Plan B™
The Agency Alternative
Orbitz
Challenge
Orbitz for Business, Cendant Travel’s corporate version of the familiar consumer travel website faced heavy competition, not only from other on-line corporate travel providers like Expedia and Travelocity, but also from the traditional travel industry names, American Express and Carlson Wagonlit.
As the premiere, on-line, corporate travel-booking tool, Orbitz for Business needed a solution that not only generated qualified leads from decision-makers, but also reinforced the brand message and positioning of “proactive care.” After visiting Plan B, their marketing team announced they would cancel an in-progress RFP-based agency search, save the 8 weeks and countless hours of meetings and get started with a partner that could provide a fully integrated, direct and online solution.
Insight
As the business world shrinks and corporate borders blur, Corporate Travel Solutions are an ever growing, unpredictable cost center that significantly impacts corporate profitability. Plan B observed that this impact was felt in dramatically different ways by different audiences within any single organization.
Upon closer inspection, we realized the challenge for the campaign was less about speaking to specific industry verticals, but rather speaking to different audiences within an organization in a way that was relevant to their issues, financial or otherwise. Qualifying companies by a minimum $2MM ARC spend and looking at three audiences, C-level/procurement officers, travel managers and business travelers allowed us to craft relevant messages that resonated with the corresponding targets.
Although quite different in their travel needs, members of the three audiences did have a common travel experience: travel horror stories. The badge of honor for the road warrior (read: road martre) and told at office water coolers around the world,
Plan B designed an integrated effort that would not only meet business objectives, but also reinforced the OFB premium positioning within the online marketplace. By structuring a communications path that incorporated direct mail, on-line and off-line experiences we reward the target for one-to-one interactions with the brand while strengthening the quality of the lead.
Solution
Playing off the business traveler’s enthusiasm for telling their worst travel stories and styled after the popular Darwin Awards, Plan B crafted the Canc-Helled in Canton viral campaign. Corporate travelers and travel managers, in an attempt to out-do fellow road warriors, could submit their own travel nightmare stories (online), and have their stories rated by their peers.
The campaign, introduced with direct mail and delivered in an authentic air-sickness bag, introduced the target to the campaign, delivering fun and engaging stories and driving them to one of three response mechanisms: toll free 800 number, business reply card, or web landing page. Messaging, incentives and data capture fields were tailored to the 3 different audiences with only the C-levels being rewarded with Bose noise-cancelling headphones for calling and requesting a meeting to review their corporate travel needs.
After entertaining with more content and the ability to submit their stories for a chance to win, visitors were able to visit Travel Heaven, an edu-tainment portion of the site that delivered the premium benefits of the OFB offering in an engaging fashion.