The Travelocity gnome began to roam
4After dominating the online travel space just two years earlier, Travelocity had lost the top spot to Expedia…and Orbitz were threatening to knock them down to third.
A mascot was deemed to be the best way to increase brand recognition and retention and the traveling gnome prank had been the news a few times in the years before the campaigns launch and had featured as a subplot in the massively successful 2001 french film Amelie.
In a remarkable commitment perhaps underscoring the company’s desperation, Travelocity threw 88 million dollars behind the first Gnome campaign which started in December 2003 with a series of missing posters in magazines and papers and a website…all of which featured a toll free tip line. They then introduced the Roaming Gnome three months later…
At the time it was viewed as a gamble, with a few commentators rolling their eyes at the copying Amelie, but within a year the Roaming Gnome had become synonymous with Travelocity and remained a feature of its marketing for a decade and a half. Sadly for gnome fans it now seems to have fallen by the wayside as Travelocity’s attempts to regain that top spot were permanently put on hold after having been acquired by Expedia 2015.
#onthisdayinhistory #historylovers #throwback#2000snostalgia #commercials #travel #travelagent #travelocity #gnome #gardengnomes #gglf #gardengnomeliberation #amelie #travelbug #parishilton #marketing #advertising
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