Do consumers know what’s real and what’s AI? We ‘unmask the intelligence’ behind justfly.com’s recent brand campaign to explore how its blending AI and creativity to create memorable, engaging experiences in the travel sector.
We’ve heard about generative AI being used in the travel industry to simplify the booking process, to personalize itineraries and recommend destinations, to provide real-time assistance and make the travel experience more accessible – but what about AI-enhanced photography to influence brand identity in the creative process?
There’s a lot of talk in marketing circles right now about what’s real versus what’s AI – and whether it’s possible to tell the difference. It was through this lens that online travel agency justfly.com unveiled its latest brand photography, centred on a marketing campaign that cleverly illustrated this blurring of the lines between reality and AI. But how did the brand do it?
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Unmasking intelligence
The ‘Unmasking Intelligence’ photo campaign was created as a way of engaging travelers in the US and Canada with AI in a fun, interactive way. They were invited to test their eye for AI with a chance of winning a travel prize to a destination of their choice, complete with hotel stay and a Sony ZV-1 Digital Camera.
With a campaign emphasis on photography, participants were presented with 29 ‘AI-extended’ photos. Each image was conceptualized using AI, replicated and photographed in real life, and then further altered with AI to create the final visuals.
As for how the mechanics worked, anyone who took part in the contest had to identify the transition point where the AI content begins, by dragging a line across a randomized photograph with a percentage indicator shown at the bottom of the screen.
“We’re always looking at ways to merge technology with travel to create engaging, memorable experiences; in this case, finding a novel way to use AI in a real-world context,” says Ayoub Hissar, director of PR & marketing strategy at Momentum Ventures (parent company of justfly.com). “With this campaign, we discovered a creative application of AI in brand photography that many might not be aware of – that AI can be used not only to enhance images, but to conceptualize and create entire photo series.”
Maximizing visual assets
Each participant was ranked based on their accuracy – ranging from beginner to explorer to connoisseur to robot. Interestingly, the final scores ranged from 53% to 89% accuracy, placing most participants between ‘AI Navigator’ and ‘AI Master’.
The findings reveal a striking insight into AI’s visual integration: 88% of participants were unable to achieve more than 77% accuracy in identifying the AI-generated elements within the images. As Hissar explains: “These results underscore the remarkable advancement of AI technology, illustrating its seamless ability to blend with real-world visuals and challenging our capacity to distinguish between the two.”
Not only did the contest serve its purpose of engaging an online audience, but the photos developed for the campaign served a dual purpose: becoming a cornerstone of the brand’s visual identity for future marketing communications.
“By leveraging these images in both the contest and ongoing promotional efforts, we ensured a cohesive and recognizable brand presence, while also maximizing the utility and impact of our visual assets,” says Hissar. “This strategic approach has enabled us to reinforce brand consistency and enhance our overall marketing effectiveness.”
AI-powered adventures
The use of generative AI for justfly.com’s marketing campaign and creative application for brand photography is just one example of a broader commitment from Momentum Ventures to incorporate advanced technology across its diverse collection of travel brands to enhance the overall travel experience.
It’s also being used pre, during and post booking – to improve search result algorithms for smarter, more personalized travel recommendations based on travelers’ unique preferences and needs, as well as extending to customer service to automate routine enquiries, reservations – and even rebooking and refund processes.
“We understand that generative AI technology is still evolving, so rather than waiting for a ‘grand reveal’ of a fully developed system, we’re adopting an iterative rollout strategy that means we can continuously adapt and improve based on real-time customer feedback,” says Hissar.
“Focusing on long-term development means we can maintain robust quality assurance processes to ensure our AI systems are reliable and responsive, ultimately improving the overall travel experience.”
And with a recent survey from justfly.com showing that US travelers have an open mind when it comes to exploring and utilizing AI technology to assist with booking travel, it’s clear that AI will only continue to play a critical role in the travel booking process as it continues to integrate into everyday lives and experiences.
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