Real Vs AI
- Brand
- Icelandair
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Travel & Hospitality
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Playable
Objective
Icelandair wanted to grow one of its core marketing channels, its email list, and collect more marketing permissions, while making first contact with the brand feel enjoyable rather than transactional. For the wider international audience, the goal was to stay top of mind at the moment someone starts planning a trip, and to make the case that Iceland's real scenery doesn't need an AI upgrade to look stunning. For the domestic Icelandic audience, the brief was smaller in scope: a personal, playful refresh of the airline's own lead base.
Solution
The player opens a standalone campaign page and registers to begin. One by one, the game shows a photo of Iceland, northern lights, waterfalls, volcanic terrain, and the player taps to call it either a real photograph or an AI generation. Each guess is followed by the reveal and the next image, and at the end the player sees their score with a link through to Icelandair's site. A second, related game built for the Icelandic market runs the same registration-to-result format as a seven-question quiz about travel habits and food preferences, ending in a personal "summer type" that points the player to a destination, Nice, Lisbon, or Orlando, and an entry into a gift-certificate draw worth over €200.
Results
Real vs AI drew more than 90,000 sessions and over 34,000 registrations across markets, with a 50% completion rate producing more than 46,000 completed plays. Players spent an average of 1 minute 31 seconds per session, over 1,600 hours with the brand in total, and the game sent 51,500+ clicks through to Icelandair's website. The companion Icelandic quiz added 8,200+ sessions and over 5,700 registrations, with a 73% completion rate (6,000+ plays) and 6,300+ clicks to Icelandair's site.
- 1
Players reach the game through a link in an email, a Facebook or Instagram post, or a QR code on a Times Square billboard, landing on a version localized for their market (UK, US, Ireland, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, or Norway).
- 2
Before playing, they register with their contact details and marketing consent — collecting these sign-ups for Icelandair's mailing list is the main purpose of the mechanic.
- 3
The core loop shows a photo of an Icelandic landscape — northern lights, a waterfall, a volcanic scene — and asks the player to judge whether it is a real photograph or AI-generated; this repeats over several rounds, with an average session lasting about 1 minute 31 seconds.
- 4
At the end, players see a score reflecting how well they told real Iceland from AI, then click through to the Icelandair website — a step that produced more than 51,500 click-throughs across the campaign.
- 5
A separate quiz for the Icelandic market, "Hvernig verður þitt sumar?", asks players seven simple questions covering habits such as how they take travel selfies and what they like to eat.
- 6
Based on their answers, players receive a personal "summer type" along with destination suggestions such as Nice, Lisbon, or Orlando.
- 7
Completing the quiz enters players into a draw for a gift certificate worth more than 200 euros, the incentive for leaving their contact details.
