LAYOVER WITH A LOCAL

TitleLAYOVER WITH A LOCAL
BrandKLM
Product/ServiceLONG OVERHAUL FLIGHT SERVICE (NEW)
Category A01. Activation by Location
Entrant ACHTUNG!McGARRYBOWEN Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation ACHTUNG!McGARRYBOWEN Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
PR ACHTUNG!McGARRYBOWEN Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production ACHTUNG!McGARRYBOWEN Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Credits
Name Company Position
Daniel Sytsma mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative Director
Christian Mezöfi mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Design Director
Boris Nihom mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Strategy
Michael van den Brande mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Strategy
Sharinda Teunissen mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Producer
Joost Huver mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Designer
Scott McPherson mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Motion designer
Jasper Jansen mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative
Niklas Kristensen mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative
Elko Born mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Copywriter
Rutger Paulusse Gwer 3D artist
Johannes Matsson Johannes Matsson Motion Graphic Artist
SuperHero Cheesecake Superhero Cheesecake App development
Massive Music Massive Music Music & Sound Design
Daniel Sytsma mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative Director
Christian Mezöfi mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Design Director
Boris Nihom mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Strategy
Michael van den Brande mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Strategy
Johan de Meijer mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Digital Producer
Joost Huver mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Designer
Scott McPherson mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Motion Designer
Jasper Jansen mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative
Niklas Kristensen mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Creative
Elko Born mcgarrybowen Amsterdam Copy Writer
Rutger Paulussen Gwer 3D Artist
Johannes Matsson Johannes Matsson Motion Graphic Artist
Superhero Cheesecake Superhero Cheesecake Development
Massive Music Massive Music Music & Sounddesign

The Campaign

Who likes waiting for 6 hours? Especially at a gate. We found out that KLM passengers stay at the airport while the city centre is only a 14 minute train ride away. That’s why KLM (being the social airline) introduced Layover with a Local, a new service that turns your transfer into a trip. It connects the thousands passing through the airport, with the hundreds of thousands living in Amsterdam. And instead of making travellers queue up for the obvious tourist traps, we match them with interesting locals, motivated to meet new people. Like language students who’d like to practice a new language or expats who want to show off their hometown to people from their home country. The most active locals are rewarded with a KLM ticket to the country of their new found friend.

Creative Execution

At the heart of the service is a smart app that handles the matchmaking and way-finding. Travellers are matched to a locals in advance based on their shared interests, languages and preferred availability. With a simple guide and a complimentary train ticket to the city, we help travellers get from gate to meeting point and make sure they don’t miss each other. The app even buys the local and the traveller a free drink at a typical Amsterdam bar. When it is time to go, the app gives them a heads up using real-time flight information. We created an end-to-end user experience helping KLM passengers throughout their journey by making the Layover with a Local as easy and low-barrier as possible.

Layover with a Local was launched in February and still live, so we do not have the complete results yet. Layover with a Local was featured in major publications read by frequent travellers from all over the world: Forbes, The New York Times, Conde Naste, USA Today and KLM even got interviewed on CNN about Layover with a Local. Since launch, more than 3000 locals have already signed up to participate in the service More importantly, with Layover with a Local, we turned waiting time into quality time. Layover with a Local is on its way to become part of the standard premium service of KLM. Because for KLM, a layover is just one more way to take you somewhere.

KLM wanted to increase the service perception of the brand and promote Amsterdam as a final destination. The brand had been a social media champion (with 150 social media-managers), which has been a profitable strategy for their business (+25m/year thanks to social media). We built upon this social image by providing that typical brand of KLM service, at a time in the customer journey that is uncomfortable for any traveller: the layover in KLM’s hub in Amsterdam. The service is aimed at passengers with a layover of 6 hours or longer (13% of all KLM passengers). The challenge was to find Amsterdammers who were intrinsically motivated to participate. We targeted specific groups, like students in language school and invited them to practice their language or expats and asked if they wanted to show somebody from their home country their new hometown.