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Announcing the New Social Media in the Wild Research Blog

October 4, 2011 in Greenland stuff, Online Campaigns, Tourism | No comments

Over the course of the last year, my buddy Mads Pihl and I worked with a number of amazing people (like Humbi Entress, Arne Hardenberg, Stefan Gimpl, Mads Lumholt, the good folks at Visit Greenland and Air Greenland, Anette and Anita, and many more) to put together Greenland’s first social media campaign.

 

If you haven’t already seen the videos, I guess you haven’t talked to me in a year – because its pretty much the only thing I talk about. 

In pulling together our project, we learnt a ton – a whole blogs worth in fact. So, in the spirit of continuing on the social theme, we wrote a blog about our experience.  The press release for the blog is below.  I’m super proud to have been part of this project, and I hope our lessons learned will help other folks in the tourism industry and maybe other sectors as well.  We’ll be posting a blog a day for the next 16 days.

(We’ll also be sharing our story at the Adventure Travel World Summit in Chiapas, Mexico – come to our session if you are there!)
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October 4th, Sisimiut, Greenland
Announcing the New Social Media in the Wild Research Blog  

How does a small, emerging destination, with a tiny budget, in an unknown country, put itself on the radar of adventure travelers and create business for its stakeholders?

In the spring of 2011, Destination Arctic Circle partnered with Visit Greenland and Air Greenland to launch Social Media in the Wild, a social project centered on six short films that followed the adventure journey of Austrian pro-snowboarder Stefan Gimpl and his Greenlandic guide, Arne Hardenberg.

Today we’re launching a comprehensive look into the engine room of Social Media in the Wild with a research blog that details every step of the way from the first brainstorms to the final product. This will include in-depth knowledge about how to plan, set up, execute, and track a social media campaign with a detailed roadmap of what we did, how we did it, what we learned, and what tools worked for us.

Our campaign videos were viewed by more than 15,000 people in over 70 countries, and shared over 2000 times on Facebook.  And since all good social projects come with cool infographics, we have an awesome one right here.

However, as the story of the blog will ultimately show, tools and users get more sophisticated, and so must our approach to social media.

Our experience found that going beyond social media engagement can open up new opportunities in the B2B sphere of your social media activities, making it easier to expand the online conversations into offline business development.

The blog will be of interest to any tourism destination and tour operator seeking to learn more about effective social strategies and tactics.

Dig Deeper – Read the blog at http://blog.arcticcircle.gl

Shot of Deo in Rough Riders Episode

Iceland Was Social Before You Were Born

August 15, 2011 in Online Campaigns, Tourism | 3 comments

Have you seen Iceland’s new cheeky Twitter feed @hipstericeland?

They’re tweeting hilarity  such as:

- Yeah, it’s true. My Hekla is the gate to Hell… vetica.

- Yeah, nice piercing, see my ring road?

- Is it just me or is Greenland trying to hard? (to which I responded and they tweeted back)

The feed, as I found through my Google-sleuthing, was made by TakkTakk the genius firm behind all of Iceland’s social efforts.  Looking at their stuff gives me total social envy – @HispterIceland is only the latest evolution to their incredibly well organized, consistent and open-to-change integrated social media campaign called “Iceland Wants to Be Your Friend,” where the idea is the country itself is just discovering the “inter-nets,” and how to communicate with humans.  Its’ endearing, funny and engaging.

Iceland had a Brand Character Before you Ever heard of The Old Spice Guy

Back in 2009, at the request of Promote Iceland, TakkTakk  decided to take a risk and give Iceland a real personality in their social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Vimeo, Flickr, Foursquare).  They didn’t worry about if not all their stakeholders weren’t cool with Iceland having a quirky, edgy voice and clunky style, occasionally misspelling stuff.  Earlier, I suggested they leverage the adorable, dancing, British girl – but they didn’t need to, they’ve already got a perfect “Brand Character,” this staccato voice that permeates all channels of “Iceland wants to be your friend.”

Super Hip Takeaways

Two lessons: (1) its neither possible nor desirable to please everyone – but going for something unique and memorable is.  This way, those who connect with Iceland’s brand are really going to connect. (2) Leaving room for growth is key – HipsterIceland is a recent addition to the family of social channels, but since Iceland is well known for hip bands, cool wool sweaters and ice bars – they decided to leverage the top of mind associations.

Its probably super hipster to be writing a blog about this; but to be safe, I’m wearing skinny jeans and listening to bands you’ve never heard of as I write this.  Maybe now @hisptericeland will follow me back, (it’s @getnat, boys).

 

What Can Tourism Learn From the Old Spice Hunkathon? (Part 1)

July 28, 2011 in Online Campaigns, Tourism, Uncategorized | 2 comments

Yesterday, Old Spice launched Mano a Mano en el Bano– a hunk-off between the delicious “Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” and Fabio (“The Man Who Got Hit In The Face by A Pigeon”); they are competing for the official Old Spice Guy Title and the Internet masses can vote for their favorite.  Isaiah will probably win, even though, he was in a Tyler Perry movie recently.  This is the third part in their marketing miracle (you’ll remember the original ads and then the 186 real time responses to fans, bloggers and celebrities).

