Can’t travel compare its own meerkat?

Good scoop in TTG this week – Chris Gray grabs the first interview with the new UK boss of Emirates.

In it, Clifford talks about how he wants to create more of a buzz around Emirates, and reveals he has taken on digital agency VCCP, which is behind the successful comparethemarket.com campaign – yes, the one with this character:

So what’s the secret to success? And I think you can call VCCP’s campaign a success when you’ve got 600,000 Facebook fans and 30,000 Twitter followers.

Is it as simple as a comedy character, combined with a heavy, and engaging, online presence? He is, after all, a very talkative meerkat.

Or perhaps it’s just a case of getting the tone right? If you want the maximum impact on the internet,  you mustn’t be fussy about what type of sector/person you want to target. It’s the web – or nothing.

It’s not dumbing down, but this is basic humour and it plays to a fairly outdated sense of humour, but one that everyone can understand. Obviously the TV campaign has helped, but you can’t interact with a TV (well, not that much, and pressing a red button doesn’t quite cut it yet).

I know one PR company that loves the character – so why can’t a PR company in travel try and emulate this kind of success? Basic idea, right tone, and make it funny – if it can work with a sector such as car insurance, surely a lot more fun can be had with a travel brand…

Read the full interview over at ttglive.com, or click on the picture at the very top.