Nobody likes a show-off, but when a travel company has a dedicated department for creating what can be loosely described as “other cool stuff”, then online video is clearly the best way of showcasing it.
Take, for example, lastminute.com and its Labs department.
The division within the UK-based online travel agency has spent much of the past year developing a handful of neat applications for mobiles and some interesting user experience work under the Pronto brand.
The company has its own lastminute.com Labs YouTube channel to host it all.
Here is its latest app for the iPhone, called TopSee.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdKWoKVY-Fw
Why did they spend all that money developing a great app and none at all for a VT promoting it? That video clip actively puts me off getting the app! Greg Dyke once said “There’s no point spending millions making a TV channel, and not spending millions telling people about it,” and the same applies here – if you want people to download / buy your product, you have to advertise it properly!
Hi Tom,
Thanks for the feedback! We’re experimenting with different kinds of video, as befits our charter as an innovation team, and this one was deliberately done from scratch to youtube in a couple of hours one Friday afternoon. Our plan is to have less video from us (the app developers) and more from our bloggers and writers (who are providing all the great content). The idea is to have a stream of videos talking about some of the great places in London. But we’re very willing to learn what works, and if it doesn’t try something new next time, so it is good to get your honest opinion.