360DigitalInfluence

World Travel Market – the colossal b2b travel trade event held each year in London’s Docklands- and I will both be celebrating our 30^th birthdays this November, so I thought that it was time I expressed my long-held secret love for the show that costs me my sanity every year.

There’s plenty of reasons for the British travel PR to hate November – not seeing daylight for four entire days, existing on a Morgan Spurlock-style diet of pastries, realising your client is half a mile away from the waiting journalist who you have BEGGED and compromised yourself in five different ways for an interview, I could go on, but I’ve still got to admit that I really quite love WTM week and there’s two main reasons for that:

Firstly, it’s a bit like Ready…Steady…PR! A little holiday from all that strategising, taking the long view, etc. You’ve got a tiny bit of budget, about 3 working days, an eye-watering level of competition from every other travel PR in London but your client is only here for 2 days so it’s well worth pulling something impressive out of the bag. My number one career highlight happened at WTM: back in 2007 I was in the mobile radio studio with Carlos Alberto, captain of Brazil’s 1970 World Cup-winning team. Slightly demented with caffeine, I found myself shedding a little tear as he described the team effort that went into one of the world’s all time greatest goals. It’s not often that you get to sit in a 3ft-wide caravan with a legend.

Secondly, it’s the age-old desire of human beings to get together in one place, have a drink and dish the dirt. Maybe I’m a bit sad, but WTM is one of the few weeks in my year when I’m greeted by more than one person who I know but haven’t seen for a while. Just like the early Britons embraced Christmas because there was already a Pagan celebration to break up the winter misery a bit, no matter how much the travel trade socialises and sells online, I reckon WTM will always be a relevant focal point of the year. Anyone else feel the same? What’s the US version of WTM like?

What made Seinfeld one of the best television shows ever? A big part of it was his ability to based an entire episode on an everyday observation.  Over the run of the show, this method gave viewers such memorable moments as double dipping (taking a bite and then redipping the chip into the dip) and Festivus (a made up holiday for the non-religious to celebrate during the “holiday season”). Seinfeld stood out because every episode expanded on some quirky truth about life we already knew but never thought about.

How effective could your marketing message be if you managed to relate it to an observation like those on Seinfeld?  There was a perfect example I saw on television last week for an unlikely brand.  The ad featured a guy in a red, white and blue sweatsuit sniffing various objects happily.  It starts with obscure things like carpets and curtains – and eventually you get the sense that he’s on a cruise ship when he looks over the side and sniffs the uniform of the Captain.  At the very end, he utters just one line – “mmmm … new ship smell.” And you see the logo of Carnival Cruise Lines.

How many other cruise lines could have run the same ad?  Probably any one. Most of them have some new ships.  But this ad delivers a powerful message based on a truth that we all intuitively know (that new car smell).  The message is simple: we have ships so new they still smell new.  And if you’re going cruising, of course you want a new ship.

You can see the full ad below.  After you watch it, think about what quirky truth your customers all know that you could focus your marketing on.  Sometimes you might find your best marketing idea inspired by a show about nothing.

New Ship Smell

This post was republished from the original at http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/.

I realize this post is a bit off-topic, but the examples I use are very relevant to marketers in travel and tourism.

Bob Marley is a legendary singer/songwriter, unmatched political activist, but also arguably the world’s best known lover of sensimillia and a prolific producer of children (12 in all … three with Rita, two adopted, seven with separate women).

Iggy Pop was the dynamic front man for The Stooges (and later a solo artist), but also was know for his on-stage antics including self-mutilation, audience abuse and stage diving (not to mention his legendary drug habit).

On paper neither Marley nor Pop are the celebrities who immediately come to mind as corporate pitch men.  Yet Marley – 28 years after his death – is still very much the voice of Jamaica tourism; and Pop’s “Lust for Life” has been the soundtrack of Royal Caribbean commercials for the better part of the decade.

Marley’s “One Love” in a Jamaica Tourism Commercial:

In a world where brands go to great lengths to protect and promote a reputation, what gives?

Bob Marley put Jamaica on the tourism map (some would argue Chris Blackwell, the legendary founder of Island Records, put Marley, and therefore Jamaica, on the map).  Marley and Jamaica are – and always will be – inextricably linked.  Don’t you agree that most travelers to Jamaica come to experience the Marley lifestyle (whatever that entails)?  As the island’s most famous son (Legend alone has sold upwards of 20 million worldwide), it would be a huge miss if Jamaica didn’t feature him in their outreach.

The Royal Caribbean case is a bit trickier.  There’s some online chatter questioning the choice of Pop’s song for a family-friendly brand.  But I’m of the mind that (1) Iggy Pop was never a household name and (2) “Lust for Life,” at least in the US, was never a “hit” song (according to Wikipedia “Lust for Life” reached #28 in the UK Albums Chart and peaked at #120 on the Billboard charts in US).  I doubt that beyond a small percentage of the population, Pop has a lot of relevance.  And while the bulk of the lyrics are PG-13, the refrain, I’ve got a lust for life, works for Royal Caribbean (both lyrically and energetically).

Iggy Pop

Many brands use music from well-known artists to market their product/service (it makes particular sense for travel services and destinations as music can immediately convey a lifestyle or feeling) .  And with the music industry in a rough state, bands will continue to aggressively license their work for compensation.  Some fans consider this selling out.  I think most bands consider this lunch money.

Four immediate lessons come to mind for brands considering this route (it should be noted that I spent a few years in the music business, at a label, several small agencies and as a consultant for brands looking  to connect with bands):

1. Embrace an artist who epitomizes what you are trying to sell.  Easier said than done – there are only so many Bob Marleys.
2. Do your due diligence.  Go beyond the lyrics.  Demand that your agency provide a full research backgrounder on the artist (particularly those you aren’t familiar with).  Make sure you’re turning over all rocks.  What does the mainstream press say?  What’s the chatter in social media?  Is there a conversation ready to erupt? If so, you might want to walk away.
3. There are different levels of association with an artist … from licensing a song/lyrics to the artist’s likeness to the artist as a pitch-man.  The latter is highest risk/highest potential reward.
4. Again, with the state of the music business being what it is, there are deals to be had.  Leverage your spend, particularly if you’re interested in working with the artist beyond just using their music (e.g., personal appearances, exclusive content, etc.)