Last week we highlighted how Matt Harding, creator of the Where The Hell is Matt videos, had produced the 2008 version of his fantastic jaunt around the globe.
Anyway, Adage.com has an interesting article about how Stride chewing gum got in the act with its sponsorship deal - and scuppered the best viral marketing deal of the decade for travel brands the world over.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
So after two months of private beta testing (we had access here), Tripwolf has finally come out of the shadows to the wide - and scary - world of the discerning traveller.
The buzz surrounding the project will now need to be translated into usage and, most importantly, engagement.
There's no point in having a travel social guide if no-one gets involved in it.
So the public version has a few nifty tools:
And while it features a fairly comprehensive listing of interesting locales, it may have a hard time differentiating itself from countless other travel sites - there doesn’t seem to be anything too unique going on here.The name would've been a good place to start:
The original Where the Hell is Matt video is still one of the biggest missed travel viral marketing opportunities of all time. The sponsorship went to the forward thinking Stride chewing gum brand!
Anyway, Matt Harding has released a 2008 version of the infamous video. But rather than each clip featuring Harding dancing on his own, he's drummed up support from the locals each time in most of the shots.
Anyway, it features such gems as the DMZ in Korea, Tongatapu (Tonga), zero gravity over Nellis in Nevada and, the best of all, a coordinated Bollywood-style boogie in Guragaon (India).
It's wonderful clips like this that puts the 'rave' into travel! And forget stuffy, corporate marketing puff from tourist boards - a quick view of this is enough to inspire anyone to explore the world.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Listen to anyone from the Googleplex these days at an event and they talk endlessly about the benefits to travel brands of using YouTube for branding.
A campaign extolling the virtues of New Zealand is typically the example given - and deservedly so.
The Pure New Zealand page has had over 90,000 views. One particular video has been seen nearly 1 million times!
The organisation has uploaded 40 videos to its channel, with the top 5 all attracting over 15,000 views.
But how have some other major travel brands fared since giving some time and effort to creating a presence on YouTube?
Expedia UK has its own channel page and has uploaded a huge number of videos (103 videos) in just a few months, but its top-performer - the too-good-to-be-true hotels signs effort we featured a few months back - has attracted just 2,100 views.
STA Travel UK also created its own page in August 2007, but has just two videos on show. The TribeUnwanted video has 1,100 views so far.
Biggles The Bear, the YouTube nom de plume for Cheapflights, has faired much better. The channel page has attracted nearly 3,000 views, but its most popular video - Where The Hell is Biggles?, a pastiche of the infamous Where The Hell is Matt? montage - has been watched nearly 29,000 times.
Anyway, all this playing around on YouTube has revealed Travolution's skydiving extravaganza (and, no, for the last time, it isn't me in the video) has been viewed more times than 101 of Expedia's efforts.
And here it is again...!
Our sister title, Travel Weekly, has a ship tour video of the Norwegian Gem, which has an impressive 6,300 views against. Three times as many as Expedia's best performer.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Say some...
Hotel Blogs draws everyone's attention to the TUI Travel page on YouTube.
Thevenot, who writes Hotel Blogs, says:
For such a big company with marketing resources, I don't understand how you can fail to be more clever than that in terms of embracing social media sites like YouTube. The page even comes almost unreadable. Anyway, we all make mistake[s].A commenter on the post has another suggestion, however:
They haven't missed the point, in fact they seem to get it more than most.Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Check out almost any personal profile page on MySpace and you'll notice that they're all just as garish (if not worse). Repeating, birght backgrounds that make your text almost illegible seem to be par for the course.
Apparently this is Lastminute.com's first viral ad, according to Brand Republic.
Although, of course, there is this ad from a few years back, which just happened to find its way onto YouTube after never seeing the light of day in the real world of TV advertising.
Had viral written all over it...
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Technorati tags: lastminute youtube
Search and social networking are becoming one and the same says Google's managing director, north American travel sector, Rob Torres.
More than 40% of the US population is on a social network and it seems it's an even greater volume in the UK.
