Everywhere in the internet we are confronted with holiday stories of other people. Especially on our smartphones on social networks like Facebook and Instagram. All these great places are practically in our hands - and yet they are so far away. Lufthansa wants people to not only see dream destinations, but experience them directly.

Lufthansa Walk-In Ads – the first campaign in which one can directly experience destinations directly in advertising. People should explore exciting places as if they were there. An innovative augmented reality experience opens up a virtual gateway to dream destinations around the world for smartphone users. The user can look around in Hong Kong and New York and move freely. And best of all: They can be booked directly as part of a large-scale integrated campaign.

Since Millenials, like no others, are not only constantly on their phones, but also on a permanent hunt for the best Instagramable vacation destinations, we went ahead and teamed up with Shazam to turn advertising media into Augmented Reality gateways, tailormade for Generation Y and Z.

By engaging with digital ads on smartphones, In-media ads, takeovers, banner ads on Shazam, and traditional Out-of-Home placements, users can launch and place virtual portals on their smartphones. Then, they can walk right in those portals and explore cities such as Hong Kong and New York. This is made possible by specially crafted 3D podiums, in combination with 360° environments, which enable people to roam freely in the virtual destinations. While on their AR trips, users can take and share selfies with friends online. Those who want to take a step further are given real-time offers to go see the actual places.

The campaign reached almost 17 million impressions shortly after its launch. In addition, she recorded an above-average retention time of more than 50 seconds. On average, the users spent almost a minute intensively examining the application. Almost a minute more than with a commercial banner.

The augmented reality walk-in ads boosted the flight bookings during the promotional period. A total of up to 25 million impressions resulted in a high CTR of 0.83%.