In the tradition of curious Scandinavian airline marketing--we're thinking of Finnair's creepy panda--SAS Scandinavian Airlines is launching a new, multilingual marketing campaign.
The whole thing centers on using local languages in English-language advertising. The reasoning is, according to one of SAS's general managers, that
the Scandinavian languages, like the region's sleek, stylish designs, reflect the real essence of what makes this vast northern region so unique.
Yeah. Unique--or really difficult to understand. The meant-to-be-eye-catching ads use words like Bättre (it means better) and Störst (which, of course, means largest). We're not sure if these words are sleek and stylish or just unusual. Would you really buy a ticket on SAS just for the umlauts?
One thing that tourism boards never seem to get is that having an incredibly long name isn't helpful. Like, say, the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation. Doesn't exactly scream "We're hip! Come visit!" does it?
So the tourism folks in the capital decided to change the name to Destination DC, which besides being reasonable is also an easy to remember URL. Along with the new name comes a major marketing push, playing up the fact that Washington is the country's most powerful city.
Besides all the obvious governmental stuff ("Seat of Power"), you've got your "Fire Power" (sunsets over the Potomic and July 4th fireworks), your "Power Play" (flying kites on the National Mall) and your "Soul Power" (massages, jazz and Sunday brunch). Some of the "power" puns are definitely stretching it, but the overall effort looks pretty slick. It should: Destination DC's spending $2 million on the campaign.
Houston is the latest city to adopt the generic and unoriginal "My (Fill in the blank of your city)" tourism campaign.
The New York Times reports that the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau has put together the "My Houston" television and print campaign where local celebrities talk about what they love about Houston:
Clay Walker, the country singer, promoted the zoo and Texas's biggest rodeo; Hilary Duff, the actress and singer, Mexican food; Oscar de la Rosa, lead vocalist of the Latino group La Mafia, cultural diversity; and the Bushes, the city's big heart and neighborliness.
Also Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets gigantic center says he likes Yao Restaurant and Bar because, well, he knows the owner. Cue monumental eye roll.
Virgin America has some mood-lit bus shelters around San Francisco to hype the airline's classy on-board lighting. But the sexy posters plastered inside are apparently too cool to just admire while waiting on the corner.
eBay user biggpudge23 managed to snag one of the 4' by 6' posters and has it up on the auction site. (It's one of the new ads featuring real-life flight attendants glamming it up in the cabin. See it here.) No one's bid on it yet, so the asking price of $10 still stands.
Is the fact that we think that's a great deal further proof that we're complete airline dorks? Yes. Yes it is.
Philadelphia has a new tourism marketing campaign called "Philadelphia: Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay."
As you can probably figure out, the campaign is targeting gay travelers and will feature Philly locals who have helped to make the city a premier gay travel destination.
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation and Southwest Airlines launched the campaign on March 14. Print advertising can also be found in 40,000 Where magazine gay-friendly guides and in program book ads at national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) events.
The first Philly local to kick-off the campaign is Matthew Izzo, owner of Matthew Izzo Boutiques. He'll be joined by other well-known locals like Mark Segal, the journalist/publisher/gay pioneer of the Philadelphia Gay News and Marcie Turney and Valerie Safran, owners of Lolita, Bindi, Grocery and Open House.
While this video was shot along Spain's Costa del Sol, it was definitely inspired by St. Maarten'sMaho Beach, arguably the world's best planespotting strand.
The 747s that touch down in the Caribbean are a bit more, you know, real than this plane, but we still think this clip is cool. After the jump, we've embedded the making of video for your debunking pleasure.
We get it. You've gotta do something to make your ad stand out from all the rest. But these new commercials from the British line P&O Cruises are just scary.
Can we skip the whispers and lightning fast cuts? How bout limiting the number of shaky shots and underwater scenes? And the heavy breathing? Please, make it stop.
We've got another ad post click, if you can stand it.
The European press can't spill enough ink over Nicolas Sarkozy and his paramour Carla Bruni, who've been traveling up a storm lately. (They've been spotted at both Disneyland Paris and touring Egypt's pyramids.) But the latest jab at their whirlwind romance has Sarko tres irrité.
Ryanair, which isn't known for its subtlety, used a photo of the couple in an ad in today's issue of Le Parisien. The thought bubble above Bruni says:
With Ryanair, my whole family can come to my wedding.
That may be--as long as her relatives don't want to check bags--but the French president didn't appreciate the joke. Ryanair's apologized, but Sarko plans to sue the airline for "improper use of the president's image."