It's not all teenagers either - 74% of 26 to 33 year olds use a social network each month and more than 40% of the audience on youtube is more than 35 years old.
There are already some great examples out there of travel and social networking converging such as the New Zealand 100% Pure campaign on youtube and similarly Delta Airlines flight safety video.
Torres says: "It is self perpetuating and there are so many more touch points to reach the consumer than ever before."
For the travel industry there's a huge opportunity to get involved and 'have fun with it.'
"It is one the largest free focus group you have."
Torres leaves us with this pearl: "If you're afraid to get involved with this because of your brand then you're missing the point."
Linda Fox, lead reporter, Travolution
Never heard of this malarkey before, but worth a look.
Apparently some people are so desperate to get upgraded through their frequent flyer status that they are willing to do a marathon run of flights in order to propel themselves to the next level.
The maker of the movie embedded below explains further:
In this case, I had Premier status on United and I was 5,000 miles short of Premier Executive. I made it on Christmas Day 2004, and I traveled from Chicago, to Oakland, to LA, to Las Vegas and then back to Chicago. All in 20hrs. Very tiring. the movie was made from 300 photos and assembled in Adobe After Effects.The things people do for a glass of champers...
If you have ever seen a presentation on SEM you will almost certainly have seen the heat map showing where users' eyes go.
The classic screen shows quite clearly a red cloud in the top left indicating that the top three organic (or paid if up there) listings get the eyeballs.
Well that's all changed. Now with blended search, often referred to as Universal search as in Google Universal, where images, vidoes, news, blogs, maps etc appear in the listings the eyeballs are attracted to other areas of the screen.
See Enquiro Research.
Simply put, an image on position #4, for example, grabs attention above (or should that be below) and beyond the top three listings.
This is a great opportunity to get exposure through social media optimisation.
Travel operators can as such grab the eyeballs then the clicks through placement of GOOD and tagged pictures/videos of resorts on Flickr, YouTube.
But there's a “but”. It also means that Reputation Management is more important now then ever.
Bad reports whether in blogs, on YouTube or in mainstream media will shoot into the SERPs on your brand name complete with imagery. And don't think it can't happen to you.
In the next five years 83% of companies will face a crisis that will negatively affect their share price by 20-30%, according to Oxford Metrica.
Datamonitor report that 33% of people who lose trust in a brand will actively campaign on the internet against that company - and that figure is on the rise.
The lesson is simple you need to be ready to deal with a crisis far more rapidly then before - quite how you do that get's a little more complex...
That's my last blog from SES so sorry to finish on an alarmist note but if there's one lesson from these three days it's that, now more then ever and for good and for bad, you can't take your (tracked) eye off your brand on the internet.
Matt Brocklehurst, marketing director, Latitude Group
[With thanks to Les Explorers]
On the first day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
A tip to expand my business globally
On the second day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the third day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the fourth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the fifth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the sixth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the seventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the eighth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the ninth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the tenth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Ten lords IM'ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM'ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my cool colleague sent to me
Twelve Stumblers stumbling,
Eleven podcasters podcasting,
Ten lords IM'ng,
Nine ladies blogging,
Eight Wiki entries,
Seven Facebook pokes,
Six Twitter nudges,
Five Second Lives,
Four YouTube videos,
Three Del.icio.us bookmarks,
Two social networks,
And a tip to expand my business globally!
Merry Christmas to you all...
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Delegates from the Travolution Conference last week will understand why we are including this clip.
[ITV speaker Caroline Knight played this to demonstrate the power of user generated content - 15 million hits]
Anyway, back by popular demand.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
One of those decent videos that pops up on YouTube every now and again, explaining it all.........
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Technorati tags: youtube information
Hat tip: Jebworks
Travel providers will soon have a new method of flogging their wares, thanks to those ever clever Googlers.
The search giant has announced plans to offer website owners the chance to profit from advertising when they embed video clips from YouTube, Google's video-sharing subsidiary, into their own sites.
