Best Job Ever!!

No, not mine. But can I tell you how much I love these "Best Job Ever" promotions that have been popping up more often lately? They appeal to the littlest hobo in me and besides that, it's a great marketing strategy. How else to get people talking about your brand but to offer them an experience of a lifetime? The most recent BJE is the what CNN referred to as the Honeymoon Tester.

"Wanted: Luxury-loving couples available to globetrot for six months and get paid to test out the most romantic wedding and honeymoon destinations around the world....

...The winners will be asked to blog about their experiences a few times a week "when they can get out of the hammock after sipping a glass of champagne," Meleady said, and write for The Irish Times once a month.They will also be paid 20,000 euros (about $27,000). Hopefuls have until April 7 to apply for the "horrendous assignment" -- as the company teasingly calls it -- which starts mid-May."

This promo was born after the success of the BJE promo put on by Tourism Queensland, which was won by a lucky chap called Ben Southall, who has spent the last few months in isolated bliss, blogging about the wonders of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

Both promos use social media heavily, with applicants being asked to create short videos introducing themselves and saying why they should be chosen. Then there is voting and online mania, and when the winner is selected there is blogging and photo taking and all that great promotional stuff - from the awesome minds and mouths of people NOT directly associated with the promoters. Because let's face it, tourism boards and travel agents are paid to sell and yes, the couples in this case will be paid for their "labour", but who better to sell to couples, than a happy couple? It's not rocket science but the promotions make it all the more exciting and attractive.

And there are others like 67 Days of Smiles, and even a winery got involved with the "Really Goode Job". What I love about it, and I think most people would love this aspect, is that you get real reviews from real people. It could be anyone. It could be a housewife, a student, your neighbour. It could be you. It is not someone with a marketing degree or someone with years of experience peddling hospitality, and selling dreams. It's the average Joe and Jane. It really changes the way we learn about travel destinations and emphasises the shift from destination websites with canned content, to social networking and user generated content. And as a traveller myself, I appreciate getting the traveller perspective over the canned stuff, and we already talked about my love for Tripadvisor and other such user sites. Not to mention, these promotions give the organisers brilliant marketing exposure. The couples have to promote Ireland and their videos are just the first step. The promotion brings a new audience of people who may never have considered Ireland as a honeymoon destination before. And paying a couple $27,000 vs paying an ad agency God knows how much to sell the destination - you don't need to be a math whiz to know that one is more cost-effective than the other. But it's not even about the money. The creativity of the couples and the personal accounts from the winners are worth their weight in publicity gold.

Hey, if I had seen these early enough, it could have been me! Shucks! Oh well...

This is one of the applicants' videos. I thought it was cute.



Check out the Ultimate Job in Ireland site and vote for your favourite couple.