Exclusive: Following a Rebrand, Indie Creative Agency This January Wins Lufthansa’s American AOR


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Lufthansa Group, the global airline headquartered in Cologne, Germany, has awarded its North America creative business to Washington, D.C.-based indie agency This January. The agency will focus on strengthening the brand’s salience with U.S. and Canadian audiences.

The brand and agency declined to reveal the incumbent agency, or the other agencies it invited to the internally led pitch. However, Lufthansa also works with DDB Tribal Hamburg, based in Germany, on a retained basis. DDB confirmed it did not take part in a pitch and continues its work with the brand abroad.

Lufthansa and This January are building on three years of existing work, which the agency executed on a project basis. “[Lufthansa’s] partnership really pushes us,” This January partner and executive creative director Maggie Winters told Adweek.

Airlines, travel and traction with new clients

The Lufthansa win is one example of the agency’s recent growth and traction with large brands. It’s completed projects for other well-known brands like Nike and The Motley Fool.

Work on airlines is part of the founders’ careers within the industry. Winters and co-founder Zach Goodwin, years ago at another agency, worked on the Air Canada account together. More recently, This January expanded its airline relationships with a recent assignment for American Airlines.

The shop’s travel expertise goes further. It was agency of record for Destination DC highlighting the agency’s ability to encourage travel to an American destination before the travel brand took work in-house.

This January and Lufthansa’s relationship goes back to 2020. The companies partnered on a pop-up for Lufthansa brand Austrian Air, which wound up getting canceled when the pandemic shut down air travel. The following year, they executed a campaign called “Dear Tampa” for another Lufthansa subsidiary, Eurowings Discover, to increase awareness of the carrier’s new U.S. routes, targeting growing markets like Tampa, Salt Lake City and Southwest Florida.

Most recently, This January worked with the client on its 2022 “Generation Fly” social campaign. Soon thereafter, in late February this year, it received the brand’s RFP.

By early April, the team pitched Lufthansa via Zoom, and then in person the following week. Lufthansa awarded This January its business quickly after that.

“Even though we had worked together for years, we had never met physically—only over Zoom,” said Winters. “So it was nice to have that process of getting to know each other a little bit better before they made their final decision.”

They are now working to broaden U.S. consumers’ knowledge of the Lufthansa brand and of its subsidiaries. This year, the partners have a San Francisco campaign for the Swiss International Air Lines brand and a product innovation plan rolling out for Allegris, the airline’s ergonomic seating option.

“The Lufthansa Group is excited to bring the local touch back to the U.S. after many years without a regional creative agency. After extensive review, we picked this boutique agency to bring thought leadership and clarity to our needs in North America,” said Jeannine Ricci, media and marketing manager at Lufthansa Group, in a statement provided to Adweek.

Lufthansa was not available for additional comment on the announcement.

Rebranding after Jan. 6, 2021

This January recently underwent a name change, catalyzed by the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Winters and Goodwin, who is also a partner and executive creative director at the agency, founded the shop in January 2020. At the time they decided on the name January Third, which seemed fitting given the agency’s aspirational messaging.

“We didn’t yet know what was ahead of us,” said Goodwin of the pandemic, which would disrupt the global economy just three months later. The agency had big aspirations, though, and hoped its name would capture “the feeling at the beginning of the year, when you look out and there are 12 months of possibilities, you’re like, ‘This year, I can do anything,’” Goodwin added.

Launching the agency was the founders’ first joint entrepreneurial venture. Even before the pandemic, they understood they were taking a risk. The events of Jan. 6 were another unexpected event that wound up marring the young agency’s brand.

“It’s important that the world knows our name, because you can’t get RFPs if they don’t,” according to a video on the agency’s website explaining its founding and rebrand.

“It was sad for us that then a year and three days later, there was the weirdness at the Capitol. It was a horrific day. For a while, it never even occurred to us. … But then it seemed to become clear that the words ‘January 6th’ were going to be attached to that day,” Goodwin said.

Any connection to the Capitol riots felt unacceptable to the leaders, especially when they found themselves fielding questions from clients and prospects who unassumingly said things like, “Oh, good thing you didn’t name it for three days after,” she added.

