McCann London and Kayak Create The Desktop Escape

Forget billboards and obtrusive pop-up holiday destination ads. The latest advertising medium is now your desktop, as McCann London collaborates with KAYAK.co.uk to launch KAYAK Desktop Escape, the piece of tech that makes your desktop super smart and a direct point of sale.

Using the nostalgic and existing media of desktop wallpapers that portray exotic destinations we passively dream of visiting, McCann re-invented the space (and what wallpapers could be) with this easy-to-use booking tool.

Once downloaded for free, this super simple utility uses real-time KAYAK data and GPS to offer up a stunning collection of desktop wallpapers, from high-res images of hidden glacial ice tunnels, unexplored coconut tree-lined beaches, to 2018’s must-visit cities and beyond.

Fun to flick through, when you land on a wallpaper that takes your fancy, all you have to do is click on the unobtrusive tab at the top of the screen and you’ll be directed to a list of the cheapest flight options for that destination.

The new piece of tech also cleverly engineers a feeling of instant gratification and, thanks to seamless UX, the power is in the hands of the user. All it takes is a click of a button to claim your perfect holiday. It’s a simple but smart search engine that’s positioned directly on your desktop – so you never feel like you have to “search” at all. Your finger is always on the travel pulse.

Neil Cartwright, travel expert at KAYAK, comments: “As we leave Christmas and New Year celebrations behind us and get back to work we often need inspiration and the promise of a holiday to get us through the cold winter months.

“With travel being one of the best escapes to refresh our batteries and motivate us throughout the year, KAYAK created Desktop Escape to inspire users to get away and plan their next adventure. The easy-to-use tool provides beautiful imagery and the best prices to help busy Brits get through January, whilst showing them incredible destinations which they may never have thought of visiting before.”  

Laurence Thomson, Chief Creative Officer at McCann London, said: “Desktop Escape takes booking your holiday to entirely new heights. Working with KAYAK we wanted to help create a platform that is not only innovative, but marries imagery with technology to elevate the user experience. Plus, we all know that dire feeling of sitting at your desk staring at some pretty desktop picture, wondering where the hell it is and wishing you were there. Well now thanks to Desktop Escape you don’t have to settle for just looking at your dream holiday – you can take it.”