Plan B™
The Agency Alternative
Orbitz For Business / Travelport
Business Class www.orbitz.com/ / www.travelport.com/ This integrated campaign for Orbitz For Business melded an innovative direct mail piece, an engaging Flash website, and a viral online game to qualify leads and help the client focus their sales efforts. The goal was two-fold: to create demand and awareness among business travelers for the Orbitz For Business service, and to educate C-level executives and corporate travel managers about the business benefits of the OFB system, including cost savings, increased policy compliance, and improved employee morale. To accomplish this, we enlisted the strength of traditional direct marketing, and hitched it to the amplifying power of social media to create buzz that reverberated throughout the business travel community. Leading with a surprising direct mail piece packaged in an actual air sickness bag, we invited business travelers to share their own personal travel horror stories, and enter to win a contest for the worst story as chosen by fellow road warriors. Styled after the popular viral emails, the Darwin Awards, our ‘Canc-Helled in Canton Awards’ tapped business travelers’ enthusiasm for telling their worst travel stories, pitting participants against one another in a friendly competition to outdo each other’s worst experiences. The campaign encouraged travelers to forward the URL to their friends, expanding the tactic’s impact while maximizing cost-effectiveness.