Clients understood that there was no connection between the events on Jan. 6 and the agency, the founders admitted. Despite this, the leaders decided to workshop their agency’s brand the same way they would a client’s brand when navigating a similar brand safety concern.

“The fresh start feeling is hard to get when folks are thinking about a dark spot in our history,” said Winters. The rebrand, which the agency executed itself, launched in May and wrapped up just this month. Now that the agency is three years old, it’s gaining momentum. It recently released a video explainer of both its origin and the impetus for its name change.

“We wanted this also to be an introductory document to the rest of the client universe that we hoped might end up finding us as a result of this unusual brush with American history,” said Goodwin.

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An AI Version of J.Lo Invites Travelers to Set Sail on Virgin Voyages


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The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has raised concerns when it comes to using the technology to create celebrity deepfakes. But Jennifer Lopez is embracing its potential by giving Virgin Voyages permission to use her likeness for a “Jen AI” custom invite tool.

Created by VMLY&R, the tool hosted within virginvoyages.com allows consumers to invite friends and family to join them on one of the adults-only cruises. The messages from Lopez can be customized with the occasion, amenities they want to hype, destination and the names of the organizer and invitees.

“Life is busy and it’s difficult to get your crew together and make it all happen,” Ryan McManus, VMLY&R chief creative officer of North America, said in a statement. “With all the developments around [generative] AI, we decided to build something that can help invite the world to Voyage.”

Virgin Voyages introduced the new function in a minute-long ad showing Lopez talking up the cruise, only to have her voice replaced and her face become pixelated. The video then moves to an “AI lab” whose employees take turns in a motion capture suit to control what Lopez says and does.

“When we first announced our partnership with Jennifer back in 2021, what excited us about the collaboration was combining our creativity with a shared passion for connecting and entertaining our audiences,” Virgin Voyages chief brand officer Nathan Rosenberg said in a statement. “Through this wildly creative idea from VMLY&R, we are both using and poking fun at the world of AI.”

CREDITS

VMLY&R

Chief creative officer, NA: Jason Xenopoulos
Chief creative officer, NA: Ryan McManus
Group creative director:Gretchen Menter
Creative director: Perle Arteta
Executive producer: Christine Howley
Executive music producer: Theresa Notartomaso
Music production assistant: Karli James
Senior business affairs manager: Janet Muentes
Executive director, client engagement: Shali Wade
Executive director, client engagement: Becky Ginsberg
Group director, client engagement: Chelsea Dubin
Senior account manager: Camille Lavoie
Operations supervisor: Lauren Galanek
Director, client engagement: Dan Murphy
Program director, delivery: Mary Lou Ricci
Global chief strategy officer: Andrea Grodberg Ring
Group director, strategy and insights: Ricardo Munoz
Executive officer: Brian Yamada
Executive director, experience design: Brad Levine
Experience innovation: Fernando Martinez
Group director, experience design: Andy McLeod
Managing director, technology: Gabby Spurling
Director, experience design: Laura Robertson
Designer: Alex Makarainen
Technology specialist: Sean Dees
Associate director, technology: Rhia Dixon
Chief technology officer: David Mitchell
Writer: Joel Johnson
Senior designer: Carolyn Pokorney

Virgin Voyages

Managing director, Bain Capital: Matt Freeman
Chief brand officer: Nathan Rosenberg
Director, global brand and experience strategy: Billy Bohan Chinique
Creative director: Christian Schrader
Editorial director: Bailey Edwards
Head of social media: Elayane Merriwether
Director, global public relations: Michelle Estevam
Sr. manager – communications: Taylor Dixon
Head of production: Kathy Boos Tejada
Chief growth officer: Isis Ruiz
Director, integrated marketing: Virginia Rojo
Director – digital experience: Gabriel Mende
Head of paid media: Cindy Gil
Media specialist: Bella Clements

