Tourism Marketing, Crowdsourced Video, and One Amazing Pivot
Imagine being in the travel industry during the last few months. Now imagine being in the video production business during the same timeframe. Either one has been brutal.
Meet Odyssey, the innovative studio at Miles Partnership, specializing in strategic marketing for the travel and tourism industry.
Despite the pandemic-induced social distancing and travel restrictions, Odyssey found a way to continue delivering exceptional video content through a remarkable pivot towards crowdsourced film production and technological innovations.
A Challenging Mountain to Climb
That was the mountain Odyssey had to climb. Many of their clients were hit hard by the lockdown and heavy travel restrictions, and they needed content badly to keep their communities and local businesses afloat during the craziest time in the last century. But with the pandemic also putting film production crews on the sidelines, that task became infinitely harder.
Harnessing the Power of User-Generated Content
How do you even begin to get over a hurdle that big? Brianne Zulauf, Director of Film & Video at Odyssey, and Video Creative Producer Emilie DeLong knew just what to do.
“We’d seen an explosion of User Generated Content over the last few years, and knew about the power of a crowdsourcing tool like Cinebody,” said Zulauf.
Knowing that people all over the world now have access to cutting edge video tools, in the form of their own iPhones and smartphones, this concept was not out of reach.
Turning Ideas into Reality
“We knew that with good ideas, comprehensive shot lists, and the help of our own clients and business partners, we could create some really special content in spite of the restrictions,” said DeLong.
The Cinebody software enabled Zulauf and DeLong to set up multiple projects simultaneously for their clients, and they were able to provide real-time feedback on the footage coming in from the people on the ground. People who were spread across the nation. And as this raw footage gets uploaded to the cloud instantly, it was high-quality and could be edited immediately.
The Fruit of Resilience: 20 Unique, Engaging Videos
The outcome from this initiative was a series of 20 unique, edited videos for their clients that proved video content can be created in even the toughest conditions.
From Chattanooga’s Mad Priest (just look at the engagement…so much love) and Business Continues in Bermuda, to Crooked Hammock and Winterthur Gardens, these videos are not just fun and educational, they put a real human side to the tourism industry. These are all places staffed by people with their own hopes and dreams, and that really comes across.
The Takeaway: Thriving Through Innovation in Tourism Marketing
Odyssey, caught between the rock and the hard place of tourism and video production, could have just thrown up their collective hands and called it a day. Ride out the pandemic, hope for good things, and in the meantime, avoid filming and creating client content.
They didn’t do that. They found a way around the problem, and were able to prove without a doubt that you can not only film during a lockdown, but can create work that is perhaps even more powerful and effective than imagined.
If you’re in the tourism industry and have accepted the hard reality that COVID-19 is going to impact you very hard, consider how you could pivot like this. You have people ready to create content, with iPhones that can shoot great footage. Crowdsource your ideas, and the possibilities are endless.
