WINNER
Agency: Space
Client: Eurostar
WINNER
Consumers have been spoilt for choice in recent years when it comes to short-haul destinations and weekend breaks. So it comes as little surprise that close-to-home destinations such as London and Paris have fallen behind in popularity.
These are the key destinations served by Eurostar, so the company wanted to boost its own profile and bookings, as well as the perception of the two cities as desirable tourist destinations.
To do this it asked Space to come up with a suitably intriguing and compelling promotion. The answer came in the shape of blockbuster film and thriller novel The Da Vinci Code.
The agency came up with a multi-lingual online treasure hunt inspired by the cryptic challenges in the book and film. It featured 19 unique puzzles and offered a grand prize of five years' accommodation at the Ritz in Paris and Claridge's in London, plus EUR200,000 in cash and luxury travel for life on Eurostar. Lower level prizes were also available to heighten the interest.
The quest was backed by activity in 12 disciplines, including TV, cinema, press, outdoor, radio, ambient and experiential. A PR push involved the stars of the film travelling to film mecca Cannes in a fully wrapped Da Vinci Code Eurostar train. Activity was carried out internationally, not only in the UK and France, but also Holland and Belgium, the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
It was Eurostar's most successful promotion and more than 1.25 million people registered on the site, while 150,000 took part in the quest. The campaign also generated more than £1 million of global press and other media coverage.
Crucially, advance bookings rose by more than 20%, with total sales for 2006 up 11%. Traveller numbers for the year were up 5% and London and Paris are now back on top of the list of top 20 favourite European destinations.
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