Deeplocal

Chief innovation officer: Patrick Miller
VP of creative technology: Blair Neal
VP of creative technology: Matt Franklin
Creative technology director: Sean Scanlan
Creative technology director: John Mars
Creative technologist: Swan Carpenter
Creative technologist: Ethan Nevidomsky
Director of production: Grace Reed
Production assistant: Carly Sacco

SpeakUnique

Chief technology officer: Oliver Watts
Chief executive officer: Alice Smith
Digital developer: Jeremy Jones

Flaunt Digital

Chief technology officer: Jamie Shields
Head of development: Sam Ward
Web developer: Aidan Maycock
Dev QA: Dan Stoakes
Dev QA: Matt Dove
Dev QA: Katie Pearson
Design QA: Hannah Thompson

Radical Media

Director: Dave Meyers
DP: Scott Cunningham
Producer: Colin Moran
SVP/head of commercials: Jim Bouvet

Wave

Sound engineer: Chris Afzal
Executive producer: Vicky Ferraro

Cabin

Editor: Chan Hatcher
Assistant editor: Katie Pehowski
Assistant editor: Nicole Lefteau
Senior producer: Mary Stasilli

Framestore 

Creative director, VFX: Vicky Osborn
Creative director, design: Brian Drucker
VFX lead: Kane Herd
Senior producer: Sue McNamara
Production support: Kate Richardson
Production support: Meghana Penumarthi
Production support: Susan Harris
Executive producer: Nick Faser
On-set VFX supervisor: James Rogers
On-set VFX supervisor: JR Hawkins
Compositing: Joseph Taylor
Compositing: Alex Ling
Compositing: Joseph Yoon
Compositing: Ariana Kolitsopoulos
Compositing: David Forcada
Compositing: Gil Milstein
Compositing: Em Hackley
Compositing: Jess Kim
Compositing: Keno Naidoo
Compositing: Tony Rivas
Compositing: Theuns Van Rensberg
Compositing: Zimei Song
Compositing: Yilin Lai
Compositing: Ryan Niko
Computer graphics: Jessica Soderstrom
Computer graphics: Sean Curran
Computer graphics: Leslie Clark
Computer graphics: Youran Liu
Computer graphics: Sean Dollins
Computer graphics: Jass Tsai
Computer graphics: Jeremy Livingston
Design: Crystal Sameul
Design: Kevin Sanchez
Design: Ryan DeCarlo

Company 3 

Colorist: Tim Masick
Assistant colorist: Stephen Winterhalter

VMLY&R Vault

Group director: Steve Stone 
Cinematographer: Jake Farmer 
Senior producer: Marni Dworkin 
Motion designer: Luke Rupp 
Senior editor: Jeff Stiles 
Editor: Cole Hannan 

Hearts & Sciences 

Executive director, strategy: Daniel Muirhead
Executive director, planning: Dale Travis
Senior director, integrated investment: Sebastian Pinzon 
Senior director, activation and performance: Caroline Mercurio 

The Medina Co

Executive: Benny Medina
Team Jennifer Lopez: Gilly Iyer
Executive, personal assistant: Chris Rondina

J. Lopez Entertainment

President, digital for Jennifer Lopez: Larry Del Santo

Full Picture

Project manager: Steven Fernandez
EVP, brand strategy: Liane Mullin Bratchter
Vice president of brand & strategy: Adeniz Villar

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Your Next Airbnb Stay Could Be at Barbie’s Malibu Dreamhouse


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First came Barbie, and then came her Dreamhouse. Toy company Mattel introduced Barbie’s home, a ranch house in Malibu, in 1962, three years after launching the doll. It has since taken on various styles to reflect the times, like a bohemian townhouse in the 1970s and a bubble-gum pink mansion in the 1990s. 

Now, ahead of the release of the Barbie movie on July 21, a few lucky guests can stay in the real-life version of the Dreamhouse through Airbnb. The life-size Dreamhouse is located in Malibu, Calif., and the lucky travelers will get to stay there for free. 

image
Barbie’s Dreamhouse on Airbnb is hosted by Ken, who’s put his own twist on the pink mansionAirbnb

Barbie’s Airbnb Dreamhouse resembles the toy pink mansion, with panoramic views of the beach. It will be available for two individual one-night stays for up to two guests on July 21 and 22. Bookings open on July 17. 

