KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is known as a customer-centric and innovative airline in Europe — but not in the US, where they operate from Delta gates. Short of adding hundreds of flights and building swanky lounges, we needed to boost KLM’s brand awareness and presence in US airports, while showcasing their core value: caring.

KLM is known as a caring and innovative airline in Europe, but not in the US. So, they challenged us to boost KLM’s brand awareness and presence, while showcasing their core values.

Meet Care-E. KLM’s self-driving luggage trolley with a motherboard of gold.

Scan your boarding pass and it guides you to restaurants, restrooms, shops or tags along while you wander around. It updates you on flight changes and drops you off at your gate. Care-E’s design is the perfected balance between form and function. Large enough to carry multiple suitcases, small enough to be an approachable companion. To match Care-E’s friendly looks, we designed a deep communication system with hundreds of moods and expressions that give it nearly limitless possibilities. Like any human, Care-E is built to grow — it’s packed with innovative tech, some of which we’re not even using yet, so new functionalities can be easily added.

Consumer research revealed that people were not aware of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines because of a lack of presence in US airports. That problem is caused by the fact that they operate from Delta gates. It also showed that people who had been in touch with KLM found that the automation of the booking and airport process meant they were no longer exposed to KLM’s caring service.

Short of adding hundreds of flights and building swanky lounges we needed to target a wide audience of leisure and business travelers and boost KLM’s brand awareness and presence in US airports. All while showcasing their core value: caring.

The execution is really twofold. One side is the innovative technological achievement and the other is the emotional achievement of creating a character people wanted to spend time with.

Care-E is packed tech. We developed custom LiDAR Sensor software that lets Care-E map and navigate any space on its own — this, combined with an intricate system of digital compasses and distance-measuring wheels, made it so that Care-E never gets lost. On top of that, Care-E has a rechargeable and replaceable battery system so it can keep going for as long as we want. Care-E is built to personally guide you to restaurants, restrooms or shops. Or it can tag along while you wander around. And, of course, Care-E keeps you updated on flight changes and drops you off at your gate on time. And like any human, Care-E is also built to grow — it’s packed with innovative tech, some of which we’re not even using yet, so new functionalities can be easily added and updated.

But the real magic can be found in Care-E’s character design and personality. After many rounds of design, user testing and adjusting, we found the perfected balance between form and function. Large enough to carry multiple suitcases, but small enough to be an approachable companion. To match Care-E’s friendly looks and create that special emotional bond, we designed a deep communication system with hundreds of moods and expressions that give it nearly limitless possibilities. The combination of facial expressions, voice, and physical movement make Care-E able to clearly communicate with passengers no matter what situation.

Almost immediately after Care-E’s launch, the story and PR film were picked up by all major tech and travel media as well as many general mainstream media platforms. CNN, Mashable, The Verge, Gizmodo, Conde Nast, Forbes and many more gave very positive coverage that was read by millions. Analytics performed on the coverage calculate a 69% increase in buzz around the KLM brand in the US, a 9% increase in awareness and a 26% increase in reputation as well as $50 million in earned media.