Crafting an Immersive Rooftop Dining Experience
Bringing Intangible Brand Values to Life
The airline’s previous anniversary campaign, centered on heritage and nostalgia, had achieved strong engagement across global and domestic audiences. This follow-up aimed to take the next step: transforming those legacy themes into a forward-looking, sensorial encounter. The challenge was to activate brand values—refined comfort, European elegance, and gastronomic excellence—on the ground, during the summer tourism surge, in a way that felt both aspirational and accessible.
The retail partner, meanwhile, sought a powerful new activation to extend momentum following the Olympic season, leverage its panoramic rooftop space, and reinforce it as a magnet for experiential retail. The brand’s overarching investment program for retail reinvention required novel attractions to cement its leadership as a global retail innovator. Together, both brands faced the challenge of creating something distinctive, media-worthy, and operationally executable within a seasonal window.
Solution: A Rooftop Restaurant That Brought the Brand to Life
P&C Global developed and delivered a comprehensive strategy to realize a singular concept: bringing the premium in-flight dining experience to life—on the ground, in an extraordinary setting. This approach exemplified our experiential brand strategy for travel and hospitality, fusing brand storytelling with immersive consumer engagement.
Located on the 8th-floor rooftop of the retail partner’s flagship location, the pop-up restaurant recreated the airline’s First- and Business-Class experience in exquisite detail. Every element was curated to reflect the airline’s visual identity and service rituals, from the signature tricolor design palette and bespoke seating arrangements to the playlist, scent, and branded service ware. Guests were welcomed into a serene VIP lounge-style space that merged travel and retail, offering panoramic views from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre, all while enjoying Michelin-level cuisine.
Transforming this rooftop into “the airline at altitude” was key to the activation’s magic. Diners essentially swapped an aircraft window seat for an open-air, 360° panorama of Paris, from the Eiffel Tower to Montmartre to Sacré-Cœur, blending the luxury of flight with the romance of the city skyline.
Michelin-starred Chef Régis Marcon crafted a series of savory dishes reflecting the airline’s onboard Business Class menus, including signatures such as Camargue rice trio with lemon-carrot-orange sauce, chicken with morel mushrooms and pilaf rice, and vegetarian delicacies with seasonal produce. The menu structure followed a classic French airline meal progression, including an appetizer, starter, main course, cheese, and dessert. Chef Nina Métayer, recognized as one of the World’s Best Pastry Chefs, designed desserts that mirrored its First-Class offerings, such as a crunchy hazelnut and caramel delight and tatin-style crunch apple creation. All meals, priced at €93, were served on the airline’s own porcelain trays by staff dressed in crew-inspired uniforms. Boarding-pass style reservation confirmations, hot towels, branded menu cards, and lounge-style service choreography such as wine-pouring techniques heightened the immersive feel.
The ambiance was meticulously executed: ergonomic seating and elegant tableware echoed the airline’s premium cabins, while sun loungers on the terrace offered guests a chance to unwind like they would in a first-class lounge. Music and lighting mimicked the inflight experience, and vintage travel posters, amenity kit displays, and tastefully placed logos added authentic touches. The rooftop’s accessibility, available to the public via reservation, combined with its exclusivity (20 covers per service, two services daily), created a sense of privilege and excitement.
From concept to execution, P&C Global’s Strategy & Innovation, Corporate Performance, and Organization & Human Capital teams managed every dimension: creative direction, operational logistics, chef and vendor coordination, media messaging, digital booking platforms, and real-time performance tracking. Embracing the concept of travel without traveling, the activation transformed the rooftop into a first-class sky lounge—an immersive brand experience that brought the sensation of flight to life against the backdrop of the Paris skyline.
The goal was not just to showcase excellence but to craft an event that would feel iconic—worthy of consumer memory, influencer virality, and executive benchmarking.
Outcomes: Tangible Results and Lasting Brand Impact
- Approximately 1,920 guests served over 8 weeks, with 100% capacity booked across all available service slots
- Extensive media coverage across major outlets including Le Figaro, Madame Figaro, Yahoo Finance, Business Traveler, and leading aviation, lifestyle, and retail publications
- Influencer-driven virality across TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn; one TikTok tour of the rooftop dining experience garnered hundreds of thousands of views
- A measurable increase in premium cabin brand preference during and following the activation, noted by the airline’s internal marketing analytics team
- Increased footfall across the retail partner’s rooftop and adjacent store levels, supported by point-of-sale conversions and loyalty program enrollment spikes
- Guest comment cards collected during the activation reflected exceptionally high satisfaction, with many diners praising the meticulous attention to detail, personalized service, and the opportunity to experience premium air travel hospitality in a new setting
- Strategic brand reinforcement, with the activation referenced in multiple C-suite discussions as a model of luxury experiential marketing
- Additional private VIP sittings conducted post-campaign, responding to executive demand and furthering brand exclusivity
The activation also validated P&C Global’s strategic thesis that aviation and gastronomy are uniquely powerful storytelling vectors. By executing a “restaurant that thinks it’s an airline,” the firm tapped into the desire for Instagram-ready, emotionally resonant, and once-in-a-lifetime brand encounters. It also proved that core airline service assets—culinary partnerships, hospitality rituals, and premium design language—can be repurposed as compelling experiences in non-airport settings.
The success of this activation established a new benchmark in experiential marketing, reinforcing the retail partner’s role as a pioneer in experiential retail and the airline’s leadership in global hospitality innovation. P&C Global continues to advise both organizations on future iterations and cross-sector collaborations inspired by this initiative. The rooftop restaurant now stands as a compelling case of how strategic execution aligned with brand identity and customer aspiration can turn a temporary setting into a lasting triumph.
Reimagining Brand Engagement in the Luxury Era
This rooftop transformation was more than an event—it was a strategic reinvention of how luxury brands express their identity and connect with audiences in tangible, emotionally resonant ways. The measurable success of the activation reflects the value of P&C Global’s corporate performance consulting for the travel and hospitality industry, where immersive brand experiences are tightly aligned with commercial outcomes and executive KPIs. By bridging in-flight hospitality with on-the-ground immersion, the airline demonstrated that its commitment to excellence extends well beyond the aircraft cabin. Likewise, the luxury retailer affirmed its role as an orchestrator of cultural and commercial experiences, not merely a place to shop. Together, these two iconic institutions achieved something rare: a fleeting installation that created lasting memories, generated global visibility, and set a new standard for collaborative brand storytelling. The activation has since become a reference point for experiential innovation, inspiring new formats of engagement across sectors.
P&C Global remains at the forefront of this movement, helping organizations reimagine their customer journeys, elevate cross-brand partnerships, and deliver experiences that drive loyalty, cultural capital, and commercial growth.
Partner with P&C Global to Elevate Experiential Brand Strategy
Create unforgettable moments that transcend traditional brand engagement. At P&C Global, we help organizations craft immersive, emotionally resonant experiences—merging storytelling, multisensory design, and operational excellence. Contact us today to explore how we can elevate your brand’s presence through transformative experiential strategies.
