Chinese New Year is a time for reunion, reflection and renewal. For many Chinese travellers, airports hold deep emotion – the final step before returning home or the start of a new journey abroad.

In 2024, Heathrow Airport and TONG Global brought that spirit to life through “Heathrow Together (希思罗在一起)”, a campaign transforming Heathrow from a place of transit into a place of togetherness.

As international travel rebounded post-pandemic, Chinese audiences were eager to reconnect with the world but also expected more meaning from brands.

Heathrow needed to forge an emotional connection during one of China’s most important cultural moments while demonstrating its world-class services. The task was to express the warmth of homecoming within an airport environment – and do so with authenticity and cultural sensitivity.

TONG built the campaign around the idea: “One Airport, Two Joys, Many Stories, Endless Choices.”

The goal was to celebrate both the diversity and shared humanity that Heathrow represents. A cinematic master video anchored the campaign, supported by influencer content, on-site activations and a paid media strategy across RED, WeChat and Weibo.

Storytelling and Visuals

The master video followed two parallel narratives: Travellers recreating familiar CNY traditions – sharing dumplings, exchanging greetings, giving red envelopes; and scenes of cultural diversity showing how people from all backgrounds celebrate connection.

Together, they captured Heathrow’s role as a global meeting point where every journey tells a story.

Cultural Activation

To extend the celebration into the airport, TONG designed festive greeting posters, red envelopes and luggage stickers featuring auspicious messages. Distributed across terminals and retail touchpoints, the assets blended traditional symbolism with Heathrow’s sleek design, turning the airport into a welcoming cultural space.

Influencer Collaboration

Eight lifestyle and travel influencers – split between the UK and China – helped humanise the brand. The China-based creators shared reflections on reunion and travel, linking Heathrow to their own experiences, while the UK-based influencers released behind-the-scenes footage and airport diaries that highlighted Heathrow’s premium services and directed audiences to the master video.

This dual-market approach bridged audiences and generated buzz across both regions.

Paid Media

Competition for attention peaks during the spring festival period, so investing in paid media was a vital component of the strategy. TONG ran a multi-platform campaign optimised for reach and engagement:

• WeChat: video and greeting-poster ads;
• Weibo: mass-reach amplification;
• RED: influencer video promotion and discovery content.

Results far outperformed industry benchmarks, with marketing leading CPM during one of the busiest periods of the annual marketing calendar.

The Heathrow Together campaign achieved exceptional reach and engagement across all channels, resonating deeply with Chinese audiences during the Spring Festival period. The campaign reached more than 8.3 million people, generating over 400,000 engagements and 4,500 new followers across Heathrow’s Chinese social platforms. 

Across individual platforms, results were equally impressive. On WeChat, impressions rose by more than 2,200% month-on-month, while engagement levels climbed 6,400% year-on-year. Weibo saw reach expand by 665%, and RED (Xiaohongshu) content achieved 292,000 impressions and 12,500 engagements, driven by a mix of influencer storytelling and heartfelt festive content.

Travellers responded with warmth and nostalgia, sharing Heathrow’s Chinese New Year stickers and posters online with captions such as “New Year’s Eve at Heathrow – gently tearful,” “This moment is touched by Heathrow,” and “So cute! I didn’t get the sticker, but I received your greeting.” These reactions reflected the campaign’s emotional success — transforming Heathrow from a functional travel hub into a place of shared celebration.

The campaign’s creativity and impact were recognised internationally, earning Silver in the Tourism category at the 2024 W³ Awards.

“Heathrow Together” demonstrated how cultural storytelling can redefine the relationship between a global brand and Chinese audiences.

The campaign positioned Heathrow as more than a transport hub – as a cultural gateway that understands and celebrates its passengers. Positive sentiment rose sharply, follower numbers surged, and Heathrow strengthened its leadership as Europe’s most engaged airport brand on Chinese social media.

The initiative also deepened commercial impact by spotlighting services such as luxury shopping, dining and the Heathrow Express, showing how emotional storytelling can translate into measurable business outcomes.

Cultural empathy transforms communication into connection.

By fusing heartfelt storytelling, authentic influencer engagement and bold design, TONG helped Heathrow turn an airport experience into a shared celebration – reminding travellers that even in transit, they can feel at home.