This past June, American Express and Delta partnered to unveil the first-ever credit card made from a Boeing 747 — the Limited Edition Boeing 747 card design for Delta SkyMiles® American Express Card Members.
The card design was created with 25% metal from Delta Ship #6307, a retired Boeing 747, as a way to honor the history of travel. It’s a one-of-a-kind Card built for a passionate audience of Card Members and aviation enthusiasts.
Our Business Challenge: How to transform a static welcome packet for this limited-edition card design into an experience and deepen the connection between Card Members, their Cards, American Express, and Delta?
Our Answer: A “Wings to Wallet” Augmented Reality Journey
Unlike a video or website, we were able to fully immerse the aviation enthusiast audience in our experience, providing the opportunity to see, hear, and interact with an array of content.
AR enabled our audience to build an emotional connection to the stories by stimulating their senses.
Our mobile-first, cross-platform development approach allowed for unparalleled accessibility across mobile.
With a goal to uniquely engage Reserve and Reserve Business Card Members and immerse them in the story of this special form factor, this approach would take them on a “Wings to Wallet” journey, exploring the plane’s past, present, and future. Through access to Delta and Boeing archives, and insights from interviews with Delta employees, we set out to craft a visual narrative around the transformation of a plane into a credit card, and all that came with it.
Transforming a 747 into a credit card is no small feat. That paired with the lure, history and fandom for the 747 presented us with a strong opportunity to truly pay off the moment when American Express Card Members received their Card and welcome packet, with a special experience. We saw an opportunity to begin the journey there; each welcome packet for the limited-edition Boeing 747 card design included an introduction and a QR code that would initiate the AR Experience.
Before starting on the development of the AR Experience we outlined the story into a “Wings to Wallet” journey showing the transformation from plane to credit card. Four key content pillars not only drove the narrative of that journey but also dictated the design of the experience. The four pillars were:
Aircraft History: an in-depth dive into Delta Ship #6307 and the complex inner-workings of the 747, including the aircrafts’ flight logs, data, schematics, livery and more.
Flight Stories: a tour through uplifting narrated tales from Ship #6307’s crew members, detailing the powerful emotions associated with this plane and the general love and appreciation for how the 747 shaped aviation history.
Transformation: a behind-the-scenes look at the transformative journey from 747 to Card.
Benefits: a tour through the evolution of the American Express and Delta partnership, offering a closer look at the special benefits attached to this limited edition Card.
Utilizing 3D video, striking visuals, archival imagery, infographics, and written content, we harnessed the powers of nostalgia and AR innovation to immerse Card Members within the complex inner-workings of the 747 and brought the limited edition card design to life.
Media and “avgeeks” were engaged by “Wings to Wallet” story, assets and news, praising the Card’s sleek design, the AR experience, and the uniqueness of the overall product, contributing to the ‘must-have’ allure for both new acquisitions and current Delta SkyMiles Card Member upgrades.
AR Results by the Numbers
Approximately 16.9% of all new Card Members Visited the AR Experience
Approximately 29 Sections were viewed per visit
There were 32K Total AR visits, & over 16K unique users as of (8/31/22); to note, the AR experience was not highly promoted publicly (only to new Card Members via the welcome packet)
Average AR Session Duration lasted 2:36 (exceeding benchmark target of 1:48s)
The Return Visit Rate was 2.3x
