No Need to Fly: Around the World in Germany

Read the campaign story

Deutsche Bahn and Ogilvy Germany paired international destination imagery with German lookalikes in No Need to Fly. Ogilvy’s case page describes a campaign connecting the visual comparison with travel offers. Gerety’s archive dates release to 27 June 2018, separating the campaign’s origin from its appearance in 2019 award records.

The documented partners include Spirable and Getty Images. The work extended the comparison through digital advertising and related expressions, which are grouped here rather than counted as separate campaigns. The sources support the creative mechanism and credits. This study does not treat agency-reported effectiveness as an independently isolated result or reproduce the campaign’s photographs.

Editorial interpretation: resemblance can interrupt the assumption that a desired experience must be far away. The paired image creates a question that is easy to grasp before any detailed explanation: where else might this quality be available? That is a useful way to introduce overlooked options. However, a similar landscape does not make two places interchangeable, and the communication should not erase differences in culture, facilities, access or the experience someone actually wants.

Editorial interpretation: the comparison becomes useful when the audience can investigate the alternative on fair terms. A low headline fare beside a visually attractive place is insufficient if the dates, starting points or included costs differ. The adaptation should show the scope of the resemblance and disclose practical conditions. It can invite discovery without claiming that a nearby option replicates another destination or automatically produces an environmental benefit.

Specify the quality being compared

Name the feature that makes the alternative relevant, such as a landscape type or an activity, rather than implying total equivalence. This keeps the visual analogy interesting while giving the audience a realistic basis for investigation. Ask people what they think the comparison promises. If they infer identical experiences or conditions, revise the framing before adding more persuasive imagery or expanding the campaign to further locations.

Keep prices and access on comparable terms

Use the same dates, traveller assumptions and material inclusions when presenting costs. Explain availability and avoid selecting a rare offer that creates a misleading general impression. The creative team should work with whoever maintains the underlying information, because a comparison can become inaccurate after publication. Establish a review or expiry process so that a compelling visual does not continue circulating with obsolete practical details.

Offer self-directed discovery instead of covert profiling

A small adaptation can let people choose the kind of place they want to explore rather than infer it from hidden behavioural data. Explicit selection makes the experience easier to understand and reduces unnecessary collection. It also produces clearer research: the team knows which preference the participant supplied and can test whether the proposed alternative genuinely matches it, rather than attributing relevance to an opaque targeting system. Make the comparison’s information date visible so audiences can judge whether further checking is needed.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: create an original illustrated comparison of three local day-trip types, allowing participants to select a desired activity and inspect a nearby option.

Measure whether people discover a relevant option, understand the limited resemblance and identify material differences before deciding to investigate. Compare visual pairings with plain descriptive cards, and separate curiosity from verified travel changes or environmental outcomes.

Stop if the comparison implies cultural interchangeability, misleading savings or unsubstantiated emissions benefits, or if relevant conditions cannot be kept accurate.

• Use original diagrams rather than copied destination photographs.
• Show practical differences, current information dates and total-cost assumptions.
• Collect no location history and make all preference choices optional.