Adventure travel operator G Adventures wanted to hold a global promotion to celebrate its 20th year of operation that would engage consumers and grow its in-house database. The company targeted its three core markets, the US, UK and Australia, with its "Create Your Own Adventure" campaign, which ran from February 8 through April 25.
"We loved the idea of creating your own adventure, so we built an interactive site where consumers could come and create their own dream itinerary," explains Greg Hayes, online marketing manager at G Adventures.
Ten judges from the travel industry, including G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip, helped determine which of the 7,000 entries would make it to the final round of 20. Other judges included Tony Wheeler, cofounder of Lonely Planet and Céline Cousteau, granddaughter of Jacques Cousteau.
Social media played a role in whittling down the entries as well, with 50% of the final vote being determined by popular voting on Facebook, and judges accounting for the other half. The judging panel determined the grand prize winner.
G Adventures used e-mail to notify its list of subscribers about the contest and encouraged them to share the news. Online, the company used Facebook and Twitter to spread the word, as well as media buys through travel ad networks in core markets. Postcards were handed out at industry events and distributed at coffee shops. Judges were encouraged to talk about the contest during interviews and public appearances.
The travel company partnered with Sony, Lonely Planet, Barnes & Noble, Outside magazine, Universal Music and Kobo eBooks through the initiative. Secondary prizes from those sponsors were awarded to entries not chosen as a finalist.
The effort yielded approximately 30,000 new e-mail addresses to G Adventure's in-house file. The campaign site received 200,000 visits and more than one million page views.