What’s this? The oddball, quirky and occasionally X-rated site that connects random strangers for video chat is a marketer’s dream?
That doesn’t sound right. But that’s exactly what Travelocity, the popular travel brand known best for their mascot, the travelling gnome, is saying.
In a recent interview with ClickZ, a news and advice site for digital marketers, Travelocity company spokesperson Joel Frey, discussed the Chatroulette marketing campaign and its successes: 350,000 impressions and 400 conversations between potential customers and its “chat specialists.” (Yes, Travelocity pays staffers to surf Chatroulette!)
According to Frey, Chatroulette was a “natural extension” to the company’s other social media efforts taking place on Twitter and Facebook.
And despite the video chat site’s notoriety for its not-so-safe-for-work component (aka: the crazies who like to disrobe or worse on camera), the site is actually a great way to advertise the brand, says Frey, because no one in the wider world will know it was ever associated with those elements, unlike on Twitter or Facebook where a negative or disturbing Wall post or tweet can be read by everyone. On Chatroulette, the chatting staffer simply clicks “next.”
Photo by Travelocity.