling pretty good about my options. The standouts were Away and Monos: two young suitcase brands — with Away taking a steady lead.
As an over-the-top researcher when I buy any product I intend to use repeatedly I did some intensive on both brands. As I discovered more about each company, and the luggage industry at large, I felt a spark of interest.
Turns out — luggage is actually pretty interesting. Within the sixty years that the modern suitcase has been in existence the advertising industry has made some pretty enjoyable ads; ads I thought I’d write about.
Away
Coming across Away was not a huge shock.
While at a martech startup, they were one of a few brands that were never far from my vision as a salesperson. Away is really great at getting your attention — particularly with social media and targeted ads. However, I quickly noticed some tension in how they’ve positioned their brand. As a lifestyle brand focused on “self-growth through travel” (ie. exploration) their chosen medium of Instagram has little do with their identity. As we collectively tire with social media I’m interested to see if a lesser-known company, with a more forward-thinking vision, may be able to challenge them.
The concept for Away came after, Jen Rubio, past Head of Social at Warby Parker, had her suitcase fail mid-trip in 2013. This left an impression and led to her tapping her past colleague at WP, and current partner, Steph Korey. As the two friends discussed they realized there was an open space for building a new kind of travel brand. And considering their experience at Warby Parker, an early navigator in the arena of digital commerce, this gave them both a leg-up in a crowded market of industry dinosaurs. These hulks sized brands were weary, and frankly, needed a challenge.
Enter - A fresh idea.
Both women realized that no one had created a durable, good-looking suitcase and positioned themselves as something more than a bag. This something more was their inception of their travel lifestyle brand called Away. Their bags would be built for the “modern traveler”. Who was the modern traveler… well, according to their social feed, this individual dressed well, liked technology, and loved to travel.
And where was that modern traveler?
On social, of course. So, Away partnered with celebrities like Serena Williams and begin sharing their wider vision for a well-traveled life with this core tenet:
Travel both makes you a better person and Away would be a partner in your personal growth. Their message was apparently well received.
I can see two reasons:
- They targeted millennials: This is the fastest growing population of consumers. And these millennials travel a lot. They may get occasional flack for the belief that they’re idealistic or out of touch, but they are also a generation that believes in things. When it comes to brands, this “believing in things” looks like finding companies that share their values and general vision for life and the world. From the start, Away understood millennials.
- Use of social: Away used recognizable celebrities and real people in their posts; often featuring posts from famous people right alongside regular customers.
“Woah… there’s Margot Robbie in Portugal… and holy s%*$… is that… is that my friend Jenny in Croatia?”
While older Brands like Samsonite and Rimowa had marketed form (what a bag looks like), function (what it can do), and lifestyle (how your life could look with their bag), form and function seemed to be priority. And these had been far less adept at harnessing social to market themselves.
Away’s decision to claim their identity as a lifestyle brand first and foremost was novel. It’s also a choice that was only made possible by decades of previous advertising. Customers welcomed this change.
Bit about form and function
These two terms seemed to haunt the very bones of every ad I read: like a coxswain in the copy, form and function shouted orders and the stroke of the remaining words fell in line.
Wanting a product that looks good and works makes a good deal of sense.
When in Paris, directly in front of the Eiffel Tower, three things should be true: You should have a baguette in one hand, your suitcase in the other, and your eyes up on the Eiffel Tower. If you’re eyes are anywhere else than the Eiffel Tower than you’re likely either getting robbed or your bag is broken.
Everyone from early marketers in the 1950s to today’s marketers understood the importance of form and function. Consumers were sold bags that were TOUGH (re: FUNCTION: MADE TO LAST) and SMART (re: FORM: LOOK GOOD).
Highlighted. And in all caps.
Your bag would not break, and it would look good.
On occasion, luggage brands would also include ads with celebrities (pioneering an early road for modern day influencer marketing). Yet, the main focus of these ads was the luggage rather than the lifestyle of the celebrity in them.
That more personal point of — “This helps you live the life of [insert famous face]” — seemed to be secondary to advertising the bag itself. Obviously, I could be reading into these ads too deeply. That’s entirely possible and maybe even likely. I’m not a 50s kid myself. It just appears that the product, not the celebrity, was the focus. In the Bop Hope ad below, notice how the copy just focuses on the product features.
Around the early 70s, luggage advertising became more emotive.
Rather than stating stiff statements like, “This bag tough. This bag smart. Bob Hope owns this bag”, over and over again, they said, “This bag is ___ because ___.
That because is important. It feels more authentic. The because and the blank that follows is where actual life comes in. When you address the gap after the because you open space to connect with your customer on something bigger than your product. Especially when you do it in a new way — like using a gorilla.
Gorilla ad for American Tourister…
The gorilla works because it’s a great metaphor for the unknown.
What happens to your bag after you give it the airline? I mean, maybe there is the equivalent to a wild gorilla back there. I don’t know. So, the because is… this bag is tough because for all you know there’s a gorilla-esque creature back there beating the crap out of your bags. And, we want to make sure we build our luggage tough so that your valuables arrive in one piece and you don’t look like an dumbo carrying a half-empty suitcase all bent out of shape.
