benchmark report
airline marketing
tv, print, ooh
jennifer anniston
google cardboard
EMIRATES
THOMAS COOK, AIR NZ As developments in virtual reality (VR) technology come hard and fast, experiential industries like travel and tourism are finding fun and effective ways to use it for marketing. Google Cardboard is just such a development: an inexpensive virtual viewer that lets people get a VR experience by simply downloading an app and folding some cardboard around their smartphone. This technology presents a great opportunity for airlines show off attractive features and services or promote destinations in a controlled and branded environment. In a campaign targeting travel agencies in the UK, Air New Zealand has created the Air NZ Cabin Viewer app and is giving away 1000 build-it-yourself Google Cardboard units to travel resellers who apply online. With Google Cardboard, the agencies can invite potential passengers to experience Air NOV 2015 ISSUE
New Zealand cabin interiors on its 777-300ER aircraft flying between London, Los Angeles and Auckland. Similarly, five Thomas Cook Retail shops across the UK are using Google Cardboard to give holiday makers a “try before you buy” experience. Travel brochures available at the stores promote the Thomas Cook Holiday 360 app , which lets customers view exciting content about six Thomas Cook hotels and resorts, all in 360 degree high resolution. People who pick up a brochure for Egypt’s Red Sea will also get a free Google Cardboard viewer for the full VR experience.
Emirates has gone straight for the jugular, poking fun at Nor th American airlines with a new TV advert starring America’s sweethear t, Hollywood actress Jennifer Anniston. The adver t begins with Anniston wrapped in a bath robe and wandering around an airplane in search of the shower and the bar. She encounters some not-so-friendly flight attendants (with American accents) who inform her that there aren’t any onboard. Anniston is confused because Emirates planes have these amenities. The flight crew then proceeds to laugh at her mockingly. Just then, the actress is star tled awake, relieved to find herself in an Emirates first class suite. In the next scene she is standing at the Emirates A380 first class bar, telling the bar tender all about her awful nightmare.
Though it is a bold move and one sure to infuriate the US’s big three carriers (American, Delta and United), the adver t’s 4.5 million YouTube views are undeniable proof that, sometimes, this tactic can yield results… or at least get people talking. The controversial adver t has received tons of international press. Everyone from Hello Magazine in the UK to Fox News in the US and brandchannel.com offering their two cents. Emirates currently has its own starring role in a bitter dispute between the “big three” gulf airlines (Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad) and America’s three majors (American, United and Delta), which makes the timing and the message of this spot all the more newswor thy.
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EXPERIENTIAL SOCIAL DIGITAL TV, PRINT, OOH