So, what can the tourism world learn from this campaign?  The first is the power of a brand character or mascot.  These have been used successfully in marketing for a long time (think: Pillsbury Dough Boy, the Most Interesting Man in the World, etc). What I like about them is their staying power and the ability to re-invent.  But we don’t see them a lot in tourism.

Ocean City for a while had a hot life guard called Rodney who would rescue people from boredom.  Switzerland currently has Sebi and Paul, but they don’t even talk.   It’s perhaps risky for a tourism board (a government body) to select something so subjective to represent a whole country.  And real people, unlike cartoony Mr. Clean or the Michelin Man, get old and maybe become something other than actors.  But I still think, destinations could try them out for a while.  Here are some suggestions for unbiased people I’d love to see represent the following countries.

  • Iceland could use that cute Dancing British Girl Who LOVES Iceland (pictured below)
  • Argentina: Soccer is a big deal in Diego Maradona’s homeland, and its something that transcends the provinces.  The Voice from the Stadium from the Nike Commercial could be a fun tourism mascot.
  • Namibia: Their impressive conservation work is their most powerful competitive advantage – a voice of conservation would appeal to most travelers and Namibians.
  • Canada: David Suzuki (he’ll show you how to travel sustainably!)
  • Connecticut: Should obviously use homegrown talent Dancing Matt!

Any other ideas?

 

Part 2: Interaction in Social Media – Coming up Next

 

Toronto is Trending

July 15, 2011 in Online Campaigns, Tourism | No comments

Although I love all things Canada, as a Montrealer, I’m less enthusiastic about  all things Toronto. However, Toronto is Trending, an awesome tourism campaign from Tourism Toronto, is a a visually compelling and unique initiative – that seems to hit 3 coveted birds with one stone: involves residents, provides current, local information to tourists and improves Toronto’s image (even I have to say, they are so much better than their past ads have portrayed them).

 

Tourism Toronto has launched a website that features a type of Augmented Reality of the whole city.  The site pulls information from social networks like Twitter, Foursquare, and blogs to show whats “trending.”  That trending information is plotted on a map of Toronto.  There are two views: (1) “Video View,” (above)  which shows a live feed from web cams of popular places, and (2) “Map view” (below), which shows Toronto through the lens of Google Earth.    You can pull up quick info on Eating, Drinking, Sport Events, Art Events, and Shopping.

 

 

I really believe that for a online tourism campaign to be successful, especially in a city, it is critical to get the residents involved and excited.  Local enthusiasts convey a contagious sense of pride in their place, which inspires visitors – who tourism boards are trying to reach in the first place.  Visitors are looking for hot and current information, especially “insider tips,” however, they have no reason to contribute or stay involved with a tourism site after their vacation is over.  So these types of initiatives rely on the UGC of residents to stay current. But they still have to get that content.

Trending Toronto is especially smart because it tackles the issue of content generation by using platforms that people are already on, such as Foursquare and Twitter. They created a hastag, #torontotrending for Twitter and are also pulling form the feeds of  well known Toronto blogs and personalities.

It will be interesting to see if this has staying power – but if Toronto residents continue to update their location and opinions via Twitter and Foursquare, the site will be fed with content and become a great place for visitors to get a real feel for it.

I suppose tourists will mostly use the site to plan their trip.  Unless they are able to use their mobile phones in Canada without getting charged exorbitantly high roaming charges. Tourism Toronto might be able to make this more useful for international tourists (who are less likely to use their cell phones on a 3G network) by creating wi-fi hotspots around the city, say at the places where they have the Video Views, like Dundas Square and Union Station.  They could create more engagement by requiring a check-in in order to access to sites beyond Trending Toronto.

In any case, nice work, Toronto. Its a great way for tourists to see the city through local’s eyes.

Online Campaign: Croatia Welcome

June 28, 2011 in Online Campaigns, Tourism, Uncategorized | No comments

It is obviously really important that tourists feel welcome when they come to a new country.  This could be everything from the attitude of border guards to simple “Welcome” signs around town. How about a GIANT welcome sign that you could see from the Moon?

That’s what Croatia did as an attempt to attract adventure tourists.  From April to June, four guys traced the word “welcome” over 2,500 km of Croatia (using only non-motorized transportation such as kayaks, bikes and their own feet, they crossed over 8 national parks! 11 mountain tops! Six rivers!) By tracking their course by GPS the whole way, the word “Welcome,” appears on Google Earth.

The team used two channels to promote the journey : Facebook (+8k likes) and their own site: www.welcome.hr, with a photo gallery and day by day blog.  An impressive list of partners from T-mobile an ORYX rent a Car (a funny partner for a non-motorized journey) supported the trip.

The journey has now ended.  I only learnt about this campaign because it appeared in a “Google Alert,” that I have set up on “Adventure Tourism,” – otherwise, it did not appear in any of my social feeds or on any of the blogs I read.

