On Jan. 3, the primary day again at work for a lot of in Britain after the vacations, Plum Information chief model officer Ali Lowry performed a task far past the standard job description of a marketer: he donned a black hooded gown, grabbed a scythe and crossed a bridge in London because the Grim Reaper.
He and several other different specters of dying employed by the journey model carried orange indicators with the ominous warning, “The top is nigh.” The message was easy, if jarring: life is brief, so that you higher make your subsequent trip depend.
Within the advertising playbook, speaking about dying is often an apparent no-go. However Plum Information, a trip residence rental platform based in 2016, lacks the massive budgets of opponents similar to Airbnb and Vrbo. It additionally has the robust job of standing out within the crowded journey sector the place “most of the reserving platforms look the identical,” Lowry stated. That’s the reason the model determined to confront the thorniest subject of all: mortality.
“I didn’t assume once I joined [Plum] that we’d be discussing folks’s relationship with mortality as a lot as we now have,” Lowry stated. “In the end, we’re on this earth for a brief and valuable time, which implies each vacation is vital and actually must be good.”
Transcending common
Lowry joined Plum in February 2022 after main advertising for the manufacturers Hunter Boot and Giorgio Armani. His objective at Plum is to “fast-track model consciousness and land our level of distinction” in a “noisy” sector that was disrupted by the pandemic, he stated.
“Because the pandemic, it’s extra evident than ever that holidays actually matter. However the selection is overwhelming, and trawling by means of a number of platforms is time consuming,” stated Lowry. “Our distinction is a dedication to eradicating disappointment.”
Like Airbnb, Plum permits folks to hire or host lodging, but it surely touts its extra stringent evaluate course of by impartial critics who vet properties to get rid of the “nasty surprises in vacation residence reserving, which might be the Wild West of journey,” Lowry defined.
As journey rebounds after the pandemic floor the trade to a halt, and with rising inflation additionally straining many vacationers’ budgets, persons are extra centered on the standard of journeys slightly than amount, Lowry noticed. Plum sees its audience because the “world discerning traveler,” or folks aged 30 and up residing in massive cities with excessive disposable incomes.
With this view that high quality of expertise issues extra, Plum launched its new tagline in 2022: “No time for common stays.” The model’s provocative marketing campaign, launched final summer season and created by company Stink Studios, linked this concept to folks’s mortality. Advertisements calculated what number of holidays persons are more likely to go on earlier than they die: “Should you’re 52, you may have about 28 holidays left,” for instance. These calculations have been based mostly on the common life expectancy of individuals within the U.Ok. and the idea that the majority vacationers will take one huge trip a 12 months.
“Our rationale was reminding our viewers that holidays are finite and none of us ought to waste valuable time,” Lowry stated.
Humor is essential
Importantly, Plum’s messaging shouldn’t be all doom and gloom: “We now have a humorousness. We love a pun, and we are able to’t assist ourselves with a little bit of innuendo,” Lowry stated. “The entire intention of the marketing campaign is to be tongue in cheek.”
Not everybody received the joke, although. Amid its death-focused advertising, which has continued on Plum’s social channels, the model noticed some backlash from individuals who “discovered it actually difficult that we have been utilizing the notion of mortality to promote holidays,” Lowry stated.
The primary wave of adverts sparked debate on social media amongst those that have been offended by Plum’s advertising strategy and people who noticed the humor in it. The model selected to remain quiet on the problem with out countering folks’s views as a result of Lowry has seen at earlier jobs how even unfavorable reactions and divided opinions can increase model consciousness.
“The final word signal of success is it received folks speaking,” he stated. “However you by no means wish to alienate a possible buyer.”
Consistency, consistency, consistency
Although it’s extra acutely aware of this debate and cautious to maintain humor entrance and middle, “six months later, we’re nonetheless banging the identical dying drum,” stated Lowry. “We have to hold iterating on the identical narrative to attain model fame.”
So in early January—one of many busiest durations for journey bookings—Plum dispatched a gaggle of Grim Reapers into central London. The advertising stunt was price efficient—much more so since one of many Reapers was performed by Lowry himself—however with the addition of strategic social media exercise it additionally generated buzz for the model internationally.
General, response to the stunt has been “very optimistic,” Lowry stated, with some vacationers stopping the Grim Reapers to take images with them.
Lowry doesn’t anticipate Plum’s offbeat advertising strategy to repay instantly, however already its mixture of digital and experiential activations with a constant message is yielding outcomes. Although he wouldn’t disclose particular gross sales figures, Lowry famous that Plum is “seeing [the campaign] repay now throughout our peak commerce interval—the outcomes are actually encouraging.”
This month Plum additionally plans to run content material that’s extra optimistic, with the message, “Blue skies forward” to “offset folks’s low emotions” throughout winter, Lowry stated. However the model isn’t accomplished speaking about dying—a brand new chapter in its mortality story will probably be coming quickly.
“I consider on this marketing campaign and its capability to chop by means of,” Lowry stated. “We’re not speaking about dying for dying’s sake. It’s about making it really feel related and giving folks the chance for a wry smile.”
