We can all learn something from Norwegian's digital advertising

NY Daily News 

Recently, Norwegian Airlines caught our attention with a clever advertisement for flights to Los Angeles. The ad, as you can see on the right, states ‘Brad is single. Los Angeles. From/one way, incl. taxes £169’. A nice example of newsjacking, related to the recently announced breakup of the famous Hollywood couple, Brangelina. This promotional campaign was originally put into newspapers and Norwegian's website but soon went viral due to people taking pictures of it and posting it on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. This almost convinced us to go hunting for our future husband in LA. Unfortunately, classes are mandatory and thus, we have to be satisfied with digging a bit deeper into Norwegian Airlines’ previous, and at least as inventive, marketing campaigns.

That’s where the Red Cab popped up. At the end of 2014, the airline company offered an interactive way to discover New York from a shopping mall in Oslo. People were attracted by a digital screen that allowed them to communicate directly with a New York cab driver. The latter gave a guided city tour, with a 360° camera on top of the car. The passengers could decide where they wanted to go by touching and swiping on the screen, while the driver gave them interesting information about the city that never sleeps. The aim of this campaign was to inform people about the airline’s long haul destinations, such as New York. The whole video can be watched below.

We realize, as touch screens are getting more and more intertwined in our lives, they are also becoming a new, important, channel for digital marketeers. Lizz Morell of MarketingTech supports our opinion with scientific arguments, saying that interactive ad displays are better at engaging people than static equivalents. She states that emotional responses and the recognition of words are way higher for interactive ads. In the video of Norwegian Airlines' campaign, we can see this being put into practice. People are enjoying the digital car ride and will definitely remember it. Even if they won’t fly with this airline, we believe they will still associate it with a positive experience. Furthermore, we think it’s a creative way to create brand awareness and is more memorable than seeing a Norwegian Airlines advertisement of visiting New York on television.
Thus, according to us, the medium can make a humongous difference in the promotion of a campaign. Currently, we’re being overwhelmed with advertisements from all kinds of sources. In order to still attract people’s attention, marketeers either have to be really funny, appeal to people’s emotional side or use an inventive way to make a connection. In our opinion, the first and the last aspect are certainly present in this Red Cab campaign.

This particular campaign can be costly for the limited number of people that actually interacts with the screen. However, the number of people reached through sharing the video on the internet, is tremendous. A clever combination of digital and viral marketing. As we have seen in their previous advertisements, Norwegian Airlines succeeds well at getting their marketing to go viral. They convinced us to like them on Facebook so we definitely don’t miss out on their next well thought marketing campaign. Especially, if we could bump into a screen that is able to drive us to Brad Pitt’s house, we would surely get in line to take a ride.
Buckle your seatbelts and enjoy Norwegian’s digital flight!
Valerie Eeckhout & Jana De Lobel



Source article Red Cab: http://clearchannelinternational.com/news/norwegian-takes-norway-on-a-memorable-joyride-in-nyc
Source article Lizz Morell: http://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2015/may/27/its-clear-interactive-ad-displays-are-more-engaging-static-equivalents/
Source image: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/norwegian-airlines-brad-pitt-ad-article-1.2803286
Source video Red Cab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xPsfYMAdps