It was the sound of summer – and for marketers it was a masterclass in brand building.
Jet2’s now-infamous “Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday” campaign became an internet phenomenon with more than 2.8 million TikTok videos, 42 million likes on the top post, and a staggering 80 billion global views. But behind the apparent “overnight success” sat almost a decade of relentless brand consistency.
At Prolific North Live 2025, Don McGrath, Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder of Supersonic, and Zoe Lister, the actress and voiceover artist behind the viral line, dissected how eight years of brand equity suddenly paid off in spectacular fashion.
“Anyone who was anywhere near social media this summer couldn’t escape it,” McGrath told the audience, in what turned out to be the most lively and joyous events of the one-day marketing summit at UA92 in Manchester. “It absolutely exploded across the internet. But overnight successes are rarely overnight. This was eight years of relentless consistency and brand equity building that created the perfect storm.”
The session formed part of Prolific North Live’s packed agenda on The Next Big Thing in Marketing, and this feature is the latest instalment in Prolific North’s Focus Week series unpacking the standout insights and case studies from the event.
A campaign built on emotion, not gimmicks
McGrath has led Jet2’s creative for almost a decade, including the introduction of Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand soundtrack and the brand’s signature red-and-white visual world.
“The whole idea came out of a truth,” he said. “At the time Jet2 was still talking like a low-cost airline — all price points and destinations. But holidays are different. They’re emotional. They matter.”
That realisation shaped the brand’s creative direction for years to come. Instead of flashness, Jet2 leaned into showing real moments, genuine joy and the emotional payoff of finally getting away.
“It wasn’t about creating a social movement,” McGrath said. “It was about being honest — showing that moment people work all year for. We kept it simple and stuck with it.”
“The wildest summer of my life”
For voiceover artist Zoe Lister, the campaign’s viral explosion took her career in a direction few could have predicted.
“I’ve been one of the voices of Jet2 Holidays for about seven years,” she said. “Most households will have heard me at some point — and now, apparently, the whole world has.”
When the jingle took over TikTok, Lister became the voice of a global meme. “It was the wildest summer of my life,” she said. “I had messages from every corner of the globe — from radio stations in New Zealand and America. I ended up doing live interviews, even performing the voiceover live at Newmarket Races.”
She was later flown to New York to appear on the Tamron Hall Show, and featured on NBC News, which covered the trend for an American audience unfamiliar with Jet2.
“They didn’t even know what Jet2 was,” she laughed. “They don’t have holidays in the U.S. — they have vacations. But they really got it. They loved the joy of it.”
McGrath said one of the key lessons for marketers was knowing when not to intervene. “Jet2 handled it brilliantly,” he said. “They didn’t try to control or shape the narrative. They just let TikTok do its thing. Too many brands panic when something takes off organically. The best thing Jet2 did was to let people own it.”
Relentless consistency pays off
The success, McGrath argued, was proof that fame comes from sticking with what works, not chasing newness. “There’s a real lesson in not getting bored,” he said. “When you’re getting tired of your campaign, that’s when the public is just starting to notice it.”
Citing long-running brand platforms like Compare the Meerkat, Holidays Are Coming and Should’ve Gone to Specsavers, he said: “Relentless consistency — that’s how you go from awareness to fame. If you’re really lucky, you become part of the culture.”
Lister read from a LinkedIn post by Hannah Bennett, TikTok’s Head of Travel, who summarised the campaign’s success as: “An instantly recognisable sound. Strong brand associations. A trend anyone can join. Classic British wit and a dash of nostalgia.”
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The contrast between the upbeat jingle and the chaotic, often disastrous clips people paired it with only amplified its appeal. “It was fun, joyful and instantly recognisable,” McGrath said. “You hear that song and you think of Jet2. That’s the power of consistency.”
While the trend itself lasted weeks, the foundations were laid over years of consistent creative and media investment. “This wasn’t about chasing virality,” McGrath said. “It was about creating something distinctive and emotional that people would connect with. Then, when the right cultural moment came along, it had the strength to take off on its own.”
The takeaway for marketers, Don said, was that success like this wasn’t luck, it was patience, persistence and the courage to stay the course. “When something works, evolve it — don’t abandon it,” McGrath said. “Stick with it long enough for people to really feel it. That’s how you get remembered.”
Prolific North Live brought together more than 250 leaders from brands including Berghaus, Specsavers, Pringles and SharkNinja with leading agencies, marketers and creatives from across the UK and Europe for a deep dive into The Next Big Thing in Marketing. with headline sponsors Dotdigital, Slater Heelis, Buymedia and CTI Digital.
