benchmark report
airline marketing
a journey into another dimension
the most epic safety video ever made
LUFTHANSA
To drive awareness of its new Premium Economy product, Lufthansa has launched an app for iPhone and iPad that uses augmented reality (AR) technology that gives users a 360 degree, very detailed, view of the new seats. iPhone and iPad users (iOS 7 or later) are prompted to grab a pen and paper to “draw something that flies,” then scan the drawing to see a Premium Economy seat pop on their screen, enabling them to experience the new seat intuitively in detail, and experiment with the seat’s features. Lufthansa’s new AR app differs from most, like Blippar , which only work when a specific brand logo or image such as a QR code is activated. To further highlight the key benefit of the
NOVEMBER 2014 ISSUE
AIR NEW ZEALAND
extra space the new class offers, users can fill the Premium Economy seat area with lifesize virtual objects such as pizzas, footballs, bricks and more, which are inspired Lufthansa destinations.
Air New Zealand, which has been the first airline to reinvent the flight safety video before other airlines got cool with their safety instructions, on October 22nd went back to the Hobbit theme with its latest video.
Says Mat O’Brien, creative director at digital agency Space, which created the app, “The app is an interactive way to drive home the benefits of Premium Economy by closing the physical and emotional space between customers and the brand.”
Dubbed The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made (10+ million views so far), the video includes Hobbit directors and actors Sir Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood, Sylvestor McCoy, Dean O’Gorman, Sir Richard Taylor, and Naoyuki Shimizu, who each play themselves.
To back the app launch, Lufthansa is running an ‘in-app’ competition offering the chance to win a pair of Premium Economy tickets to any destination it flies to. Users can enter by guessing the number of jelly beans that can fit in the space provided by the Premium Economy seat.
The 4:30 minute journey begins with two Tolkien obsessives racing through the airport to make their ANZ flight. Once seated, their jaws drop when they realise that they are sitting across the aisle from Frodo Baggins himself. After their own safety video starts, they are transported into the rolling green hills of the Shire.
There, cabin crew dressed in Air New Zealand uniforms with Elvish touches of twinkly headbands, cloaks and pointy ears, inform viewers that smoking is illegal on aircraft, and the emergency landing position is demonstrated by a dragon-riding Gandalf. Sir Peter Jackson pops up to instruct viewers to turn off all electronic devices. Then, much like in the films, it all culminates in a huge battle scene, except they all end up hugging each other. This is the airline’s second Hobbit-themed safety video. The first - called An Unexpected Briefing (12 million views) was released in October 2012 as part of its partnership with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey movie.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
