SABRE Showcase Podcast: In the Age of AI, Icelandair Keeps It Real

0:01The Provoke Podcast brought to you by Provoke Media and produced by the international broadcast specialist Marketeers.

0:17Paul Holmes: Welcome everybody. I'm Paul Holmes and this is part of a series of podcasts that we have been working on to celebrate the best award-winning work that we saw in our various Sabre competitions around the world over the last 12 months. Basically, we wanted to shine a little light on the campaigns and also celebrate the people who were smart enough to come up with the creative ideas and bold enough to sign off on them and put them out there in the marketplace. And today we're going to be talking with the creative force behind one of our favorite campaigns. It won Best in Show in our EMEA Sabre competition earlier this year.

1:10Paul Holmes: It's called The Real Unreal. It is the brainchild of Iceland there and Fleischmann Hiller. And I have representatives of both here with me today. We have the director of marketing from Icelandair. Do you want to introduce yourself? My name is Kisly and I'm the global director of marketing at Icelandair. Kisly Sivron Brynjolfsson. Try to pronounce that. I didn't, very conspicuously. And Philippa, I can manage Philippa, but tell us who you are. Hi, so I'm Philippa Selway. I'm one of the partners in the Bradley Impact team at Watchman Hill Art London. And this is a campaign we loved because as more and more marketers seem to be turning out AI's slop, this was a campaign that sort of zigged when everybody else was zagging and decided to make its refusal to countenance AI the centerpiece of the campaign.

2:20Paul Holmes: But why don't we start with where the insight for this came from? Yeah. Because I thought that was sort of fascinating. Absolutely. I think the beauty of this campaign is that it starts from a human truth, which I think is where the strongest and best work really kind of comes from and why it's resonated with so many people. And it simply sided with some insight that we gathered from focus groups that people thought Iceland was too good to be true. And at one point that panicked us. And then we thought, well, how do we flip this and actually make this a positive and actually embrace that and decide to really make a stand for real, authentic experiences and travel at a time when, yeah, you know, the AI algorithms are potentially dictating what everyone's thinking and feeling.

3:14And I think having that as our anchor that moved us forward, I think really helps us create something that's just touched so many people and given us a beautiful red thread to keep running with and building on. If I can add on to this, it's like where it started, started. It was, we posted a photo on Facebook, which was of one of the eruptions on the Reconish Peninsula. I don't know what that was, but... Yeah, a lot of video eruptions. Number 10, number 11 or something. And the photo in the northern lights were about the war-khaner corruption. And we posted it, but beautiful photo. And this started a heated discussion among our followers, if this was real or not.

4:08So that was the first thing that basically sparked this idea, but okay, are we there? People stop believing what we see on the internet. So, and then we took this work with Westman and all the ATHs as well. We have the nation and the Cupco and the Denmark and Kratos, the operating agency and Iceland, because this is a collaboration of a group of ATHs. So I think that's how it started.

4:43Paul Holmes: and how widespread was the problem of AI images not just about Iceland but about sort of travel generally once you started to look at this how much did you find that was obviously generated by AI? I think it was pretty prolific in the sense of a what you were seeing coming through from different types of destinations. I mean, the whole idea of AI influencers being created by destinations, I think is an interesting area to think about. But then also just from the practicalities of if you try and do it yourself in the AI tools of create an image of Iceland, you are being spat out something that might look a bit like Mordor.

5:36you might be spelled out with something that is yeah completely not a patch on the reality of the destination you're trying to create an image of and then when we actually then did some research and asked people across US and across Europe how they'd experience their own travel moments of maybe seeing a picture for a destination and when they got there it actually wasn't quite what they've been sold and bought into and so seeing how many different levels in which layers this was kind of turning into potentially a bigger, bigger issue for people and just people not really, you know, understanding a country like Iceland, the raw beauty of it, of why would you want to generate an image of Iceland?

6:22Paul Holmes: And how did you get from the inside to the particular execution that you went with? because one of the things that I found impressive about the campaign was that it was partly a sort of challenge where you laid down a sort of, you know, stop letting your users manipulate images. And so it could have been quite a sort of serious thing, but everything that you did had a sort of sense of humor running through it. So, tell me a little bit about how that sort of execution and tone of voice came about. Yeah, that was intentional. And I think that just in the world that we live today, and we saw that, for example, in Cannes, humor was basically the theme of almost everything that was there.

7:22So I think that was very intentional that we wanted to be more comic, more funny, more interesting, if we say so. And I think that the Open Lecture campaign that started all of this, we were dedicated to making that. obviously we're making some claims there doesn't you didn't wanna piss anyone off so we had to do it with the film but it was a serious message because one of the things that we had already seen basically before like we posted this photo on Facebook was that we had seen editorial material with a general photos of Iceder and that's really really serious when even the person that is publishing an article doesn't even realize that they are posting an AI-generated photo.

