We outfitted 125 taxis with GPS trackers synced with a traffic app. Digital ads on each of those taxis displayed real-time comparisons of the travel times to EWR and JFK from Manhattan.

The idea combined people’s need to know how long their travel time is, with the very means they use to travel. As each GPS outfitted taxi moved, the times displayed updated; irrefutably favoring Newark’s EWR airport.

The software used is the most reliable source of data when considering Manhattan. Over 45,000 data points including distance, traffic patterns, accidents, and road-works are analyzed and optimized in real-time.

It was the first time live traffic data had been used in ads constantly moving around the city and Manhattanites saw firsthand that they could get to EWR at least 30 minutes, and often up to an hour, faster than to JFK.

It was the first-time live traffic data had been used in ads constantly moving around the city and Manhattanites saw firsthand that they could get to EWR at least 30 minutes, and often up to an hour, faster than to JFK.

The campaign proved enormously successful.

• United passengers flying out of Newark increased by 810K vs the same period the previous year. (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Data Center, 2018)

• Brand favourability jumped from 39% to 55%, an increase of 34% vs the same period the previous year. (Corporate Reputation Tracker, Edelman Intelligence, 2018)

Real-time data was the basis of the idea - a powerful and objective argument for considering EWR over JFK. Our ads moved all around Manhattan at all hours, showcasing the time people would save by flying United out of EWR.

New Yorkers are obsessed with saving time. Further, we know that digital maps and the timeframes they generate are extensively used by Manhattanites. The strategy was to combine the two. We outfitted New York’s iconic Yellow Cabs with GPS trackers synced with the real-time traffic software. The ads displayed relative travel times to both JFK and EWR airports, updating in real-time as each cab’s position changed. It proved to be significantly faster to get to EWR than to JFK.

The goal of the campaign was to increase consideration of and preference for Newark International Airport (EWR), a major hub for United Airlines, over all other New York City area airports.

The challenge was overcoming the widely established misperception that Newark was harder to get to (because it’s in a different State), as well as the huge cultural resonance and pride that New Yorkers attribute to JFK.

To combat this, we leveraged two deeply ingrained traits. First, New Yorker’s are obsessed with time (after all, they invented the “New York Minute”). And second, they extensively rely on the routes and time estimates that mobile maps generate.

Digital taxi top ads synced with traffic data software displayed real-time comparisons of the travel times to EWR and JFK airports from Manhattan. As each taxi moved, the displayed times reflected distance, traffic patterns, and accidents, irrefutably favoring Newark’s EWR airport.