The four top travel marketing campaigns showcased by Google's Creative Sandbox

In mid-September, Google launched Creative Sandbox, a “hub” where digital advertising agencies can spotlight marketing campaigns that are the most innovative and effective.

Creative Sandbox lets marketers explain their inspiration, what digital platforms they used (even if it’s on a platform like Google rivals, Facebook and Apple), how they did it technically, what its metrics for success were, and what factors may explain the campaign’s success.

Any company can upload a campaign, but only Google decides if it’s worthy of showcasing on the website, which was designed by digital agency AKQA. AdWeek has more details.

While the site showcases marketing campaigns for a variety of industries, travel companies are represented, too. Here’s a round-up:

JetBlue Airways’s “Get Away With It” campaign

To promote the airline’s vacation packages product, called Getaways, JetBlue launched an “online game show” that featured contestants participating via Skype.

The core piece of technology for the campaign was, according to JetBlue:

“…the set of applications that managed the flow of Skype players in the game. Our 10 dedicated operators processed over 13,000 applicants into a pool of vetted potential players for each game, swapping in new players at a moment’s notice when incorrect answers were given.”

“With 93K total live stream views and 1.4 million unique page views, over five days, not only did we achieve our goal of increased familiarity of the JetBlue Getaways brand (+117%), but we also drove engagement with the brand. The average viewing time of the game show was 10 minutes, 20 seconds.”

Poland’s Tourism Office’s “Do You Know Polska?” campaign

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wanted to break stereotypes about the country. So it developed first a website and then mobile apps that had a series of testimonies — with vivid visuals and quizes — from young Poles about how “cool” their country is. The ‘Prove It’ tool on the app, for instance quizzed users on the newest slang in Poland to verify the knowledge of the newest Polish language. ‘Show It’ let users upload their own experiences.

Says the tourism office:

As a result of our PR activities, we recorded 169 media publications, including 20 on TV and 23 on the radio, with the range of 43.6 million PR impressions. Thanks to the “social gene”, we recorded over 30,000 visits on Facebook from links posted by the users. During the first two months, the site recorded 138,000 visits in total.

Avis’s Project Re-Brief campaign

Avis invited users to upload their own personal stories of having interacted with their brand. Then, the company says, it:

used a language processing algorithm to analyze each Avis customer’s story. Using a compositing engine, it creates a unique video for each one.

The ad even changes based on the tone of the customer note. If someone complains of bad service, then Avis offers them a chance to address their concern, while a happy customer is encouraged to share their story more broadly.

Similarly, using re-targeting by DoubleClick, the ad can offer a booking deal to someone who went to Avis’ website but didn’t complete a booking, while a user who made a booking is prompted to write about his / her experience.

With all of the potential combinations of variables accounted for, this ad can produce over 10 times 24 possible videos

The View from the Shard

London’s newest skyscraper is also Europe’s tallest. The Shard wanted to get the word out for visitors, as its observation deck will open in February 2013. Says the company:

Our research showed that 31% of UK visitors are interested to use tablets while visiting London attractions.

Using HTML5 and parallax effects, we were able to create an engaging “elevator to the top” simulation that conveys a sense of height.

The use of dynamic, panoramic photography helps bring the incredible viewing experience to life in our uncluttered and sophisticated design, with plans to add 360 degree panoramas in the near future.

What do you think of Google’s Creative Sandbox and its relevance to digital travel companies?