Situation
CheapCaribbean.com, the leading OTA for beach vacations, wants to be viewed as the leader across all price points. Tasked with elevating the brand image and heightening awareness around offerings beyond deals to generate feature coverage, NJF developed and launched a series of splashy, beach-focused initiatives in conjunction with a targeted news engine. These initiatives ultimately led to increased buzz and exposure for the brand as the go-to booking destination for beach-loving travelers.
Action
We created campaigns focused on CheapCaribbean.com’s target: Millennial women who live life to the fullest and enjoy international beach experiences.
- Sex on the Beach: Sex sells. To reinforce the idea that CheapCaribbean.com helps travelers achieve their vacation dreams, we worked with CheapCaribbean.com to develop a “Sex on the Beach” bookable package, including a four-hour private cabana rental. The package was inspired by Sleep Cupid’s recent data, which revealed that sex on the beach is one of the top fantasies for women.
- Rum Tour: Embracing Caribbean culture beyond all-inclusive vacations, we worked with CheapCaribbean.com to launch a three-island Rum Tour to Antigua, St. Kitts and Barbados. When a series of hurricanes hit the Caribbean last fall, we incorporated a give-back component, donating 20% of all proceeds.
- 12 Days of Beach: Kicked off on Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year, our surprise-and-delight flash sale series offered travelers 12 days of surprise locations and promotions; each destination was bookable for only 24 hours.
- Beach of the Month Club: Around the holidays, we created an over-the-top membership for ultimate beach lovers, intended to showcase a variety of CheapCaribbean.com destinations and properties to garner top-tier coverage and buzz – book 12 islands in 12 months with just one fee.
- Paired Up for Paradise: We liaised a partnership for CheapCaribbean.com and exclusive dating app The League to create a wacky surprise-and-delight experience designed to generate conversation and media attention. “Paired Up for Paradise” consisted of two events in San Francisco and New York City timed around Valentine’s Day. After an evening of mingling, singles were encouraged to enter for the chance to be selected as the best match and sent on a five-star CheapCaribbean.com getaway – that night.
Results
By building headline-grabbing concepts that spanned across multiple CheapCaribbean.com destinations, the team was able to secure feature lifestyle coverage showcasing the overall brand rather than the individual properties.
- More than 2.6 billion impressions (up 146% from 2016)
- 184 placements (up 302% from 2016)
- 64 features (up 2024% from 2016) in key national target outlets including CNN, Forbes, AOL, Bustle, Thrillist, Delish, Islands, MSN, Time Out, Delish, PureWow, Huffington Post and more
- Five signature programs that included new vacation package offerings, driving bookings and showcasing CheapCaribbean.com’s key unique selling propositions and variety of destinations and properties
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2.6 billion
Media impressions
Up 146% from 2016 in top media outlets that had previously refused to cover the brand.
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64
Feature stories
Up 2024% from 2016 and featured in numerous goal outlets such as CNN, Forbes, Huffington Post and more.
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5
Signature Programs
including new vacation package offerings, driving bookings and showcasing CheapCaribbean.com’s key unique sell.
