Digital in a Travel Downturn

Hi everyone

I've been away in Australia on holiday, where like everywhere these days, business and agencies are suffering from the effects of the Global Economic Crises.

During these times digital marketing can drive a message in a more interactive, engaging, measurable and cost effective way.

But too often it seems to me, we are simply using digital to talk about lower prices and cheaper deals.

In the end the cut-price approach only damages our brands, so perhaps this is a good time to re-think our approach. After all, when times are tough, our customers don't always choose the cheapest option - they simply become smarter about their behaviour.

This discount mentality afflicts those in the travel industry more than most, so while I was in Australia it was interesting to see a travel campaign that looked differently at the challenge to kick-start tourism again.

The campaign is called 'No Leave/No Life' and the insight behind it is quite fresh. Often during an economic downturn, many people feel the need to take less holidays - even though they are actually not as busy and there are more people out of work & retrenched that could take a break.

But this guilt about tough times, combined with the fact many Australians often don't use their annual leave, is stopping them from going. The prevailing mood is often, 'Things are tough, I shouldn't be holidaying.'

What this campaign does is try to overcome this guilt with the idea that, actually, this is the perfect time to address the 'work/life' battle we all have. How about when you were busy and never took annual leave? Why not redress this imbalance by taking leave now, and get your life back?

The integrated campaign works across many different media, but online is where it really comes alive. It includes:
- A video (bottom left of link page) about the issue and how you can win the work/life battle
- All the reasons why it's good for you, your company and your country to take a break
- All the tools you need to plan your getaway, including holidays deals, handover templates for colleagues and out of office screen savers
- Holiday ideas and inspiration, that make you feel good about travelling now

A great campaign that uses all the digital tools, but more importantly, has some great thinking behind it.

And a timely reminder that even in a downturn, we can still create ideas that go beyond the discount clutter.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com