Orbitz Golf Travel Academy

CLIENT:

Orbitz (http://www.orbitz.com) is a leading online travel company that enables travelers to search for and purchase a broad array of travel products including airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, cruises and vacation packages. Orbitz has become one of the largest online travel sites in the world based on gross travel bookings. On Orbitz, consumers can search more than 80,000 suppliers worldwide including airlines, hotels and car rental companies.

BACKGROUND:

As part of a long-term initiative, Orbitz wanted to enhance its position in the 42B dollar golf travel market. They secured partnerships to broaden their product offerings to include tee times and luxury international golf vacations bookable online. Orbitz wanted to add these offerings and build excitement around key golf events to secure its place as an innovative leader in golf vacation travel.

THE SOLUTION:

15 letters teamed up with Orbitz's promotional agency of record to create a microsite targeted specifically towards golf enthusiasts. While the microsite was to launch during a key period within the golf season, the goal was to develop a site that could live on throughout the year to entertain, educate and inspire golfers. To stand out as a leader in golf travel, we integrated premier golf partners, Pinehurst and Callaway Golf to offer reputable content. In working with these partners we created an interactive experience where golfers and non-golfers alike could play, learn and be inspired to travel.

To kick off this initiative, we launched with a sweepstakes promotion offering world class prizing that would wow even the novice golfer. In addition to the sweepstakes prize which was attainable simply via registration, visitors who participated in the 3-Hole Challenge game during the promotional period were eligible to win additional instant win prizes. Additionally, the 3-Hole Challenge offered players a special discount travel offer.

15 letters executed the project from start to finish, including online look and feel, user experience design, 3D environmental art and characters design, video production and motion graphics, copywriting and game development, plus middleware and back-end development. In addition to the creative solution, we also developed tools for delivering opt-in data to Orbitz and the promotional partners as well as created a small system for the promotions firm to fulfill instant win prizes in real time.

SUCCESS METRICS

The Orbitz Golf Travel Academy was designed to build a long-term, focused space in the golf travel sphere for Orbitz to connect with a new type of consumer, earning their support and loyalty. In addition to these larger brand objectives, traffic to and opt-ins for Orbitz and partners were critical.