According to Away CMO Selena Kalvaria, even though the world hasn’t fully opened up yet, now was the right time to introduce the new line. “For us, it felt like the perfect moment for these accessories—you can either use them at home or get back onto the road,” she says.
Like others in the travel industry, Away endured major bumps over the past year. “Our revenue was down as much as 90 percent, and we were scrambling to figure out what was going on with the new world order,” Kalvaria says.
But by Memorial Day 2020, the company started to see traction rebuild alongside a rise in Airbnb bookings and changes in Google search trends.
Away, a digitally native brand, then adjusted its conversations with consumers by positioning its suitcases and weekenders for those taking short trips and more local getaways. The company even introduced a pet carrier, which quickly sold out, coinciding with the uptick in pet adoptions last year.
The catalog is the brand’s latest effort to build its one-on-one relationship with its community, even though travel hasn’t fully regained its footing. “We know the eagerness and stir-craziness has reached fever pitch, but we’re not quite ready for everybody to be able to travel safely,” she says.
That idea paved the way for the "SkyMall" spoof, which was created in-house by Away’s in-house team, led by Executive Creative Director Tim Roan, who previously worked at Lyft and Wieden+Kennedy.