In an attempt to make New Year’s resolutions less of a burden on our moral conscience, Booking.com (in partnership with Weiden+Kennedy) has unveiled a ‘Resolution Translator’ as part of a Best 2016 Ever campaign (as opposed to the other 2016, which isn’t looking as great) to revive a sense of wanderlust amongst its users.
Working on the principle that travel is a universal solution to just about any resolution in the world, the website encourages users to complete the sentence “In 2016 I will…” before crafting an ad hoc itinerary of a particular destination that just might suit your interests.
More of a wonderful way to pass time at the office (or as a perfect conversation starter on your next trip to the water cooler), than an accurate fortune teller of travel, the campaign encourages users to browse through Booking.com’s Destination Finder for various activities, accommodation options, dining suggestions, local tips and popular spots in (if you’re lucky), a travel destination you may not have yet considered.
While I cannot vouch for its accuracy or the search function’s ability to discriminate between buzzwords, it is definitely one of the more fun and charming marketing campaigns to come about in recent times.
Both light-hearted and fun, I could not help but get a little more adventurous with not only options for the next summer holiday but also with what resolutions I had.
And while not all resolutions can be fixed solely through travel, the generator does at least take a jab at having a sense of humour with the tongue-in-cheek statements that go along with its suggestions.
For example, a resolution to “read more” generated the response, “In 2016, I will read more books and try not to get my book wet at the beach while staying in an apartment in Barcelona”.
Or, more controversially, entering “get involved with a charity” triggered, “I will support a charity but before I will help others, I will help myself to a holiday at an apartment in Genoa”!
Nevertheless, Booking.com has somewhat failed to catch some obvious opportunities to get playful here. For example, a resolution to “enter a rap battle” was met with a totally random suggestion to stay in an apartment in Rome… despite having had the perfect opportunity to suggest a visit to East L.A, or better yet, Compton!
Criticisms aside, coming from a family that never fails to struggle to choose a destination we all agree on, this generator might just be our only solution!
