Alaska Airlines Chooses Culture

The Ask:

Alaska Airlines has been working to diversify its marketing and outreach efforts in recent years, with a particular focus on engaging with the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. As part of this effort, Alaska sought to host a Lunar New Year celebration in San Francisco's Chinatown.

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Alaska Airlines wanted to create a memorable experience for its guests at the Lunar New Year celebration, with a special focus on promoting and supporting Asian-owned businesses. They invited a range of Asian influencers and wanted to create a lasting impression on all attendees.

To accomplish these goals, Alaska Airlines in partnership with TDW + Co. turned to us for help curating a unique gift box to distribute at the LNY party.

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The Solution:

We communicated directly with our liaisons at TDW + Co, to better understand the requirements of the box. As this box was tied to the event and Lunar New Years, we set out to source high-quality, unique products from Asian-owned businesses that would appeal to a broad range of attendees. After conducting extensive research and working with our existing network of vendors, we ultimately sourced three standout products for the gift box.

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First was a bar of Viori shampoo sourced from a Japanese hair care brand. The bar was beautifully packaged in an intricate weave of paper folds, where the end product resembled much of a dumpling. The second was jasmine and oolong tea from UsTwoTea, a woman-owned company that specializes in high-quality tea sourced directly from Taiwanese farms. And finally, we included a candle from Baisun Candle Co. Baisun is a Vietnamese-American owned company that makes hand-poured soy candles inspired by East Asian cultures.

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As a request from the client, we also included a signed copy of Mister Jiu’s famous cookbook. Mister Jiu's is a Michelin-starred Chinese-American restaurant in San Francisco, and the cookbook features recipes that showcase the restaurant's unique fusion of Chinese and Californian cuisine. It was a great piece to tie everything together especially knowing that Mister Jiu was the chosen chef for the party!

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This Lunar New Year celebration was a resounding success, and the gift box was a hit! Guests were thrilled with the quality and uniqueness of the products, and many took to social media to share their appreciation for the event and the gift box. Attendees were also particularly impressed with the effort Alaska Airlines and Accent made to support Asian-owned businesses. We’re honored to have been considered for this partnership! It’s a great example of how companies can work together to create more inclusive and culturally relevant in-person experiences and support underrepresented communities in the process.

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The Final Product: