miss...your bag is on fire.
To promote their new exhibit about Pompeii, the National Museum in New Zealand went to where tourists are. Collecting their bags.
Then they covered them in hot, flowing lava. Just like tourists like it. Nice.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:38 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 04, 2010
your ceo is the mayor of your brand
You'd think that this is obvious, and that your CEO is not only the leader of your company, but the most prominent brand ambassador. So why not position them as mayors?
I had the random chance to share a JetBlue flight yesterday with JetBlue CEO David Barger. It wasn't that I recognized him. Or was even looking for him.
He introduced himself to the entire flight, prior to takeoff. And greeted all of the passengers as they disembarked the plane. He could have easily enjoyed a quiet, anonymous flight. Sounds obvious, and like common sense? For many successful brands...yes. But plenty of others don't take advantage of this opportunity.
Why not have the CEO of your grocery store chain announce himself to the store on a Friday morning? Or the CEO of a gas station at the pumps on Saturday? Regular public encounters with the leader of the brand can go a long way in humanizing a company and helping to share a caring image of the brand.
I'm certain that plenty of passengers from yesterday's flight left JetBlue with a smile and maybe even mentioned the chance encounter to their friends. (Or tweeted it.)
Oh yeah - even better: it turns out the JetBlue CEO David Barger is a huge fan of Brand Flakes for Breakfast. You can tell by the way he politely agrees to tell you so. :)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
you know it's a success when the cell phone cams come out
KLM's experiential work to promote their new comfortable seating puts a guy in an invisible chair in the middle of an airport. Cute, fun, and cell phone pic worthy.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
spirit airlines targeting...who?
Spirit Airlines has a new campaign that's captured the spirit of...a frat boy? Their ads feature MUFF Diving Sales and MILF Sales.
This is sure to offend many, which makes you wonder if a targeted campaign to frat boys for spring break will have negative impact for their larger audience in the long haul. Here's an interesting lesson in the mechanics of micro and macro targeting. And, I just said MILF.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:50 AM
2 comments
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
fly oceanic, tonight
There are ads running on Kayak for a flight on Oceanic 815, the fictional airline featured in Lost. They've worked the creative direction so that the banners actually look like real search results, and the flight details are the same as the one that crashed on the island.
Great work that fans will appreciate (and be reminded of the season premiere, tonight.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:30 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
stuff you'll need on the competing airline
If you haven't seen the JetBlue Flyer's Collection campaign, you'll want to check out their Facebook promotion. The site features a fictional catalog of items that you might need if you fly with other airlines. Cute, great execution and copy.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:25 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
facebook a boon for small town tourism
What do you do when you're marketing a smaller tourism location? Disney, Paris, NYC and other international draws have million dollar campaigns and just as many resources at their disposal. But what about Lynchburg, Virginia?
Plenty of smaller markets have businesses, museums, fairs and events all worthy of attention. Small Biz Survival points out that Lynchburg, Virginia has been able to use Facebook advertising to bring real results to their campaigns.
Display advertising used to cost thousands of dollars, and now they're connecting with larger audiences for just hundreds of dollars. Think your market is too small? We'll bet there's a few hundred Facebook users that disagree. From @brickandclick.
Labels: facebook, marketing, social media, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM
0 comments
Monday, December 14, 2009
give the gift of fine hotel furniture
Like your hotel room? Would you like to give it to someone for Christmas? Now that's possible, with the ShopMarriott store. Hotels selling their goods is nothing new, but Marriott has taken it up a notch with ShopMarriott. They've successfully extended their brand essence into the retail space, with an online store that pretty much sells your entire room experience.
It'll be hilarious when you try and convince your girlfriend that you didn't steal her gift on your last business trip...you bought it online. "No really, I paid for this. I swear."
Labels: hospitality, retail, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:20 AM
0 comments
Thursday, December 10, 2009
you can kiss anyone at london's heathrow
Now there's finally a reason to kiss random strangers that you think are cute. Just head to London's Heathrow airport, where they've hung the world's largest sprig of mistletoe.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
Monday, October 26, 2009
blogging as a tourist destination
Bloggers are now so super cool that Club Med has arranged a tourist cruise where you can hang with them.
It's a Club Med vacation with food bloggers. Hang, cook, tweet about it, and eat. And then eat some more. (Your bloggers may not look as glamorous as the people pictured above.)
Let's take a Brand Flakes in the Bahamas trip, ok?
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
holiday inn may be out of key cards when you check in...
Holiday Inn is in the midst of "the largest re-launch in the hospitality industry." How to celebrate? How about building an entire lobby and hotel room with Holiday Inn key cards? Nice.
