Delta-Tray Table Art

DELTA - TRAY TABLE ART

Airline tray tables are something of a dead space, they are beige, unimaginative and the only purpose they serve is to hold your in-flight meal (or laptop if you are still allowed to carry it on board).

Delta Airlines has found another use for the humble tray table-turn it into an art canvass. The airline has partnered with soft drinks giant Coca Cola, which like Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, to produce the first tray table art.

Delta and Coca Cola invited artists to draw inspiration from different Delta destinations. The art is appearing on a Delta 767 turning it into an “art gallery in the sky”, while an exhibition of the original art work is on display at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

With the idea created by ad agency Wieden & Kennedy, the destinations on display via tray table artwork include London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York City, Paris, Sao Paolo, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo.

According to the agency, the artwork reflects the themes of “optimism, travel, refreshment and happiness.”

Artists include London based Noma Bar, who produced a weather themed tray table, while Ping Zhu’s Shanghai table drew inspiration from Chinese street markets.

In addition to being shared across Delta’s social media channels, the campaign was covered in a range of style, art and design blogs as well as mainstream media outlets such as the Guardian and the LA Times.

With many marketing campaigns being essentially variations of something that has been done before, Delta has come up with something new.

This is a campaign that works across a number of different levels, every canvass is a piece of content that can be shared across social media channels. Every artist and the inspiration for their story is a PR opportunity for the news media.

The plane itself makes for a great photo, while the exhibition in Atlanta allows everyone, whether they are flying on the Delta 767 or not, to see the art for themselves.

KEY TAKE-AWAY

Several airlines have now developed marketing campaigns around painting the outside of an aircraft, but what about the inside? Delta has come up with something innovative around traytables but what about other areas of the aircraft?

Seat covers, menus, even safety cards could provide opportunities for airlines to do something fun and interesting.