We discovered that you can use the small seat symbols inside the seat reservation systems as pixels – to write messages directly into the seat maps. That's why we simply selected long-haul flights offered by our competitors and reserved the right seats in their seat maps until "Fly Eurowings" was readable for all those that were booking this flight on this date. With this idea, we turned the online seat maps of our competitors into Eurowings ads by simply using an existing technology as a new advertising medium.

First, we went on our competitors' websites (e.g klm.com, airfrance.com, thaiairways.com). In advance, we had prepared detailed seat maps that precisely displayed which seats we needed to reserve. Then, we simply selected competing flights on selected dates that Eurowings also offered, reserved the right seats and went further in the booking process until the payment window popped up. Then, instead of entering the credit card information, we simply closed the window and started all over again, until the message was readable. The result of this approach was that the seats were blocked for several hours – free of any charge. "Fly Eurowings" was then readable for all potential customers that wanted to book this flight within the next hours, which created free advertising for Eurowings’ cheap flights.

The idea not only boosted the traffic on Eurowings' own booking website, but also presented the brand as a smart, funny and of course cheaper alternative to the established long-haul carriers. It also proved that you can still reach potential customers when they have already chosen a competitor. Thousands of people read the message online, which raised the awareness of the whole Eurowings brand. Even when potential customers that saw the message didn't change their minds this time, they now will always have Eurowings in mind whenever they see a seat map.