The Airbnb “host” is Ken, Barbie’s boyfriend, who has put his own twist on the storied home by kitting it out with his cowboy accessories, guitars, games and rollerblades, “because I literally go nowhere without them,” he writes in the listing. 

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Guests of the Dreamhouse can sample a piece from Barbie’s wardrobeAirbnb

Guests at the pink mansion will be able to access Barbie’s wardrobe, learn line dancing on the outdoor disco dance floor, perform a sunset serenade on Ken’s guitar, relax by the pool and take home “a piece of the Kendom” with a set of yellow and pink Impala skates and surfboard. 

As part of the activation, Airbnb said it will make a one-time donation to nonprofit Save the Children “to honor girls’ empowerment.”

image
Take a ride on Ken’s horse while at the Dreamhouse? Sure, why not.Airbnb

The Barbie Dreamhouse on Airbnb is the latest in a flurry of marketing activity leading up to the film premiere. Other highlights have included a Barbie-themed Xbox console, a limited-edition collection of Barbie shoes and accessories through retailer Aldo, a Barbie Land Berry Pink flavor at frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry, and a Barbie fashion collection at retailer Forever 21.

Directed by Greta Gerwig, the live-action Barbie movie stars Margot Robbie as the titular doll, who has an existential crisis and ventures into the real world. 

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DTC Luggage Brand Away Uses AI to Inspire Real Vacations


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DTC luggage brand Away has joined the growing list of companies integrating AI in their marketing, but the goal of its new campaign is to point out the limitations of the technology.

Created by AI artist Ulises and experiential agency Superfly, the “Extraordinary Is Out There” campaign demonstrates that no matter how wild an AI dreamscape may be, there’s a real-world destination that’s just as incredible.

“While many brands have experimented with AI in various ways, at Away, we felt it was important to share our perspective on AI in a way that reinforces our core belief—that the more you travel, the better we all become,” Away chief marketing officer Carla Dunham told Adweek. “This campaign was inspired by the fascinating intersection of travel, imagination and how cutting-edge technology facilitated by AI has the power to change our experiences. We wanted to put the power of discovery back in the hands of our community, pushing their imaginations beyond their limits.”

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Away partnered with Superfly for a two-day activation powered by AI.Away / Superfly

During a two-day activation at The Brig in Venice Beach, Calif., consumers were able to fill out questionnaires to create an AI-generated world. The immersive experience also showed off postcards depicting visually spectacular destinations, such as the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park and the northern lights in Iceland.

“AI possesses the power to create dreamscapes you’d think are unimaginable,” Dunham said. “In this case, Away has deliberately disrupted AI as we know it—blurring the lines between AI and reality to show our audience that extraordinary is out there, in the real world.”

The world is not AI-generated

image
Away’s 360-degree marketing campaign includes a full-page print ad in the New York Times.Away

The event kicked off a 360-degree marketing campaign that also features a full-page print ad in The New York Times using the tagline “the world is not AI generated,” a dedicated landing page on AwayTravel.com, and out-of-home activity near Away’s New York and Los Angeles retail locations meant to drive store traffic.

All attendees at the L.A. event received an email that included photos of real destinations as a way to encourage them to plan a trip. The goal was to reach Away’s core audience of curious travelers who value unique experiences.

“They are individuals who appreciate the beauty of our world, want the freedom to imagine without limits, and are inspired by the potential of the future,” Dunham said. “For them, technology is a conduit that enables a more visceral experience. It is not the endgame.”

The campaign’s success will be measured based on response to the activation, the social media buzz generated, website traffic driven by ads and QR codes and email responses. Away will be monitoring changes in brand sentiment, product sales and inquiries that can be linked to the effort.

“This activation allows us to drive a new conversation and make a statement that our world’s beauty is unparalleled,” Dunham said. “We hope it sparks wanderlust and curiosity to get away and explore the incredible, otherworldly locales that actually exist in our world today.”