8:22I think that it's real. So for us it was quite a concern that people didn't even know what they were posting.

8:35Paul Holmes: Did any of the social media companies or the AI companies get back to you? no but we are open for discussion I think it's I think it's on their radar which is you know ultimately what we wanted to start with and I think the conversations and I think what I think some of the things that we're probably most proud of is the way that just generally how people reacted and felt the need to really kind of get behind it on their social platforms, whether it was just in the comment sections or actually doing a full-blown post about why this was so needed and why it's really kind of people need to listen and think about this.

9:25And I think we thought long and hard, didn't we, about both the tone and what went into those letters because, you know, there's a time and a place for AI. It's not that we are anti-AI, but it's a case of thinking about why on earth would you want to generate a picture when the raw beauty of the place, it's just not needed and it doesn't, when we've tried to do it ourselves, it just isn't a patch on what you can really see. So yeah, it's that kind of, that simple ask really of like, we love you AI companies, but just leave ice and pictures alone. You don't need to do it.

10:03Paul Holmes: And the campaign that we awarded included separate elements in Iceland and in the UK, right? So tell me a little bit about how you approached each of those markets in a slightly different way to sort of mine for stories. Yeah. I think thinking about, we thought about where the AI companies were positioned, like in which different markets as well. So we made sure that, you know, we might have gone past their offices once or twice with the open letter to make sure that the message really landed um and also really i think again because this started with a human truth as i said like i think we never stopped asking and engaging with people so making sure that we could go and talk to people on the streets and get reactions and thinking and feeling around what we were trying to achieve and the points we were trying on the land.

11:01And, you know, the overwhelming sort of, you know, yes, this is needed response, just whatever market we went to, that's kind of what was coming back at us. And like, yeah, please keep going.

11:12Paul Holmes: The Icelandic element was particularly interesting to me because you were showing people in Iceland your own country. The responses were fascinating. Yeah, and also, but you can also feel that people are a bit sad to see that you could do something like that, and it would be so, like, we, and I. In advanced commas, though. That they could be fooled. And they were in total agreement, like, we don't need this. This is completely unnecessary. So that was quite interesting. But in all of this, we have always found that this was, if you could call it a fight, this was a fight that people generally stood by.

12:10They applauded us for just, okay, starting this conversation and doing it in a way that there was noticed. And when we walked the streets in London, for example, people said, this is just great. Like, this is absolutely fantastic what you're doing this and starting this conversation.

12:31Paul Holmes: I mean, some of the reactions, which I'm assuming were just as authentic as the images, because otherwise... There was a lot of swearing. We had to, you know, we had to cull a few bits. I have to say I've never been to Iceland it's one of the few Western European countries that I haven't visited but more than any other European country I think it has a unique landscape and a unique geology that lends itself to this campaign but I'm also slightly surprised there's a phenomenon with campaigns like this where I think to myself well that's so brilliant why didn't somebody else think of it before? But you guys were the first has anybody else tried to emulate the approach?

13:31Paul Holmes: No, I haven't seen it. We haven't seen we're referenced by different brands we've seen different brands or people if they are or analysing what kind of authentic messaging or behaviour people are doing, we have been used as markers of what to emulate, which is hugely flattered by that. And I think, yeah, the hope is that we can keep inspiring and pushing the needle, I think that would be the aim. And so tell me about the results, because, I mean, it wasn't just the level of engagement that was truly impressive. It was also that there was a real-world dollars and cents impact. Absolutely, absolutely.

14:19Brand consideration points, huge increase there. And, you know, from the bottom line of business revenue piece, I mean, we're looking at over 20 million of incremental revenue coming through from all the different activations that we did through there. For me it's more, obviously it's about sales, but still it's just that people have started to talk about Vestanteur. We have seen our organic reach, we've seen the following on our social media, we've seen the engagement on the podcast. We are talking like hundreds of percentages and an increase on that field. on that field so so for us it was really important for us to and we because i was in a meeting today yeah i was in a meeting the day where we were discussing budgets and so on and i can tell you that this year with about photo versa which is like then episode 4 in on this on this uh series of companies we were able to spend less like there was way less media spend this year just because we had that organic and brand reach that we hadn't had before.

15:36So we saved, actually, a lot of money. But made massive impact.

15:42Paul Holmes: Tell me a little bit about sort of the mix of channels and how you used paid and shared and owned media in this campaign. Obviously, from our perspective, it looked very PR-led. Yeah, yeah. But there was a mix of channels. Yeah, it was mixed, but there was always the thought of us as a support. The main focus was always organic, social media, but where it's needed, you will use paid as well. But in comparison to all the companies that we've done before, nothing like it. So it was mine, I would say, in terms of investment. And tell me, you mentioned that there's much more conversation and engagement around Iceland Air, which was another thing that sort of impressed me, because this could have been just about Iceland, right?

