An interactive film took visitors on an engaging virtual space journey while at the same time explaining the challenge. In the film we follow the balloon’s ascent to space, all to the tune of epic music and sound effects making it a truly cinematic experience. High-end graphics and 3D animations informed the user on how nature’s elements could influence the balloon’s journey, such as wind speed, direction & temperature. During this virtual flight, layers of interaction in the film let visitors hear, read and learn about various elements of the upcoming live balloon flight and use this information to make their prediction more accurate.

In the film’s final climax, the balloon reaches the edge of space and pops at its highest point. The film then merges seamlessly into the interface of the game where contestants were asked to claim their very own place in space.

By making the website experience revolutionary, we made the digital competition the ultimate brand promotion platform for KLM, attracting and inspiring people. On top of that, participants could increase their chances to win the competition by asking friends to endorse them via social media or email, creating a viral effect.

The campaign was supported by on- and offline media such as an exciting trailer of the online experience, posts on social media, billboards at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and various video banners that inspired people to join the challenge. Our seeding efforts combined with the spectacular online experience generated buzz and participation that exceeded KLM’s expectations.

During our 12-day campaign we reached more than 25 million people worldwide, resulting in over 3.2 million seeding film views. We registered 708.588 unique visitors on the campaign sites for desktop, tablet and mobile combined. In total 129.288 participants claimed their place in space (30% above target). The average time on site exceeded the extraordinary duration of 6 minutes per visitor. And 66.425 participants shared their place in space, resulting in over 120.000 visitors from social media. Total ‘online buzz’ was 16.554 mentions. And 32.513 people watched the live event on April 22nd.