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Renault Wins Creative Strategy Grand Prix at Cannes for Rural EV Charging App


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In 2020, Renault transformed a small French village into a haven for electric vehicle charging. “Village Electrique” by Publicis Conseil won the Outdoor Lion Grand Prix in 2021. Now the agency and automaker are back with another Grand Prix-winning campaign in the Creative Strategy category, based on the same concept.

Renault’s “Plug-Inn” expands rural charging stations all over France by connecting electric car drivers with private charging stations through an app. The campaign hopes to connect EV drivers with local communities in France to enable up to 475,000 additional electric charging points.

It’s kind of like an Airbnb for EV drivers as it links travelers with private charging stations in more remote regions, where finding a place to recharge is usually a bigger obstacle and sometimes a barrier to people going electric.

“This was creative strategy redefining the car category,” said Creative Strategy Lions jury president Amrita Randhawa, CEO of Publicis Groupe Singapore and Southeast Asia. “This was creative strategy that was opening up an entirely new revenue model for the brand. It was delivering real value, including monetary value, to its consumers. And it was solving an infrastructure problem that no one else had solved.”

Creative Strategy gold winners:

  • M&M’s | “Spokescandies on Pause” by BBDO New York
  • Reckitt and Ambitious About Autism | “Me, My Autism & I” by Havas London
  • Grupo Estrategico Pae | “Morning After Island” by Ogilvy Honduras
  • Partners Life | “The Last Performance” by Special Auckland

Creative Business Transformation Lions

After picking up a Design Grand Prix on Tuesday, Microsoft and McCann New York continued their winning ways with a Grand Prix win in the Creative Business Transformation category for “ADLaM—An Alphabet to Preserve a Culture.”

The campaign saw Microsoft transforming the alphabet of the language of the Fulani people of West Africa, called Pulaar, into a new digital version. The alphabet, known as ADLaM, is now available for use across the Microsoft 365 suite, desktop and mobile platforms, preserving an important culture while promoting literacy across West Africa.

Creative Business Transformation Lions jury president Justin Peyton, chief transformation officer, Wunderman Thompson APAC, said the campaign was transformational for both Microsoft and the communities that benefitted from the technology.

“On the surface, it might appear to be a beautiful set of designs, but what it really showed us was how an idea like that could connect to what was an otherwise marginalized culture and marginalized people, [and] empower them to create their own businesses within that culture,” said Peyton.

Creative Business Transformation gold winners:

  • Nikkei | “Well-Being Index (GDW) by Dentsu Tokyo
  • Renault | “Plug-Inn” by Publicis Conseil

Creative Commerce Lions

HungerStation, one of the leading online food ordering platforms in Saudi Arabia, worked with Wunderman Thompson teams in Riyadh and Seattle to create a tool that hands the food decision-making process over to a deeper part of the mind. “Subconscious Craving” earned a Grand Prix in the Creative Commerce category.

Images of different cuisines are presented to the user via a tool in the HungerStation app, which uses the camera to track users’ eye movements. It then uses topic modeling AI to organize food options and present an instant report of what the eye lingered the longest on to reveal the “Subconscious Craving.” The tool then generates a list of local restaurants where HungerStation customers can order.

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Creative Commerce Lions jury president Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, chief creative officer, FCB Canada, said the first Grand Prix category winner from Saudi Arabia won “because it was such a beautiful way to get people to order. It adds value to that experience—it turns it from something very transactional into something very emotional. We love that it solves a pain point: that choice overload we have when trying to [order] food on a food-delivery app.”

Creative Commerce gold winners:

  • Lunchables | “Lunchabuild This” by Goodby Silverstein & Partners
  • Oreo | “Oreocodes” by VMLY&R Commerce New York
  • Bank of Montreal | “Nxt Lvl” by FCB Toronto
  • Iceland Foods | “Iceland Food Club” by Ketchum London

Creative Effectiveness Lions

Ogilvy India and Cadbury Celebrations worked together to help out smaller businesses in India that were hit hard by the pandemic with a second round of ads featuring Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

The agency and candy brand saw that while big brands were more equipped to make a comeback after the economic devastation, local businesses and stores did not have that luxury.

