benchmark report
airline marketing
hamilton island in 360 degrees
#YourOpenMoment WESTJET WestJet, like fellow North American budget carriers JetBlue and Southwest, prides itself on a caring team and a corporate culture that promotes camaraderie and goodwill. The airline often uses video to help reinforce this message – with excellent results. By creating a steady stream of short, sweet, and heart-warming clips that focus on bringing joy to unsuspecting individuals, the airline has collected more than 49,000 subscribers on its YouTube channel and has seen much of this content go viral. The #YourOpenMoment video posted to WestJet’s YouTube channel and blog on July 5, is a perfect example of just how effective this “feel-good” strategy can be. The #OpenYourMoment video shows a foursome of golfers getting the surprise of their lives when they check in for an early morning tee time at an Ottawa golf club. Before AUG 2015 ISSUE
they could take a single swing, the four men were surprised by a WestJet employee who whisked them away in a limousine. The four friends were then flown to Oakville, Ontario, and taken to Glen Abbey Golf Club – home of the upcoming RBC Canadian Open (which WestJet sponsors) – to play their round while being cheered by a large number of WestJet employees. The men were also given all-new, top-of-the-line gear to play with and golf tops from the club pro. The raw emotion, stunned surprise and pure happiness that this day resulted in were all caught on camera. In less than 30 days, the YouTube video created from this effort was watched more than 1 million times.
QANTAS Qantas has taken destination marketing fur ther in a par tnership with Hamilton Island and Samsung to produce a 360 degree virtual reality video of one of Australia’s scenic holiday destinations. Qantas, Hamilton Island and RapidVR produced the 3D VR video of the Great Barrier Reef and the island resor t with the aim to give viewers a ‘vir tual tourism’ experience: flying alongside the pilots in the cockpit of a Qantas jet as it lands at Hamilton Island airpor t, relaxing at the resor t, swimming with sea tur tles and tropical marine life in the Great Barrier Reef, playing golf at the island’s golf course, enjoying aerial views from a helicopter tour over the reef, and sailing to Whitehaven Beach on a yacht.
Android users, however, running the latest YouTube app, can switch the video into vir tual reality mode and take the vir tual tour with their Google Cardboard headsets. Qantas also added the video to its Oculus Rift content offered at select international lounges and flights. The tour is also available for download for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift. “It’s a fantastic way for us to give our customers a unique experience of the Great Barrier Reef and Hamilton Island, which we expect will translate into more people choosing to visit the Whitsundays for the next holiday destination,” said Qantas Group Executive for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs, Olivia Wir th.
Desktop and iPhone users will only be able to see the video itself, swiping or using the mouse to look in different directions.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
