Travelocity has launched a social media contest that will award would-be travellers the trip of a lifetime.
The #iwannago campaign, which is running in Canada and the U.S., invites people to post their dream trip on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #iwannago. Entrants must follow @RoamingGnome, the brand’s famous mascot.
At the end of the contest, which runs until May 5, two winners will be awarded the grand prize of travelling to their dream destinations.
“Everybody has a place they want to go and things they want to do, but we always seem to get caught up with work and family obligations,” said Brian Simpson, operations and media relations manager at Toronto-based Travelocity.ca.
“We came up with this concept to try to get people thinking about where they want to go and sharing where they want to go. The idea is to try to drive user engagement in our social channels and also to give people something to strive towards.”
Prior to the campaign, Travelocity found someone who had tweeted that her dream destination was New Zealand, and she used the #iwannago hashtag. So Travelocity fulfilled her wish and a crew captured visuals for the contest.
“We were able to get some really great visuals and great content by taking her on her trip,” said Simpson. In a 45-second spot, for example, the “roaming gnome” was filmed sharing in the traveller’s adventures, such as bungee jumping and white water rafting.
The contest and creative was developed by McKinney, an advertising agency based in Durham, N.C.
Simpson added that Travelocity has a very robust social community, and more than 45,000 people follow the roaming gnome on Twitter. “He’s a great character and a very strong ambassador for our brand,” he said. “We get a lot of interaction with consumers who talk to the roaming gnome through social, so we really want to build on that momentum and build a much bigger program.”
