All travel brands share the same problem: They need to promote cities to potential travellers and sell them on how exciting these destinations are to get them to want to go. But how can you truly experience a place if you’re not there? When Cathay Pacific Airways wanted us to promote Hong Kong, we knew we needed to find a way to solve for this conundrum. So we created something all visitors need: A travel guide. Using an eBook as our platform, we made ours modern and immersive with moving images, sound, branded content, and helpful technological interactions. All built around 17 stories of two first-time visitors. To create content for the book, we went to Hong Kong and for 5 days, shot over 6,000 images. We then launched it in the iTunes store.
For our effort to be considered a success, it needed to generate a 2% lift in online booking revenue as well as increase top-of-mind awareness with both our Millennial and Business Traveller targets. It has. To date, it’s led to an 11% increase in booking revenue over our goal. But equally important, the book has garnered earned media attention from all over the world with many of the images and stories receiving thousands of likes and reposts.
The eBook we created has created a new way for Cathay to go to market. With opportunities to promote key partnerships, new cities, as well as push special rates and offers directly to engaged customers who can book a ticket instantly, it reinvents the travel guide and the rules of travel marketing.
The book is available on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/life-well-travelled-hong-kong/id1135047048?mt=11.
The book is available on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/life-well-travelled-hong-kong/id1135047048?mt=11.
2.5d animated preroll banners developed for “Life Well Travelled Hong Kong.”
A first of its kind for an airline, we leveraged narratives from our guide allowing users to explore unique destinations while also providing them all the tools to plan a trip, including saving and sharing itineraries, and was connected to our booking engine. It was designed to also suggest routes and travel dates, spotlight special events and festivals and allow users to submit their own stories, photos and reviews to help other prospective travelers.