They decided to lend a helping hand to small businesses struggling during the pandemic with last year’s “Not a Cadbury Ad.” With the data-driven campaign returning for a second year, machine learning was used to create ads that doubled as ads for Cadbury and thousands of local businesses. “Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad” grabbed this year’s Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix.  

“Sales results were undeniable. It had massive cultural impact. It’s a classic example of personalization at scale done in an interesting manner,” said Creative Effectiveness Lions jury president Devika Bulchandani, global CEO, Ogilvy.

Creative Effectiveness gold winners

  • Kraft Heinz | “Heinz Draw Ketchup” by Rethink Toronto
  • Brahma | “The Foamy Haircut” by Africa Creative DDB Sao Paulo
  • Madrid Fusion | “Invaluable Food” by Leo Burnett Madrid

Paul Hiebert contributed to this story. Follow all of Adweek’s Cannes Lions coverage here.

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The Mammoth Meatball Is Heading to Cannes Lions—Hopefully


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After 70 years of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, it’s not always easy to find new things to see and talk about. However, heading to Cannes Lions this year—where it is heavily tipped to be one of the big winners—will be a meatball made from mammoth meat.

Created to drive awareness and conversation around climate change-driven extinction by Wunderman Thompson Benelux for Australian food innovation startup Vow Food, the meatball was made from cultured meat including the DNA of the wooly mammoth, which went extinct about 3,600 years ago due to a change in the Earth’s climate.

The DNA was completed using fragments of genetic material from African elephants, which are understood to be the closest relative of the long-dead animal. It was promoted through a five-minute film explaining the initiative and the need for more people to eat cultured meat to avoid extinction.

Its unveiling in April provoked major media interest around the world, and now it’s set to make the journey from Amsterdam to Cannes, where the campaign has been nominated in the Innovation category. But it’s proving to be harder than expected.

Bas Korsten, global chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson who conceived the idea, explained to Adweek that the first consideration was to take the meatball on a flight as carry-on luggage, but it turns out woolly mammoth meatballs are not in the same category as fruit, veg and sandwiches for acceptable in-cabin foods.

“We weren’t so sure we’d be able to get it through customs, and neither were the airlines, so it was on to Plan B,” said Korsten. That will be driving the meatball to France.

“Our team in Antwerp was already driving to the festival, and as there was a space in their car (and no one likes the middle seat), we decided to strap the meatball in for an epic road trip. It will arrive in Cannes in time for the Innovation Lions Shortlist Presentation, and be driven back home with the rest of the team on Friday. Here’s hoping it will be a good passenger,” he continued.

While in Cannes, the meatball is also expected to be displayed to invited guests throughout the week.

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Programmatic Advertising Comes to the New York Subway


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Buying ads on the New York City subway is moving into the digital age.

In recent years, ads on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s trains and platforms have helped grow digitally native startups, firms like Casper and Hims, into household names.

But despite being a place for buzzy brands to advertise, the process of buying ads on the MTA has remained low-tech, with inventory only available via directly sold insertion orders.

Last December, Outfront Media—the digital out-of-home advertising company that contracts with the MTA to sell ads—began offering some subway inventory programmatically, meaning advertisers could buy ad space via a demand-side platform. The MTA is first publicizing these efforts now, Adweek can exclusively report.

For the MTA, programmatic doesn’t mean real-time bidding or identity-based targeting. Buyers can bid within the MTA’s available inventory, which, for now, includes the digital screens above subway entrances and exits, though that is expanding to screens in subway stations and Long Island Rail Road and Metro North platforms, according to Neil Shapiro, vp of programmatic at Outfront.

Advertisers can target by several variables including time of day, day of the week and location. Post-campaign reporting includes impression delivery, spend and timing of ad plays.

“Transit advertising is so effective because of its ability to reach consumers as they go about their daily journey, reaching them multiple times a day,” Shapiro said. “When coupled with the flexibility, speed to market, audience targeting, measurement and the ability to see campaign-wide reporting in one platform provided by programmatic, it’s a powerful combination.”