Thanks, Casey!!
Labels: hospitality, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:30 AM
0 comments
Monday, September 21, 2009
big box stores of the dominican republic
When branding people go on vacation, the photos they take aren't always your typical vacation photos. If you can relate to that, then you'll love Ted Murphy's photo collection of the "big box" stores of the Dominican Republic.
Labels: branding, creativeinspiration, retail, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
3 comments
Thursday, September 17, 2009
come to denmark and have anonymous sex
This is definitely one of the oddest tourism campaigns that you'll ever see. A single mom from Denmark who doesn't remember her baby daddy's name, but hoping that he'll see the YouTube video, and remember having sex with her.
This is meant to inspire you to vacation in Denmark.
There's much more juice and background on the campaign over at Adland, including some detail about where the concept might have originated from (a ripped off idea?).
Planning a vacation? Bring protection.
Labels: ads, hospitality, travel, viral
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
the journey of a lost backpack and southwest airlines
American Copywriter points to an excellent story from Peter Hartlaub, and how a lost backpack turned him into the biggest Southwest Airlines fan ever.
Long story short, his son lost his backpack on a flight without any identifying information on the bag other than his kid's name embroidered on the back. It turns out that Southwest Airlines not only came across the bag, but went way over the top to find its owner. They found a receipt in the bag, identified a customer name, cross referenced with their passenger list, and several steps later the backpack was back in the hands of Peter's kid.
A wonderous story that he'll tell over and over to at every opportunity. An investment in time from Southwest that's better than any television ad they could ever buy. What kind of extra juice are you giving your customers?
Labels: branding, customerservice, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
4 comments
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
the best gas ever.
A most wonderous collection of the most glorious gas stations you'll ever roll your chariot into.
Labels: architecture, photography, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
how designers travel
You'll be inspired by the manner in which Christine from LAMA Designs travels. In the digital age, it's almost expected that we document our travels on Twitter, on Flickr, Facebook and everywhere else.
Christine's photo essay shows how easy (and valuable) it is to document your travels. She emails her friends a daily journal while on the road, complete with pics and details of her adventures (I suppose Facebook would be better for this). Once home, she creates digital movies for each of her trips, complete with soundtracks representative of the journey.
From Pretavoyager, a blog devoted to the creative side of traveling. Found by Rosso.
Labels: photography, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
not the kind of viral you were planning for...
While flying to Nebraska, musician Dave Carrol had an unhappy experience with United Airlines. While on the tarmac at O'Hare Airport, he was horrified to look out the window of his plane to see baggage handlers tossing his $3500 guitar around. When it arrived smashed, he pursued the issue with United Airlines. You've probably already guessed where this is going...
Dave didn't get a new guitar so he decided to tell the story in song. And video. And now the message continues to spread.
Labels: customerservice, music, travel, viral
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:28 AM
2 comments
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
finally, you'll know where the emergency exits are
Air New Zealand has a fun new ad campaign featuring painted bodies. They've taken it even a step further and produced their in-flight safety videos using the same theme. Really smart. We're pretty sure that you'll pay attention now.
(What would be fun: get a bunch of sloppier looking people, paint their bodies, and then try to board an Air New Zealand flight.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
what your brand could learn from a hotel
The new ACE Hotel in NYC is like a textbook of brand awesomeness. NOTCOT has a really delicious pictorial that illustrates how ACE really, really, really understands the brand experience.
It's like they designed everything, and then walked through the entire place and examined every object, thinking "how could this be a part of the brand experience?"
If you are even remotely associated with anything branding, you have to check this out.
You could do the same with your brand. Have you really evaluated each and every single little thing that your client's see? Touch? Experience? How could they be more true to your brand?
(And yes, I would totally borrow one of those coat hangers.)
Labels: branding, design, hospitality, newyork, travel, typography
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:57 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
cleveland rocks. sort of.
Tourism councils pay attention: This video has several hundred thousand more views than the official Cleveland video. Maybe because it's fun. And funny. And it resonates with things people experience every day. It's also the second result in a Google search for Cleveland, tourism. Woops.
If you're in tourism, this might be the best example of why it's time to let your agency do something awesome, instead of a video that the entire board of directors and the city council of senior citizens would approve.
Either that...or the public might do it for you. From Coudal.
Labels: ads, creativeinspiration, parody, travel, youtube
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 12, 2009
putting empty storefronts to work
Carnival Cruise lines has produced virtual aquariums using vacant storefronts in a handful of cities across the U.S.
