• by Tanya Gazdik , August 1, 2017

Cathay Pacific Airways has launched an interactive 360-degree video campaign.

With one tap on a mobile device, prospective travelers are transported into a luxurious first-class cabin where they can actively engage with their surroundings. The experience was created by Omnivirt using the proprietary hotspot technology which enables non-technical content creators to set triggers that viewers can interact with throughout the 360° video. 

The campaign will run over the coming months across major web properties.

The airline was prompted to try a 360-degree video out of the necessity to highlight the airline’s unique award-winning lounge and in-flight experience, says Robecta Ma, vice president of marketing, Americas at Cathay Pacific Airways.

“We have always enjoyed getting positive WOM from travelers. By introducing a 360-degree experience, prospective travelers will have a taste of our signature travel experience and be inspired to take a business/leisure trip with us,” Ma tells Marketing Daily. 

The effort was originally aimed at prospective travelers. The airline has had success with 360-degree video at large-scale events and conventions, where people can interact in a captive environment.

“However, since the inception of our current advertising campaign, we have been able to democratize/share our content with a mass online audience,” Ma says.

This is likely the first of many similar efforts, she adds.

“There are constant updates/developments to the world of 360-degree content,” Ma says. “We are definitely excited about any potential future experiences that allow us to make travel experiences to Asia more approachable and exciting.”

The company recently launched a large-scale media campaign which aims to inspire “bleisure” (business-leisure) travel and encouraging bookings with Cathay Pacific.

“We are currently advertising on Instagram, Facebook and publisher sites such as Conde Nast Traveler to bring awareness of the 360 video experience,” she says. “We are also leveraging programmatic advertising to ensure we are reaching the travel endemic.”

For the video, the company wanted to make sure it’s an authentic story about two travelers flying on Cathay Pacific from San Francisco to Hong Kong versus positioning it as an advertisement. All of the ad units are currently driving to the brand’s content site.