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Creative Requirements
Erich Fromm once said, “Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” That’s exactly what happened when Orbitz partnered with three hotels for their Fill a Plane promotion. Not only was it a creative idea, but it was a great show and tell about the power of social media.
Idea Behind the Promotion:
- – Create a plane
- – Get 300 of your friends to (a) fill it and (b) agree on the destination (Aruba, Las Vegas or Orlando)
- – Each person had to register and sign in
- – Each person could only send two invites per day
- – Winner and 299 friends received a 4 day, 3 night trip to one of the participating destinations.
- – For each person, the prize package included accommodations, airfare and $250 of “play money”.
- – All advertising would be done online through social networking sites
- – Any PR garnered was added value
Expectations:
- – Aruba would be the chosen destination
- – Estimated promotional period: two weeks – two months
- – 325,000 “added value” impressions on blogs
Reality:
- – Within the first two hours, 3 planes were 65% or more complete
- – 7 planes were filled within the first day (all turned out to be 100% valid)
- – 4 out of the first 5 planes that were filled chose Vegas (including the ultimate winner)
- – 1,400 planes were created within the first two hours
- – 2,300 planes were created in two days (until the “winning” plane was validated, the promotion stayed open)
- – 1.75 million “added value” impressions on blogs aka 438% more than what was expected.
- – Other advertising and PR had similar levels of exceeding expectations.
- – Everyone and their sister wants to do a similar promotion. Think “Fill the Cruise Ship” and even “Fill the Course”.
I’d say this was one of those ideas that falls into the “too successful” category 
It also turned out to be an amazing show and tell about the speed and amount of buzz that can be generated through social media. However, it will take more time to understand the hard ROI – how many of the participants will now use Orbitz to book a flight? How many will choose one of the participating hotels for their next vacation? Only time will tell…
Posted in Advertising, Interactive Media, Marketing, Social Media
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