The windows are interactive - if you move your arms around in the air and make fish faces with your lips, people on the street will point and laugh at you. But it will all be worthwhile because the animated fish will dance, or sing, or entertain you in some way.
Labels: ads, hospitality, retail, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:43 AM
2 comments
Thursday, March 05, 2009
air traffic as art
Here's what your plane's headlights must look like from the sky. Check out the entire collection of visualizations of air traffic viewed with a neato Google maps applet.
There's a bunch of them, showing air traffic sorted in every visual way that you can imagine. From Diane Hessan, via Twitter.
Labels: art, google, mashup, photography, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
0 comments
Thursday, February 05, 2009
what it's like to go through airport xray
Evan Roth, the founder of the Graffiti Research Lab, has posted an interesting project documenting his travels...he's kept his video camera running through airport xray machines as he's traveled the world.
This project does prove one thing: those airport xray machines aren't filled with Gremlins, monsters or goblins.
Labels: art, creativeinspiration, streetart, travel, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:08 AM
0 comments
Monday, January 19, 2009
jetblue gets sued.
Agency friend Bill Baker had a bad experience flying JetBlue. He was basically left stranded in Portland, Oregon. And so, he started a blog.
Long story short, Bill Baker decided to take JetBlue to court. He sued them in small claims court, to prove a point. And he won.
Airlines are one of the few industries that continue to treat customers like crap - and social media will not reflect nicely on this practice. It's time to put the policy manuals away and start running customer-centric businesses. Or we'll see you in court.
Labels: branding, social media, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:40 AM
0 comments
Monday, January 12, 2009
it's a plane! it's a hotel!
Someone's taken a retired 747 and turned it into a hotel. This has to be the best airport hotel in the entire world. Ever. Avoiding the mile high club jokes for now.
Labels: architecture, hospitality, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
0 comments
Friday, January 09, 2009
frat guys find new air transport
Adrants points to a couple of fun spots for X-Travel, an agency that apparently delivers frat guys to the lands of bikini girls. The newest spot plays on the age old urban legend of a fire helicopter picking up surfers, and there's an older spot featuring a plane crash. Woohoo.
Labels: ads, travel, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:21 AM
0 comments
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
how to behave on the subway
Metro Rules of Conduct is a game that teaches players how to behave on a subway. Artist/Developer Kian created the game to point out the irony of the situation. Train cars that are designed to foster reaction (with seats faced toward each other), yet society works hard to continue to ignore one another.
Play the game by staring at MP3 players and other objects without actually making prolonged eye contact with other humans. Scarily accurate, regardless of what city you're from.
Labels: creativeinspiration, Flash, gaming, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
do people buy ipods from vending machines?
BrandFlakes friend Grant asks a pretty reasonable question: why would you need to buy an iPod from a vending machine in an airport?
An iPod is pretty much useless at the moment of purchase - and until fully charged, and choked with music, it really has no practical use. So - why iPod vending machines in airports? Is it to brand BestBuy as a source for iPods?
Ever curious, I reached out to Barry Judge, BestBuy's Chief Marketing Officer (which is easy to do, thanks to Twitter).
In reality - the vending machines have many items that you could actually use, if you forget them at home - headsets, Flip video cameras, and other items. Barry Judge calls the machines "generation one," and believes that they can help to build the brand. He also believes that there's business there.
What about you? Have you ever spent money in an airport gadget vending machine?
Labels: pointofpurchase, retail, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
2 comments
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
attack of the giant pinatas
What if every city had giant party pinatas filled with candy, dancing in the streets? Why not? Maybe our new president could make that happen.
In the meantime, there's the Carnival Cruise Lines promotion, featuring a ginormous pinata filled with 8000 pounds of sugary delicious goodness. About a week ago, they produced the world's largest beach balls, and now they're cracking open the world's largest pinata, all over the streets of Philadelphia.
(We should send these to countries in need of aid. Giant food pinatas, filled with essentials like Mary Janes, Milk Duds and Pixie Stix. We'll air drop them, like pinata bombs.)
Here's some behind the scenes footage of the Philly pinata being built. Sounds like a giant party, which I guess is the point.
Labels: hospitality, streetteams, stunts, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
3 comments
Thursday, October 23, 2008
event blogging done well
JetBlue opened their long-awaited T5 terminal at JFK this week, and they're sharing the event in a T5 blog. This is a fantastic example of a short-term blog (we assume) that accurately captures an event, shares the details while promoting the brand.
Proof that blogging is still a wonderful promotional tool - short term or long term. What could you be sharing?
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:50 AM
2 comments
Thursday, August 21, 2008
jet blue: schedules schmedules.
