• by Sarah Mahoney , 93 minutes ago

Away isn’t tiptoeing into holiday marketing. To stand out on New York streets — and in an internet drowning in AI-produced content — the luggage brand unleashed an 8-foot suitcase, built with visual artist Gab Bois, as part of its new “Get Away With More”  campaign.

“We wanted to do something less expected, and tap into that universal sentiment of more,” said Christine Gallagher, Away’s vice president of marketing. “More joy, more connection and more time together. But it's also about having a little fun.”

Gallagher says the giant bag was meant as a kind of antidote to AI sameness. “So much storytelling is AI-driven these days, and we wanted to double down on real, lived experiences and tangible creativity.”

The hero video follows a determined crew of travelers racing toward an abandoned aircraft hangar, where they transform the contents of their Away suitcases into a holiday feast: candlesticks, linens, glassware, a tiered cake, even a quivering Jell-O mold. “It’s a celebration of authenticity and real, lived-in moments of togetherness and travel that symbolize the holiday season,” she tells Marketing Daily.

Away created the work with Gus, a New York agency, and food artist Zoe Hegedus. The ads are running across digital channels, TV, streaming and paid social.

The oversized suitcase became a local spectacle in Soho, where the company added a scavenger-hunt twist, encouraging people to track sightings on social media for the chance to win prizes.

The campaign arrives as Away turns 10 and continues shaping its post–startup identity. The company weathered a well-publicized leadership shakeup back in 2019 and, more recently, a 2024 staff reduction. The new work represents a next step for the brand’s marketing. Gallagher says the new work extends concepts the company introduced this summer, rooted in “deep, real travel experiences” and storytelling that taps into why people move through the world. This iteration, Gallagher says, signals “a little more boldness,” along with solutions aimed at real travel needs and frustrations.