Now anyone, including amateur bloggers (goodness me), can take a share of revenues when people view a YouTube clip with relevant ads.
The move marks a significant expansion of Google's AdSense platform.
Here’s how it will work (according to Google):
Video units on Google AdSense enable AdSense publishers to display videos from several YouTube content partners. The video units are ad-supported, and the ads are relevant to both the video and the site content. AdSense publishers and YouTube content partners will receive a share of the ad revenue, so video units enable both groups to earn incremental revenue.
"We're excited about video units because we see this as the first step in content distribution on AdSense," said a Google marketing executive, commenting on the new development.
In theory, this is a great idea which poses endless possibilities for hotels, airlines, tour operators, car hire firms, etc.
However, I stress "In theory".
I mean, would you be enticed by an ad for a romantic holiday to Spain whilst watching the "hilarious" video of the 10 drunken blokes on a stag do in Palma?
I don't think so.
Google may just need to fine-tune the "relevance" bit.
Tricia Holly Davis, chief writer, Travolution
This time last year Opodo was celebrating after learning it had been named one of the coolest brands in the UK.
But reaching such, er, heady heights means there is often only one way to go, according to the 2007 CoolBrands survey, and that's downwards.
In fact, such has been Opodo's dramatic fall from grace that rival online travel agecncy Expedia is now deemed cooler and Opodo didn't even manage to get on the "qualifying" group.
Say what you like about the methodology behind the CoolBrands and SuperBrands scheme (Bebo and MySpace qualified, Facebook didn't), but its PR is fantastic and the national press lap it up reproduce the results every year.
Other travel catgeory winners included:
Virgin Atlantic (general)
Babington House & The Cow Shed (hotels)
Japan (destination)
The top 20 cool brands included Amazon, YouTube, Google and Ebay.
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Technorati tags: opodo expedia superbrands coolbrands
A pleasant introduction to the minefield that is "Web 2.0 applications".
Kevin May, editor, Travolution
Technorati tags: web 2.0 apps youtube simplespark
Hat-tip: Jebworks
Good news for the Average Joe.
Apparently, Google is launching a new version of Google Maps, which will allow anyone with a website to embed the mapping functionality into their site.
Prior to this technological feat, you needed an API (that's application programming interface for you mere mortal readers).
Adding Google Maps will now be as easy as uploading a YouTube video---just a bit of Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V of some HTML code and you're in business.
The embedded maps provide a satellite view, map view or hybrid view, and users can click and drag the maps around.
The development is great news for the great unwashed, especially small businesses with limited technological savvy.
Now any business with a website will be able to include a map of their location (or locations), and allow users to get directions with a few keystrokes.
All hail the democratisation of technology.
Tricia Holly Davis, chief writer, Travolution
Have you heard that the UK government has now banned its employees from using FaceBook?
Well, they have, as have a number of private firms, who shall remain nameless in the interest of sparing them the shame they deserve.
Let's go back to the UK government's decision for a moment, though.
It says it doesn't want its employees using FaceBook for fear that they will not get any work done.
That really helps to instill my faith in civil servants' commitment to their jobs. Cheers.
You can just hear the Homer Simpsonesque grumble..."Stupid working".
Can't you just see the next Prime Minister's Questions:
David Cameron (who no doubt has lots of hoodies as "friends" on his personal FaceBook account): "So, Mr Brown, why has your government banned its employees from using FaceBook?"
Gorden Brown (Scottish droll): "Britain will stand united against terrorism."
It's absurd.
Here's a newsflash: Banning FaceBook, YouTube, MySpace, or any other social networking site, will not solve corporate and government productivity dilemmas.
If companies and government really want to know how their employees are spending their time online, they should check out the lunchtime hits on travel sites like Expedia.
Three words: Through...The...Roof.
Translation: Employees are more interested in leaving work...not hanging out at their desk talking to some other poor slob whose bored at his desk.
Leave FaceBook alone!
Tricia Holly Davis, chief writer, Travolution