For the next 30–40 years these luggage ads drilled home the because of durability using all sorts of animal metaphors. Gone was the gorilla. In was the bull, the elephant, and a live-action Nigel Thornberry with his new bestie, the-suitcase-abusing-crocodile to actualize our fears (these three are below).
I found it interesting that their main idea wasn’t what life their bag will give you. Instead, they focused on what trouble it will spare you. Pain sells.
It’s in this gap that Away formed a whole customer base. They built a brand that looked forward. Towards the pastel green pastures of positivity.
Bull: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y35XPk0Szg
Elephant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re8-Eh7RUNE
Crocodile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_23aNUAEXDM
Away’s current issue
Despite being a travel brand, it seems Away has poured a significant amount of their advertising dollars into performance ads and Instagram.
Revisiting Away’s core message: we make travel more seamless so that you can focus on your own journey of personal growth while you explore.
Unfortunately, Instagram on the whole, seems to carry little in common with the mission of their brand: finding growth in travel. That’s a beautiful thing to advocate for but I’d bet few customers of theirs are clued into this being what their brand’s about.
Growth is an experiential thing, right? I feel it often happens in those moments that are hard to recapture with words; most often described with a deep sigh and a, “Yeah, I don’t know. I guess you just had to be there.”
Currently, they seem to have singular vision for what they know works: sparking engagement on IG. This has worked exceptionally well for them — they should keep doing it. That being said, I’d love to see their brand push into the most interesting part of their identity: the actual traveling part of the travel. This is where personal growth is often developed and they seem to have skipped right past it.
As it stands now, Away’s current strategy feels strikingly similar to my own experience working at a museum made for photo-ops. For the majority of our customers, snapping selfies for their social profile was the end goal. Unsurprisingly, it was also the most vapid space I have had the displeasure of occupying. It was 16,000 square feet of digital sickness that would have been better eradicated by a Paul-Bunyan-sized mass of dynamite than a simple foreclosure where some dawdling fool could have repurposed its corpse for their own demented means.
Similar to Away, my museum was advertised as a place for self-discovery: “Rediscover the kid in you”. While I’m sure some people may have done just that, if we were being honest, a better name may have been, Big Pink Square to Take Photos in, with the subheadline: Just Like Your Friends.
It seems Away’s Instagram feed and paid ads may be hovering in a similar territory — Pretty Bag to Take Photos With, and the exact same punch below: Just Like Your Friends.
As a travel brand focused on building strong products and personal growth, I can’t imagine this is a place you want to remain.
To reconsider how Away may be able to think beyond their current strategy, here’s four experiential ideas that can crash and burn for free. These came right out the dome and their chutes may not be ready for primetime:
- A series with well-known travelfluencers going to any number of locations as chosen by Away’s fans on Instagram. Release short clips on IG and TikTok, and long form videos on YouTube.
- Partner with the tourism board in countries beyond the US. Send Away’s colorful bags into places you might not expect: an oil miner in Texas, an employee at Santa Claus Village in Finland… document them using the luggage however they see fit. Let’s get weird.
- Bring other companies like into the action. The Great Wall of China has more than 5,000 walkable miles from end to end. Make it a huge goal! See if your collective customers can cross that distance in total miles completed. All for the love of travel. Even if they fall short, it will still be a great way to get people engaged with the brand.
- Maybe a mini version of The Amazing Race where Away fans can opt-in to complete any series of challenges around the globe. When they confirm completion with something like a picture, send back a medal to welcome them to some sort of fun brand club and feature those pictures. Build inspiration within the community.
Again, all these ideas may be awful. I’m throwing them out like pennies on the railway; fully prepared to see them crushed by the first oncoming train.
While being the Techy Instagrammable Suitcase is cool I think their “something more” is even better. I’d love to see Away begin collaborating with their community.
Monos
Monos is a building a more encompassing brand vision than anyone I see in the luggage industry. Heck, I don’t need a new suitcase, but they made me want to buy one.
Where a lot of travel content is advertised as a cookie-cutter vacation of endless excess they’ve positioned themselves in a distant neighborhood.
Their brand identity does not rest in form, function, or lifestyle.
They’ve built their brand around a philosophy and way of living; the practice of a mindful life. Their because is huge.
A bit on that here from their website:
“Mindfulness — being fully immersed in the here and now — is at the heart of our philosophy on travelling and living well. We believe that when we are present in the moment and mindful in our travels — when we are passionate wanderers — the deeper beauty of the world reveals itself.”
Monos comes from Japanese phrase: mono no aware. This describes the emotion we feel appreciating the beauty of fleeting moments.
When someone chooses them over a competing company, while it is possible they just like the bag, they probably buy-in to their vision for life.
Yet, they could be a lot better known. As one YouTube reviewer mentioned, “… many people have hardly heard of them.” They publish some paid ads on the web, but I couldn’t find much advertising beyond that and a few posted commercials — seeming to lean on word of mouth instead.
I’d like to create a platform for Monos where they can communicate their philosophy for making luggage that works.
Campaign for Monos
Problem: Despite a unique vision for travel few people know Monos exists.
Goal: Introduce people to the brand
Their CEO, Victor Tam, has mentioned they want to expand their in-store presence to San Francisco and NYC. Two great locations to consider when designing these ads.
To be continued: Part two of this article will focus on the ideas created and where they come from. Released once I complete the campaign.