It’s a novel way to use Google Earth.  And in fact, I think tourism destinations should take advantage of Google Maps and Google Earth way more than they currently do – because it is somewhere people turn to almost immediately when planning a trip.

But their micro-site is difficult to navigate and I’m not certain their PR push was strong enough to have reached relevant markets outside of Croatia or those already interested in Croatia.

As seems to be the case with online campaigns (except for those done in Australia), this is a cool initiative, but one that probably hasn’t raised the profile of Croatia in a way that made the investment worth it, nor will it greatly increase arrivals to Croatia.

 

Online Campaign: My Switzerland “Holidays Without Internet”

June 18, 2011 in Facebook, Online Campaigns, Tourism | No comments

So, according to Forrester Research, one in five US leisure travelers watched travel videos online. That’s a lot of potential tourists up for grabs and explains why destinations are  becoming increasingly creative with their online videos; their competition is always only a click away!

Check out this sophisticated and clever video from MySwitzerland.

The backstory: MySwitzerland released TV commercials and online videos featuring dairy farmers Sebi & Paul as they explored an unnamed big Swiss City. The two simple farmers indulged in fancy food, visited shiny malls and partied at a modern disco.  An attempt to show potential tourists that, besides picturesque mountains, Switzerland also has “Everything for the perfect city break.”

Sebi & Paul became a hit and the tourism board decided to build on their popularity for another campaign, “Holidays Without Internet.”  This campaign is a competition with a clever video and innovative use of Facebook connect. The prize is a holiday in the Swiss mountains with ten Facebook friends, and the winner will be drawn at random after the contest closes on July 8th, 2011.

The new video shows Sebi and Paul chatting over Facebook. The Facebook chat box appears in the bottom of your screen.  At some point during their conversation, they ask to connect with you (the viewer), once you hit “Connect”, your profile shows up on their computer screen.

Sebi asks to "Connect" with the viewer

 

They discuss your profile a bit (how many friends you have, latest status update) and then after they balk at the amount of time you spend on Facebook (how do they know that stat?!) they say, “She looks like she needs a holiday without Internet.” And you are entered into the contest.

 

Photos from my FB profile on Sebi's Screen

A few comments:

- Innovative use of Facebook Connect (can’t imagine how much it cost to develop):  But it is a bit invasive.   A friend of mine who has one of those top secret closed profiles, where no one can see pictures that are tagged of her tried it, and Sebi and Paul could see her hidden pictures. The same friend did not appreciate Sebi’s snide comment, “Look, she’s not in a relationship.”  I don’t mind them accessing my profile, but I can see how it might be a bit much for some people.  It might even have been too much for Facebook, who removed the application in late May, which only created a bigger PR buzz.  They re-installed it after three days.

- Smart target marketing: as you see in the video, despite the fact they are sitting across the table from each other, Sebi and Paul are chatting on Facebook, showing how even our offline interaction has gone online.  This should appeal to tired, stressed out Blackberry junkies who desire disconnected time, yet are constantly online.   Presumably, this is also a rich segment with lots of money to spend in Switzerland.


Lonely Island Does Nairobi

June 16, 2011 in Online Campaigns, Tourism, YouTube | 2 comments

By now, you’ve probably seen at least one Lonely Island YouTube sensation. Lonely Island is a trio of hilarious-SNL-comedians who make parodic music videos. I’m On A Boat, is my favorite.

Recently, AFAR magazine sent one of the trio, Jorma, to Kenya, as part of their “Spin the Globe” series, where a famous person spins the globe and travels to whatever country they land on.

The result is a short article by Jorma and a music video of him with a Kenyan rapper, Rabbit. Having been to Kenya, I’d say the images in the video are an accurate representation of Kenya – and there is a notable absence of your typical tourism shots: luxury safari camps, Masai warriors, Lamu beaches etc.

Because of that, I’m curious to know if people who haven’t been to Kenya find the images of dusty, crowded streets and chaotic traffic appealing?  Do descriptions of authentic experiences such as:

The (Carnivore restaurant) is extremely popular with wazungu, as we white people are called here, so much so that soldiers with machine guns scan every car for explosives, apparently fearful that Al Qaeda might blow the place up. Besides the threat of death, it’s charming—like a Kenyan version of the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

…make Kenya sound like a worthwhile destination?

Ultimately, I think its cool that AFAR/Jorma decided to highlight the vibrant local music scene, and portray Nairobi as it is – not super safe, and occasionally with contrived tourism experiences, such as the Carnivore Restaurant. But that is certainly not all the country has to offer.

Unfortunately, I think the safety issue, combined with the fact that in his article, Jorma refers to being ripped off and lonely a lot, will not encourage someone who hasn’t been to Kenya to take a vacation there.  Which is a lost opportunity, because nearly half a million people, presumably fans of Lonely Island, rather than fans of Kenya, have watched the YouTube video, and it might have been a chance to encourage them to visit.

Hopefully, Rabbit at least sold some CDs.