This document provides summaries of 10 case studies of airlines' use of Instagram for marketing purposes. The case studies describe initiatives such as Lufthansa encouraging user suggestions to guide an "instagrammer" around Berlin; Finnair using employee-run Instagram accounts to showcase the operational and travel experience aspects of flying; and JetBlue and Virgin America being among the first to adopt Instagram video shortly after its release. The document advocates that airlines can engage travelers and create a sense of community through innovative social media presences on platforms like Instagram.

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Airline Marketing 2.0
Top 10 Airlines on Instagram
Case studies
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Case-study 1
Lufthansa: # DeinBerliner

3. Lufthansa has been
one of the latest
airlines to join
Instagram and it
decided to kick start its
Instagram presence
with a remarkable live,
one-day initiative
called #DeinBerliner.
Arriving in style

4. The airline “unleashed” an
instagrammer named Lisa
and gave her the task to
showcase the best of
Berlin by intsagramming
different spots of the town.
But there’s a catch: the
places she visits are not
decided by her nor the
airline; they are suggested
by Lufthansa's fans.
A guided tour guide

5. The initiative only lasted one day but users seemed eager to participate
with plenty of comments and suggestions. The collective suggestions
and decisions made by Lufthansa’s online community made Lisa visit
not only a number of scenic locations but also little known bars, and
helped her showcase different aspects of Berlin like the so called “urban
gardening”.
24 hours, live

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Case-study 2
Finnair: Instagram crews

7. Finnair is another airline that decided to enter the world of Instagram in
an unusual but very effective way. It decided not to create a corporate
Instagram profile but instead launched two separate Finnair accounts
run by one of its pilots and one of its Flight attendants respectively.
Crew managed instagrams

8. The Finnairtomi handle is run by Tomi Tervo, an experienced Finnair
pilot and blogger. His images tend to focus on the operational side of the
aircraft, reinforcing ideas like the quality and safety of the service while
also featuring numerous destination images taken while in flight.
Finnairtomi

9. Noora Kunttu is the Finnair flight attendant and blogger who runs the
Finnairnoora account. Her focus is mainly on safety, comfort and behind the
scenes, providing a nice complement to the instagrams of her colleague.
Finnairnoora

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Case-study 3
COPA: #MiDestinoCopa

11. As a way to encourage
users to share instagrams
of COPA destinations, the
airline created a tag
called “MiDestinoCopa”
(my COPA destination in
Spanish).
This well-designed tag
has the added advantage
of bringing viewers back
to the brand, associating
it with the idea of travel.
Fomenting shares

12. The best images
that are submitted
with the tag are
then re-shared by
the airline and the
original creators
are mentioned in
the new Instagram.
Acknowledging

13. The airline has
also been using
this tag to
promote its
destination thus
creating a mix of
user-generated
and branded
images on the
hash tag.
Not just users

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Case-study 4
EasyJet

15. In terms of user generated images on Instagram, however, it is very
hard to beat the work done by EasyJet, whose feed is composed
almost exclusively of images shared by users.
Almost all user generated

16. The airline asks users to
share images in the
simplest way by using its
brand as an hash tag.
Images received vary
from destination images
to happy passengers on
the plane.
Brand as a tag

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Case-study 5
United Airlines: #UnitedIn

18. To get users engaged not
only online but also in the
real world, United runs
treasure hunts using
Instagram.
Each time, a location is
selected and users are
invited to first guess the town
and then try to get to the
team on the ground as
quickly as possible.
Treasure hunt

19. The city where the event
will take place is announced
at the last minute together
with instructions to take
part.
The campaign is also used
as a way to highlight not
only destinations but also
events like new crew
uniforms or an important
milestone.
How it works

20. Participants have to hurry in
order to be the amongst the
first to reach the United team
and have a chance to win. The
airline’s team instagrams an
image of the view from their
current location to let users
know where they are.
Sometimes the team visits
more than one location per city
giving users multiple chances
to find them.
Finding the location

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Case-study 6
Delta: #ThrowBackThursday

22. Delta has been one of
the airlines that best
embraced existing
#tags and Instagram
traditions with its
usage of the
#ThrowBackThursday
tag. As the name
indicates this tag is
used every Thursday
to post vintage images.
Leveraging tags

23. These images serve the airline well as they are
a powerful way to highlight the airline’s history
and connect its brand to positive memories and
images of the “golden age” of flying.
History and brand

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Case-study 7
Vueling airgallery

25. Images and gamification are possibly the two most engaging elements in
social media. Last year, Spanish low-cost airline Vueling decided to merge the
two into an interesting Instagram competition called the Vueling Airgallery.
Visual + Gamification

26. The campaign asked users to
create an Instagram image of a
Vueling destination and share it
using the hashtag
#vuelingairgallery.
All images were uploaded to a
dedicated tab on the company’s
Facebook page and the most voted
images were featured on the
exterior of a special Vueling plane.
#vuelingairgallery

27. The campaign was a
success: it received
almost 6000 submissions
with some images
receiving over 100 votes.
For the airline this meant
the creation of user-
generated content that
boosted destination
awareness and
associated the airline’s
name with those
destinations.
User generated content linked to the airline

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Case-study 8
Qatar Airways: #WHPputaplaneonit

29. The Weekend Hashtag Project or #WHP is an initiative created by
Instagram that asks users to take a picture on a specific topic every
weekend using a dedicated tag.
#WHP

30. When instagram chose planes as
the topic for the weekend, Qatar
Airways was quick to react asking
its followers to take part and add
the #qatarairways tag to their
instagrams.
WHPputaplaneonit

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Case-studies 9 & 10
JetBlue and Virgin America: First on video

32. A special shared place in this top 10
has been reserved for two airlines who
proved to be equally quick in
responding to a new Instagram
innovation: the inclusion of video.
While there had been rumors about the
possible arrival of this new feature,
nothing certain had been published
other than a mysterious letter by
Facebook inviting journalists to a
product launch event.
Special Mention

33. Both airlines were able to acquire the new app update, learn to use
it and produce their first Instagram videos in less than 24 hours
from the announcement!
Their quick reaction to innovation is an almost priceless quality in
the age of social media and the reason for their inclusion in this Top
10.
Speed matters

34. JetBlue used video to highlight a
campaign for the national paper
plane day and used Instagram
video to share part of one of its
video ads.
Due to the limitations imposed by
the new app that prevents
uploading of videos for editing,
they had to shoot the video off a
computer screen.
The video can be viewed here.
JetBlue

35. Virgin America, on the other
hand, should get an extra prize
for quick thinking creativity.
They went around an airport to
film what can perhaps be
described as a mini-advert or a
snapshot of a passenger’s
journey.
Their excuse: the summer
solstice!
You can watch the video here.
Virgin America

36. http://www.SimpliFlying.com
For more case-studies:
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