On 28 August, KLM connects hundreds of people in Amsterdam and New York via a live interactive video display, letting strangers on the streets of two cities come face to face.
It echoes the kind of “city to city” street connection seen before, such as the French railway (SNCF) linking Lyon and Brussels.
How the high five contest works
The twist is competitive: the connected pairs are asked to high five each other through the screens. For every successfully timed high five, participants win two tickets to New York or Amsterdam.
In global travel marketing, adding a clear participatory mechanic, meaning a simple action anyone can attempt without instruction, turns a “nice moment” into a repeatable behavior people recruit others into.
Why a high five is the right interaction
A high five is universally understood and visually obvious at distance. It is also time-bound, which creates tension. People lean in. They coordinate. They try again. That retry loop, the quick cycle of attempt, miss, adjust, and try again, is where energy builds and the crowd becomes part of the content.
Extractable takeaway: Pick an interaction that is instantly readable to bystanders, time-bound, and designed to invite visible retries. That is how the crowd becomes the amplification.
What KLM is really buying here
This is a route brand idea, meaning a story that makes a specific connection between two places feel tangible, disguised as play: KLM makes the transatlantic connection feel immediate, human, and winnable. The real question is whether your activation makes distance feel collapsible in under five seconds. This is the right kind of public interactivity when your promise is connection between places. The prize is valuable, but the real asset is the public proof that the brand can engineer connection between two cities in a way passers-by can instantly grasp.
Patterns to borrow for your own city-scale activation
- Use one gesture everyone knows. The simpler the action, the more strangers will attempt it without instruction.
- Add a timing challenge. Time-based coordination creates drama and repeat tries.
- Make the reward match the story. Here, tickets reinforce the “two cities” premise.
- Design for crowds. The best interactions are legible to bystanders, not just participants.
A few fast answers before you act
What is KLM Live High Five in one line?
A live video street installation connecting Amsterdam and New York where timed high fives between cities unlock travel tickets.
What is the key mechanism?
Two public screens link strangers in real time, then convert the connection into a simple, repeatable contest action.
Why does the high five mechanic work so well?
It is universal, physical, and instantly readable. The timing requirement creates suspense and encourages repeated attempts.
What is the biggest execution risk?
If timing feedback feels laggy or unclear, people stop retrying. The interaction needs instant, visible confirmation so the crowd stays invested.
What is the transferable lesson?
If your idea is “connection”, make people physically coordinate across distance and reward the moment with a prize that matches the narrative.
