Project

The World’s First Flying Food Truck Experience

Turning an inflight technology story into an experience people could see, taste, and share

Company: Gogo Inflight Internet
Event: SXSW Interactive
Year: 2013
Role: Campaign concept, social media, event activation, content, and audience engagement, influencer relations, AV production
Disciplines: Experiential marketing, aviation technology, social media, public relations, event production

The challenge

Inflight connectivity is difficult to demonstrate at a ground-based conference, especially with a limited budget.

Gogo’s product lived thousands of feet above the people attending SXSW Interactive. The challenge was to create an activation that made inflight internet tangible, generated attention in an extremely crowded event environment, and gave people a reason to engage with the brand.

A traditional booth or product demonstration would not have been enough. We needed an idea that connected the experience of being online in the air with something people already understood and loved on the ground.

The idea

When we kicked off our planning for SXSW 2014, all we had was a product, a limited budget and a Bombardier Challenger 603 private jet, outfitted with all the latest technology in airborne communication… So, when in Austin… We created what we described as the world’s first Flying Food Truck.

The concept combined two experiences strongly associated with SXSW: BBQ food trucks and technology. Instead of bringing another food truck to the streets of Austin, we took the idea into the air.

The plane took off from its base at Sugar Grove Airport in Sugar Grove, IL, bound for Austin. Our base for the next week was the Signature Air Support terminal at Austin International Airport. Signature Air terminals are unlike any airport you’ve ever been to, as they combine intimate spaces with a terminal specifically designed for private jets. Having a general aviation terminal offered us the space to take over several private meeting rooms with the ability to drive our guests right to the front door in their own limo. Guests would be greeted, handed their personal amenity kit, then guided directly onto the jet. Once everyone buckled in, we’d take off for a 60 minute flight over Austin, all in the comfort of a plush cabin with high-speed Internet, the new Gogo Talk and Text product and of course a delicious BBQ dinner and local craft beers.

The result was a campaign that transformed an invisible technology service into a memorable physical experience. Guests could eat, connect, share, and experience the product in the environment where it was designed to work.

My role

I helped develop and execute the campaign across social media, content, event marketing, and audience engagement.

My responsibilities included:

Helping shape the concept and campaign narrative.
Building the social media strategy around the activation.
Coordinating content before, during, and after the event.
Engaging attendees, media, influencers, and the broader online audience.
Translating a technical product into a story that was easy to understand and share.
Supporting the teams responsible for logistics, production, partnerships, and event execution.

Partners in the project included the flight crew (Dan and Nadia), our inflight technical expert Jerry, a small team from Weber Shandwick, Signature Flight Support Austin and of course the star of the show Keith’s BBQ.

Why it worked

The Flying Food Truck succeeded because the activation was directly connected to the product we were launching. Social noise at SXSW is always intense, and breaking through that noise is always challenging. Brands invest millions in their activations to get any kind of engagement. Our campaign worked because it offered several unique components: a private jet, influencers and a once in a lifetime experience. How many SXSW attendees could ever tell the story of their private jet BBQ dinner?

It was not simply a spectacle with a sponsor’s logo attached. The experience could only happen because passengers were connected while flying. Every social post, photograph, conversation, and piece of media coverage reinforced the value of inflight connectivity. Because I was involved in every component, I was able to amplify each engagement live and inflight.

The campaign also gave people a simple story to retell:

It was a friggin food truck in the sky!

That clarity helped the activation stand out during one of the busiest technology events of the year.

The outcome

The campaign generated millions in traffic and became one of Gogo’s most visible experiential-marketing activations. It earned attention beyond the attendees who participated directly, extending through social media, online coverage, photographs, and word of mouth.

Thanks to the huge social coverage, we earned mentions from publications like Crains Business, AdWeek, The Points Guy, and Trend Hunter.

What made it innovative

The project brought together:

Inflight connectivity.
Experiential marketing.
Social storytelling.
Real-time content.
Aviation.
Food culture.
A conference audience already primed to discover something new.
A crazy attention to detail: from custom amenity kits to branded aprons and limo decals, the project was mapped out in minute detail, ensuring a real wow factor from our guests.

Rather than explaining what connected flight could enable, we created an experience that allowed people to participate in it.

What I learned

The strongest event activations do more than attract attention. They make a product easier to understand.

The Flying Food Truck worked because the creative idea and the technology were inseparable. It demonstrated that even a complex infrastructure product can become accessible when it is turned into a simple, human experience.

It also reinforced an approach that has guided much of my work:

Do not merely describe the future. Give people an opportunity to experience it.