This hurts me to post. Because JetBlue was always one of those brands that I've loved, loved, loved. One of those brands that I've held up as an example to other brands, as someone we could learn from. And still the airline of choice for our agency.
But things are slipping. The airline industry needs help, people.
Bill Baker is the dude who was left stranded (with a couple of hundred other passengers) in Oregon for a couple of days by JetBlue. Rather than just shrug it off as "I don't expect to get what I pay for when I buy air travel", Bill decided to do something. Like any good internet citizen, he started a blog. And a small claims lawsuit.
To help make him feel better, JetBlue invited him to their upcoming terminal opening party (in the LEGENDARY Saarinen terminal). Only...one thing...they screwed up the scheduling on the invite. Read Bill's post for the glorious details. If I didn't know Bill personally, I'd swear this was a joke, or Photoshop. But it's not.
Please, please, please JetBlue: Get back on top of your game.
Labels: architecture, branding, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:23 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
creative inspiration found in new jersey
At our agency, most of us love travel - even if it's to the most mundane places. Sometimes you can find the most awesome inspiration in the most unexpected places. And sometimes the locals get so used to having these awesome things around them, that they take them for granted. But not you. And not Garret.
Check out what Garret found in New Jersey. Yeah. Jersey. What can you find on your next trip?
Labels: architecture, creativeinspiration, outdoor, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:08 AM
6 comments
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
meet real people when you travel
Jared Goralnick has some excellent advice on how to use social networks to improve your travel experience.
And this isn't just a theoretical blog post. Jared practices what he preaches. I met Jared at SXSW, thanks to his efforts on Facebook and one of the SXSW social sites. Now Jared's traveling the globe and meeting interesting people along the way. And he's detailed exactly how you can do the same on your next trip.
If you've ever wondered how social networks could benefit you personally, here's yet another wonderful example. Jump in. The water's fine.
Labels: social media, sxsw, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
1 comments
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
vote john smith for president
The Chesapeake Bay is apparently getting all dirty and stinky. How do you raise awareness, and get people rallied around Chesapeake Bay pride? By finding a presidential candidate that supports the bay. Captain John Smith is that man.
And there's a campaign site, too. Really hoping that he chooses the Cap'n Crunch for his running mate. From Make the logo bigger.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
1 comments
Friday, June 27, 2008
where would you like your hotel room, sir?
This is the coolest hotel concept ever. A super mod, ultra designed portable hotel room that can be parked virtually anywhere.
I wonder about the important stuff - like where does the toilet water go? Does it just flush onto the street below? But things like that aren't important when you've got the world's most spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower. This would make for a sweet party or promotional event.
Labels: architecture, hospitality, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:31 AM
0 comments
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
jet blue owns the internets
Our agency LOVES JetBlue. It's the unofficial, official airline of Plaid. They get branding, they get the internet. And I'm pretty sure they also know how to fly. Now they're even using Twitter. And doing it right.
Yesterday, as I was rolling through my Twitter timeline, I noticed a tweet from JetBlue - warning NY area travelers that there might be weather delays, due to the sucky weather we were experiencing. I know when I travel, I'm constantly checking tweets (more than email sometimes), to keep up - so that's a pretty cool way to keep Twitter users informed.
But it gets even better. Moments later, Brian Shaler (via Twitter) points to some additional detail on how JetBlue is using Twitter.
They get it. They're using tools to be a part of the conversation, to enhance your service experience and to build their brand. Awesome. How could you use tools like no one else in your industry?
Labels: plaid, social media, travel, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:42 AM
0 comments
Thursday, November 29, 2007
virgin america acknowledges that people know how to buckle a seatbelt
Hooray for Virgin, for recognizing a branding and entertainment opportunity with their in-flight safety video. And double hooray for being the first airline in history to recognize that every human understands how to buckle a seatbelt. And having fun with it.
This is already making the rounds on the interweb, and I'm sure leaving a smile on passengers faces, too.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
0 comments
Thursday, November 15, 2007
urban decay photography
Check out these wonderful photographs and history of Bannerman's island. An abandoned island in the middle of the Hudson River. Looks like a nice place to spend vacation. From Eyebeam ReBlog.
Labels: architecture, photography, travel
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
0 comments
Monday, October 29, 2007
new british airways spots big on pam
Pam Ann (not Pam Anderson) is featured in a slew of new spots for British Airways. I like that they put them all together in a nice neat place. Cute work, and especially funny when you click through to Pam Ann's site, modeled after the old glam airline PanAm.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
0 comments
