The Ask:
Develop an experiential campaign to encourage travelers to use Google Maps during their Road trips.
Requirements:
Feature the 'Search Along the Route' tool
Target: 18-34 years old, tech-savvy, urban dwellers, budget conscious, prefer short / frequent trips
Geography: NY or CA
Timing: Summer travel season
We wanted to find out what taking a road trip really means.
What did we learn?
To the outsider, a road trip means cramming 7 family members into the 6-seat, air conditioning-less mini van and driving across the country - National Lampoon's style. But for the initiated, road trips bring out the best in bonding and exploration.
It's not about the final destination, it's all about the experiences along the way.
Key ingredients of a road trip:
Every road trip is as unique as the artwork on its accompanying burned CD. But the love formed for car-bound travel has some central common threads.
“We take random roads if we are curious about where they lead. And we never pass up a diner opportunity.”
“The music and camaraderie of being under the same circumstances is probably the best of any road trip.”
“If I see something interesting along the way, I'll always stop and take a look.”
Of course, road trips are not always rainbows and butterflies. But we looked toward the best & worst parts of travel to find areas of opportunity,
because each pain point can foreshadow the best memories.
Pain Points:
Long hours of stationary sitting
Boring stretches of a drive
Traffic
Stopping for gas
trip highlights:
- Conversations & Bonding
- Exploring new scenery
- The art of the playlist & car karaoke
- Trying new food
Road trips are about bonding with the person in the car – the surroundings are merely a backdrop to the photo op.
Any situation can spur an adventure when you're behind the wheel.
Strategy:
Road trip travelers look for any excuse to make a pit stop. So:
Give travelers an excuse to stop.
Solution:
Take three typical road trip pit stops and turn them into photo op-friendly stops.
Campaign:
Maps Road Trip
Between Los Angeles & Las Vegas, Google Maps provided some free travel necessities along its three different stops:
the world’s coldest coffee at the world’s tallest thermometer, free burgers at Peggy Sue's, and gas placed just outside of the city - when it was needed most.
To push the road trip offerings, we invited some people along.
A few influential friends joined us for the road trip.
The final event.
This project was executed during my time at Deeplocal.