benchmark report
airline marketing
traditional
smartwatch boarding pass
france is in the air
VUELING
Airports and airport lounges are popular and high-profile testbed locations for companies to showcase their latest technological innovations, given the diverse and international mix of consumers and the industry’s high-profile in the media. Dubbed “product or service as marketing,” here the innovation is clearly designed for marketing purposes, with the objective to have bloggers and mass media talk about it, even if the actual adoption by passengers is 1 percent in the end. This year, wearable tech devices are joining the digital revolution, with Virgin Atlantic’s six-week trial - featuring Google Glass and Sony SmartWatch 2 devices - in its Heathrow lounge creating a huge wave of publicity for the airline. Meanwhile, Spanish LCC Vueling together
APRIL 2014 ISSUE
AIR FRANCE
with Sony has launched the world’s first airline smartwatch application that allows passengers to “carry both their boarding pass and flight information on their wrist,” as the companies put it.
After running its “Making the sky the best place on ear th” ad campaign for over 15 years, Air France has just unveiled a new marketing communication initiative called ‘France is in the air ’.
Conceived for Sony’s SmartWatch 2 intelligent watch, the Android-based app allows passengers to display a 2D boarding card barcode on the watch’s display, as well as displaying details of upcoming flights – similar to the functionality offered in many airlines’ smar tphone apps.
Tapping into the popular heritage/ vintage/nostalgia trend, Air France says the new campaign “is daring to be different, creating an effect of surprise by mixing heritage and modernity.” The visuals , created by the Argentine photographers Sof ia & Mauro, feature French icons such as the Moulin Rouge, the French Revolution, the Sun King, master chefs and haute couture, in a design style that echos Air France’s past as a renowned poster specialist.
The Vueling app is one of around 300 apps in the Google Play store that are currently available for the Sony Smar tWatch 2.
France: the A380′s comfor t, the airlines new La Première cabin, the new Business cabin, gastronomy, the network, and SkyPriority. Additionally, there will be twelve visual ads utilizing different iconic destinations served by Air France, such as Paris and New York (view them here ). A par t of its highly visual approach, the campaign also appears on Pinterest , Instagram and Facebook under the #franceisintheair hashtag. The multimedia campaign will run in twelve countries: France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, China, Spain, USA, Italy, Japan, Russia, Senegal, and Switzerland.
The campaign, created by BETC, consists of six visuals of services offered by Air
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TRADITIONAL
