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#emiratesconnect4
try before you fly
EMIRATES
BRITISH AIRWAYS A lot of travel brands have recently been experimenting with virtual reality (VR) headsets for promotional purposes. However, beyond these marketing stunts companies are also looking to learn how this new technology can be used to improve the experience (e.g, Qantas’ trial to use VR headsets as IFE in First Class) and operations (airlines such as EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic ). On a similar note British Airways recently stated that “Virtual reality technology is developing fast and will be a game changer for the travel sector, as it is taking researching a business trip or holiday to the next level.” Earlier this year, BA used Oculus Rift VR headsets to market the airline’s destinations in the US. Passersby in the city centres of Milan, Frankfurt and Paris were invited to wear a VR headset and experience riding a bucking bronco in Texas, rollerskating down a
MARCH/APRIL 2015 ISSUE
Californian boardwalk or ice skating in New York’s Bryant Park. Video here . BA’s three virtual reality experiences have been created using footage filmed on location that was shot with six Go-Pro cameras and a specially-designed camera rig, and ‘stitched’ together to create a 360-degree world. BA said the VR experiences are “part of an investigation designed to trial how technology could be used by the next generation of travellers. Today’s travellers are checking out their destinations on TripAdvisor, street view and maps and this is the next step to let the customer actually experience destinations in the virtual world. It is the ultimate try before you fly.”
A snow storm in early March in New York did not stop Emirates from celebrating its four th daily service from New York’s JFK Airpor t with a larger than life Connect 4 game (images here ) which was placed in downtown Manhattan. Connect Four (a.k.a. Four in a Row) is a two-player game in which the players take turns dropping colored discs from the top into a grid, in order to connect four of one’s own discs of the same color next to each other before your opponent.
chance to win 2 Business Class tickets to any Emirates destination. Aiming to continue the event online, Emirates simulated a scavenger hunt for a Connect Four chip in a dedicated Instagram account , where par ticipants had to use their smar tphone to search in a continuous array of 144 posts made up of photos and videos that were a composite of four well-known Emirates destination. Once they found the chip, players complete their entry, for a chance to win 2 Economy tickets to any Emirates destination.
Emirates bills itself as a global connector of people, places and economies, hence the link with the Connect Four game. The Connect 4 event was promoted on Facebook — with a separate Facebook Invite — and Twitter, and passersby and fans on social media were welcome to play. Those braving the cold (image ) had a
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