The large majority of campaigns are still direct buys, though programmatic is growing, Shapiro said. The goal of the MTA and Outfront is to attract new brands that might not have previously considered advertising with the MTA.

Those efforts are paying off: 78% of advertisers who bought ads programmatically are new to the MTA, according to Victoria Mottesheard, vp of marketing for the New York/East region at Outfront Media.

New revenue streams are important for the MTA, which has long faced financial struggles, particularly as ridership sagged during the pandemic. Last month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul passed a budget bill that helped the MTA allay a nearly $3 billion deficit.

Meanwhile, digital out-of-home has rebounded steadily since dipping during the pandemic. U.S. investment in the sector is anticipated to reach $2.94 billion in 2023, according to Statista.

The efficiencies of programmatic

While bidding programmatically on subway panels doesn’t necessarily open up buyers to more inventory or a more targeted audience, it can put an ad buyer’s budget to work more efficiently.

“[If a brand campaign] has $15,000 for one week on digital screens, it’s going to be a lot more tricky to do manually,” said Brian Rappaport, CEO of out-of-home agency Quan Media Group, which has worked with Casper, Skims and Away. “[With programmatic], they’re going to help make those dollars work as hard as they possibly can.”

Plus, programmatic provides more flexibility than upfront deals for brands new to transit advertising, Rappaport said.

“A lot of brands are a lot more reactionary and don’t want as many restrictions having to cancel things,” he said.

Programmatic makes it easier for brands to purchase inventory, as they can see all their digital media buys in one spot, said Geoff Litwer, vp of programmatic and display media at Tinuiti.

“We look at that as a major enhancement or upgrade to make [the MTA] available programmatically,” Litwer said. “It’s the workflow automation. It’s the unification of reporting.”

Buying programmatically can be more expensive because of the introduction of tech fees.

When to go direct

Despite the potential value gained from buying programmatically, some of the most popular kinds of transit advertising are when a brand takes over an entire subway station, Rappaport said, a kind of inventory that wouldn’t make sense to buy programmatically.

“Generally, we’re big fans of outdoor advertising. It’s been having a resurgence, or a moment. A lot of it is predicated on the fragmentation of media and the opportunity to create a tangible presence in a real-world moment,” said Eric Perko, CEO of media agency Apollo Partners. “Programmatic is not totally in line with that because you’re buying it fractionally.”

Perko said that while programmatic might be useful for a new advertiser to experiment with transit, he can’t see it completely replacing direct.

“It makes a lot of sense as a complement to a bigger buy,” Perko said. “When given the option, and assuming the brand has a budget to do it, we would still… want to buy directly.”

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To Get Airbnb’s Strategy Right, the Brand Had to Acknowledge What Was Wrong


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When a traveler rents a room from a host who’s not only present, but prepares the occasional meal and offers tips and guidance in an unfamiliar location, an Airbnb functions more like a bed and breakfast.

When an absentee owner rents their space through a property manager and limits contact to a lengthy cloud-based list of chores and fees, Airbnb guests are left to vent their frustrations into the air.

As more professional hosts entered Airbnb’s mix and prices rose closer to those of competing hotels, researchers discovered that travelers grew less tolerant of Airbnb’s idiosyncrasies.

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Visit Finland’s Happiness Masterclass Drives 150,000 Entries


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For six years in a row, Finland has been named as the world’s happiest country. Now, as part of an initiative to drive tourism, the country’s tourism bureau has been offering people the chance to be trained in being happy—and has received more than 150,000 responses through social media.

The initiative, led by Visit Finland and developed by agency SEK, will offer a select group the opportunity to participate in a four-day masterclass in Finnish Lakeland to help “Find Your Inner Finn.”

Featured in the masterclass are four key themes: nature and lifestyle; health and balance; design and everyday; and food and wellbeing. Helping participants to connect with nature, the masterclass takes place at the Kuru Resort in the Finnish Lakeland, a luxurious destination surrounded by fragrant pine forests. It will also be made available as an online resource in the fall.

“We believe Finnish happiness is a skill that can be learned: Anyone can connect with nature, learn about a more balanced approach to life, and discover their inner Finn. With this masterclass, we want to give more people the keys to happiness,” explained Virva Katajala, head of marketing at Visit Finland.

