The Creativity Ain’t Dead Series
Part 2: Now we’re FLYING!
Ahhh airports – a place of excitement, anticipation, emotion, frantic rushing, cheesy rom-coms…and fancy advertising! Yep, airport advertising ain’t cheap, but it does have unrivalled power to build awareness – especially for premium brands.
A 2021 study by ResearchBods (admittedly funded by JC Decaux!) surveyed 6,000 consumers in the five markets of China, France, Germany, UK and the USA and found that Airport ads scored an index of 111 for perceived value (vs TV at 101, Print 100, Mobile 95 and Website 94) and 113 for prestige (TV 99, Print 98, Mobile 99 and Website 99), compared to the average for all researched advertising environments.
Much of the time I find airport advertising to be the epitome of ’watered down to be understood by all and offend no one’. Thankfully, amongst all the vanilla gloss are some creative gems!
Let’s start at a place of (often) painfully high dwell-time - baggage reclaim. Virgin Atlantic’s baggage handling skills are artfully presented here, with an egg-cellent bit of humour thrown in!
Amnesty International have produced some spectacular creativity through many mediums, and their anti-human-trafficking stunt here from 2009 at Munich airport (with a real person in the suitcase) is brilliantly attention-grabbing.
See the video here (in German) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bF9HNZzpkk
…and here’s a similar idea for a very different message – Promoting the “magic” of Monte Carlo - from David & Goliath Advertising in the U.S. (assuming this one is NOT a real person though!)
Now let’s have a look round the rest of the airport. This bold installation from BMW at its hometown of Munich had a light-up board and engine sound effects to draw attention to its energy-efficient claims, whilst very much sticking to its premium, slick image.
Whilst we’re on the subject of BMW, here’s a fresh and very clever way to double the size of your billboard space using the highly polished and reflective flooring at Hamburg airport. “Exceeding Maximum” in more ways than one!
This one’s not technically an ad but a very creative, and slightly creepy, Gollum installation at Wellington Airport, New Zealand, which certainly spotlights the Lord of the Rings being filmed there!
A very cool idea here from the Red Cross at Stockholm airport – gamifying charity donations to make gamers feel better about their wasted cash and giving donors a bit of added value. Win-win!
And if it’s impact (amongst travellers and plane-spotters alike) you’re after, this Bulgari Watches Alitalia plane wrap exudes serious prestige vibes!
Now let’s hop aboard and see what in-flight genius we can discover… From Leo Burnett Sao Paulo – a great way to showcase Fiat’s large sunroofs!
Golden Holidays, on Malaysia Airlines, found an inspiring way to capture imagination and spark inspiration for travellers’ next holiday activity…
…and finally – because everyone loves a blooper – be careful where you place your airline ads! This one, from Turkish Airlines, is definitely NOT creating that warm and fuzzy trust feeling…
