All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, recently launched Flight Connections, a platform that aims to help modern business travelers turn their online connections into physical meetings. Using data from users’ LinkedIn network, the digital experience generates a visual representation of their global network contacts and overlays ANA routes to show users how they can easily connect with their business relationships in Asia. Users also have the opportunity to win one of five round-trip business class tickets to any ANA destination in Asia.

“As the number of business travelers and tourists coming to Japan from the US continues to grow, we wanted to create an innovative way to visually map the connections our passengers have and show them how convenient it is to visit on an ANA flight. Our hope is that Flight Connections will spur the business community on both sides of the Pacific to visit each other more often and forge an even stronger bond for the benefit of both.”

Visitors to the Flight Connections website will be asked to log in with their LinkedIn profile; the platform will then create a personalized ‘flight map’ visualization of the user’s LinkedIn network with ANA flight information overlaid where geographically applicable. Visitors to the site can then share the visualization if they wish, explore flight options to their LinkedIn network and discover highlighted connections throughout Asia.

We all know that data is a huge asset, but it is really using the data creatively that conquers mind-share and creates a sustainable competitive advantage. I am sure you agree – LinkedIn and ANA were totally meant to be.