16:46Paul Holmes: Without any mention of the airline. And it probably would have benefited you anyway, because the more people who travel to Iceland, presumably the happier you are. Category liters. Yes, yeah. But it did actually drive a lot of brand visibility for an airline that isn't necessarily the most prominent in the world, no? Yeah, absolutely. And that's also our challenge every time because obviously Iceland is our biggest differentiator in the competition. I sometimes said that if the image of Iceland and the image of Iceland there would be a Venn diagram, it's basically just the same sugar. So every positive move about Iceland is reflected on Iceland there and vice versa.

17:41So, and actually I got this question again today, if we were putting too much effort on Iceland, should we be more focused on Iceland yet? But I think that's just, that's a chicken and egg thing. I think that, yeah. So I truly believe that for us, if you could say, taking up this course of fighting for the rights of Iceland and saying, okay, stop generating photos of Iceland, then I think that's just very beneficial for us. Yeah. It's always a challenge with us when we think from a creative point of view of are we doing the job of ice or not are we doing the job of ice and air and it's very difficult to separate the two um and i think sometimes we can be more brand of it and sometimes we have to work hand in hand and that's what complements it and i think and we always ask ourselves like is this why should ice and air be doing this activation whatever idea we're coming up with and it's you know as as the national carrier we are we have a duty to the industry as a whole which is often a role that you know play a important role for Icelandic tourism as the national carrier I think of making sure that we are you know not only bringing people and encouraging them to come because they believe in what they're going to come and see and is worth that you know travel and you get holidays are you know a luxury for a lot of people now and so you want to make sure that they're coming and they are absolutely wowed by what they're seeing they know that this is you know it's not too good to be true this is what they're going to see and will bring people from around the world to see that.

19:23It also just comes back to the brand essence. Icelandic brand essence is bringing the spirit of Iceland to the world. And I think this, like this campaign or this bottom is completely there. So we are, Icelanders, they tend not to get bullied. We don't like when we're bullied. Well, I think this is a good reflection of us being bold as well. like we like you know I think we've done a bit of research at Flushman it's just going to be coming out called the chaos advantage and it's looking at the brands that have almost inverted on themselves to stay safe and worried about the crazy world we live in and the brands that actually are stepping up and pushing the needle and you know almost embracing the chaos and finding their voice in that and I think this campaign has been a complete perfect reflection of that of you know it's been very strategically thought through but we've also been brave and pushed and refused to go quietly on an issue that we absolutely need to keep shouting about and making sure doesn't swallow up what real life experiences are all about.

20:32Paul Holmes: Yeah, I think that sort of one of the things that stands out now is that experiences are more valuable than ever, right? That if you can't trust what you're seeing on the internet and you can't trust the images you're seeing, actually being there and experiencing it yourself is a much more appealing part of any activity. And this is a great example of that. I'm interested in just talking a little bit about how the campaign has evolved since we gave you. the award in London we've kept going five months ago because we're here at an event called the Taste of Iceland and there's a lot going on but a lot of what's going on seems to be focused on the next sort of phase of the campaign and your search for the world's worst photographer so tell me a little bit about how that came about we found that spoiler we found that yeah Yeah, as I mentioned before, this is a collaboration of three agencies.

21:48And what happens when you have a good platform, the ideas, they just keep coming. And we had something else planned. But Kriytos, our creative agency, called us in a meeting and showed us this is the shortest pitch and sales pitch I've ever been in my life. It took about 10 seconds. So they showed us this personal art where we were going to be advertising for a bad photographer. And the ball just rolling.

22:28Paul Holmes: So tell me why that idea, it took hold so quickly. That's the ultimate proof that Iceland is that beautiful. that even the worst photographer in the world can take a great photo in Iceland. So that was basically the hypothesis that if he or she could take a great photo in Iceland, there's no need for an AI-generated photo of Iceland. So that was just the proof point. And I think we have done today. we have actually showed the world that even the worst photo of the world can take a great photo in Iceland. She's actually really bad. People might think that this is something that we state or anything.

