Helsinki Airport Blanketed Estonia's Capital With Its Residents' Real Instagram Travel Photos

Inspired by its own network’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign for Apple, TBWAHelsinki has launched a campaign that covers 80 percent of the billboards in Tallinn, Estonia, with real Instagram travel photos taken by the city’s residents—to encourage trips through Helsinki Airport. 

The agency contacted the Instagram users for permission to use the pics, and then placed the ads in their very own neighborhoods—resulting in some happy surprises as they commuted to work.

“Helsinki Airport has a great route network and it’s easily accessible from Tallinn either by a connecting flight or a ferry,” says Anna Tuomi, head of marketing for Finavia, the operator of Helsinki Airport. “We want our Estonian neighbors to know that Helsinki Airport is also their second home airport when they’re thinking of traveling to a certain destination.” 

She adds that the Instagram users “have been asked permission and have voluntarily agreed to take part in this,” and that the reaction in social media since Sept. 30, when the ads went up, has been very positive. 

“With this campaign we wanted to disrupt conventional travel marketing imagery. Travelers are real people with real experiences: We wanted the ‘Tallinn Holiday Album’ to reflect that,” says Mikko Pietilä, executive creative director at TBWAHelsinki.

“When advertising to a foreign market, we trusted the locals to know what they like when it comes to traveling,” he adds. “Crowdsourcing the imagery was a fitting mechanic for the campaign.” 

The campaign runs through Nov. 30.