A 45-second campaign film outlining the opportunity to win a place in the masterclass was also released across social media platforms, showcasing the natural landscapes of the country.

To get involved, social media users on Instagram and TikTok were encouraged to share the first thing that came to mind when thinking about Finland to win the chance to attend the masterclass. Influencers around the world were tasked with joining in to drive awareness of the initiative, too.

”We encouraged people to create Reels on Instagram and Duets on TikTok. This allowed us to experiment with the strengths of the two channels; at the same time, participants could have a lot of creative freedom and fun,” said Enoma Edevbaro, social media and influencer marketing lead at SEK.

“We gained lots of organic traffic, and the message of Finnish happiness reached diverse communities from all over the world,” she added.

Having begun in March, the social campaign led by Accenture Song using the hashtag #FindYourInnerFinn drove around 150,000 video entries from more than 190 countries, and more than 20,000 social media challenges were received. It was supported by PR outreach which has, so far, generated coverage across 900 media outlets including CNBS and CBS News.

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VisitBritain Judges Americans’ Best British Accents in Tourism Push Ahead of Coronation


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Visitors who flock to the United Kingdom often head to London to see sites such as Buckingham Palace or Big Ben, but tourism body VisitBritain wants to demonstrate there is much more to see across the nation.

A recent marketing push from VisitBritain, created by agency Pablo London, uses both a new line of tea and an AI-powered mobile game to show off the diversity of the country’s regions and activities.

“Discovering new and surprising experiences is really high on the wishlist for our target audience,” VisitBritain deputy director of global marketing, Emma Wilkinson, told Adweek. “We’re looking to showcase our icons and what Britain is known for, but also show a lesser known side of Britain that’s full of those fresh and exciting experiences that hopefully encourage people to visit Britain this year rather than one day.”

Last month, VisitBritain worked with Cornish tea brand Tregothnan to create “The Great British Curosi-Teas,” a range of seven teas that each showcased a different British attraction. Monster Hunting Tea features calming manuka honey representing Scotland’s Loch Ness, while the Surf Tea uses Cornish sea salt to inspire visitors to hit the beach.

To develop the tea range, VisitBritain uncovered the top motivators for audiences where the campaign is running–France, Germany, Spain and the Gulf region–and then used data to inform the flavors and blends.

A multimillion pound campaign incorporates paid social and out-of-home ads in Paris and Madrid. These markets were selected because they showed the strongest rate of post-pandemic recovery, meaning they have the highest potential for return visitors, said Wilkinson.

Americans love British accents

VisitBritain developed another campaign focused on the U.S. market that is based on the insight that Americans like British accents.

Production company The Mill created a “Fake Brit Till You Make It” app using 500 recordings from natives of Liverpool, Newcastle, Essex, Scotland and Wales. Users can try their own attempts at the accents and be scored on their accuracy. They are then encouraged to share their impressions on social media.

“Americans love a British accent,” Wilkinson said. “Britain has one of the highest densities of different accents heard anywhere in the world. A lot of the U.S. audience that we’re going after also watch a lot of British reality TV, and they’re already doing accents on their own on TikTok and Instagram.”

VisitBritain is working with influencers to try the game and share it on their own channels. It has also partnered with magazine Vanity Fair to run a “Talk British to Me” content series directing traffic to the game.

The VisitBritain website spotlights activities corresponding to each accent, such as the Johnnie Walker experience in Edinburgh, Scotland or white water rafting in Wales. VisitBritain also works with a variety of travel partners, including Hilton and Historic Royal Palaces, to guide customers along the booking journey.

Both campaigns will run until June and continue to evolve. For example, VisitBritain recently added a His Majestea flavor to its tea range to mark the coronation of King Charles on May 6, which was served during his state visit to Germany in March.

VisitBritian also plans to serve the teas at events planned for both the coronation and the Eurovision Song Contest running in Liverpool May 9 to 13.

“We’ve got a really exciting couple of months ahead, so we want to celebrate those moments on the world stage,” Wilkinson added.

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