A personalised human experience from JetBlue

JetBlue, the American airline, installed an interactive billboard on a busy street in New York that reacted real-time to the passers-by’s actions. The activation, entitled A Better Wingman, aimed to inform prospective customers about the airline’s offerings in a fun and personalised way.  
 

The billboard, placed in New York's Chelsea district, invited pedestrians to choose from a variety of topics, press buttons and hear a series of apparently robotic, pre-recorded answers about JetBlue from what appeared to be a video of a crew member on the screen. 
 

The supposed robot assistant sure does a good job of mimicking dreaded automated machines by repeating: “Please repeat the question much slower” and “Please stand away from the microphone”.
 

But things take a turn when she starts to react real-time to the passers-by; dancing with them, commenting on their snazzy zebra-print shoes, or telling them to don their shades. 
 

Those who interacted with the billboard were lucky enough to eventually be offered a free travel ticket, which was handed to them by the lady in the billboard who steps out from behind the screen – proving that it was not just an automated activation, but a real and human interaction. 
 

One of the recurring issues consumers have with brands’ marketing activity is that the message too often feels like it’s intended for the masses and not relevant to the individual. Personalised, authentic and human interactions with consumers are thus key for securing a stable relationship. 

Last year the airline use experiential marketing to show off its new premium front-of-the-cabin service “Mint”. A four-day atrium-inspired lounge was installed at Los Angeles’ outdoor mall boasting TVs, snacks, mocktails.  

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