23:18No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is all her. She's perfectly imperfect. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

23:23Paul Holmes: I mean, I met her very briefly downstairs. She seems utterly charming and not at all offended. No, no. She's accepted this mantle in a very graceful way. and when we say you're the worst blonde, she knows it's a compliment from us. But she's one of 127 ,000 applicants. I mean, that's just a remarkable number. I think we hit like 90 % of the country. Any kind of gamification or contest. I'm not going to lie. Immediately I thought of another campaign which was the world's greatest job, I think Queensland did in Australia. And I said, okay, that was a great campaign. awarded and just like brilliant idea we did that in award too yeah yeah but not quite at the same level no no but and obviously that's maybe early days of internet and social media and so on so i think they got around 30 000 applicants so i i said this is a success if we reach 30 000 applicants but we reached 127 000 applicants and this is and just the the engagement the the views, just everything, the media coverage.

24:35We have never ever seen a campaign spread so fast and so loud in the history of Iceland. There, which turns 90 next year.

24:49Paul Holmes: And you mentioned that you have sort of a backlog of creative ideas on the same theme. And that's the beauty, it seems to me, of coming up with a platform like this, is you can keep going back to the well as many times until you get bored of it. Absolutely. And I think I have to also mention that this is not an AI platform. That's just in the discussion now. But this is about authenticity and enjoying what's real and celebrating the imperfection and just enjoy the moment. But it just happened that AI was not on the same side. after the moment. It was a big catalyst for us. So we had to address that.

25:52But I think that we have a few ideas and they, what? They introduced a new one yesterday. Another one in the world, yeah. Because I come from an advertising agency background. I worked in an agency for 15 years. And it's always like you have that special feeling when you know that you have something, you have the platform and then just the ideas they just like they're endless you you're you're having a problem just picking out the ones you're gonna use so that's a you could say a luxury problem absolutely and i think it's that that red thread of authenticity i think in a time when everything's so fragmented and you know niche communities and audiences are you know constantly consideration we really hit something that allows us to still create bespoke kind of you know messaging and moments for for different people but for the masses there's just a truth to it and from the applicants that we got for the bad photography um kind of job application all ages i mean i think we went from literally 18 to i mean what was our oldest they were with people 60s, 70s, 80s even?

27:0980s. We have the statistics, but I think they're all 80s. Yeah. So the fact that we're able to really engage.

27:17Paul Holmes: For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that if I'd entered, I would have given the winner a run for it. Well, think about 2.0. Oh, well, yeah. See if we can get you in. I am incapable of taking a good photograph. But yeah, I mean, this is what we love, and we generally get so passionate, excited about the work that we're doing. for this and the difference it's making and the people it's engaging. Yeah, I mean, for me, it had everything, right? It had at its heart what I think is a really important issue because I think the whole disinformation, AI, imagery problem is a serious threat to brand credibility, right?

28:03Paul Holmes: But it was executed in such a lighthearted, there was nothing preachy about it. There was nothing sort of even boastful about it, really. I mean, it was, yeah, we have a beautiful country. And it impacted the business in a major way. 20 million is an incremental business. It's a good return, yeah. It's pretty significant. Yeah, yeah. So I thought it was just very much of its moment. And to your point, something that can be extended in all kinds of creative ways going forward. So I hope you stick with it. Yeah, as long as we come. Yeah, well, it's been it. And I think, you know, from an 80s side, I think it's like getting to work with Gisley and the whole team.

28:57And the business has embraced it from the top down. I think, again, a big thing that we saw coming out of Cannes was the brands that are taking creativity from C-Suite all the way down through. I think you can see when that happens and the results that you get. And being a bit brave and pushing and being the first to things is a good place to be.

29:18Paul Holmes: I am actually always interested in this. What is the internal reaction to the campaign been from your employees? They love it. I absolutely love it. And I think that because the insight that we talked about, first we got this Facebook post. When we did the research, then when we launched the first part of the campaign, we met, we got response. So we have been verified every single time that we are on the right track. We are, you could say, giving this concern a voice. We basically, we are the platform now for this discussion of like, is AI suitable for everything? It's obviously, it's not. So I think that verification, both internally and externally, has obviously boosted our marketing egos.

30:13to do more and just like we are on the right track and the business side also embraces it because this has basically turned into revolution profit and so on profit at the moment but that will come later when certain things start to let's not go into that

30:37Paul Holmes: well that's great next up it's also one of the 40 campaigns that we picked as a finalist for our global sabers. We'll be doing a countdown from number 40 to number one at our event in Chicago at the end of October. And I hope somebody from Icelandair and Flesher and Hild will be able to join us and find out where you rank on that list. I don't think it's a huge spoiler to say that since you won in EMEA, you're not going to be number 40. Yeah, we're very, very honoured, really excited to get that news. And yeah, the campaign starts to get Gizzy and I to Chicago. All right. Thank you very much indeed.

31:25Paul Holmes: That was great. Thank you. Thank you.

31:32Paul Holmes: You've been listening to the Provoke podcast, brought to you by Provoke Media and produced by the international broadcast specialist, Marketers. Thank you.