Source: slashfilm via Screen Junkies

The above nearly 30 second clip is teaser trailer for the upcoming short film sponsored by HomeAway. Apparently this Griswold family reappearance campaign is set to tie-in as one of this year’s Super Bowl ads.

My question is, does Home Away really need to spend the ad money on such an expensive endeavor when they could easily build the viral campaign on the web for cheap?

Read on!

I love watching the Super Bowl as much as the next guy. The energy, the competition, the build-up, and of course the over the top, buzz worthy commercials. But at 3 million dollars for a mere 30 second spot, it is worth it for fledging companies, and even well established brands to spend so much for the flash in the pan exposure that they will get?

This “leaked” trailer is the perfect example how a viral campaign done well can work. I’m writing about it now and I’ll certainly be sending to all my friends that are avid Griswold family fans. The problem is that a campaign such as this, as high brow and as buzz worthy as it might be is simply glorified link bait.

The average person that sees the ad and decides to go to the Home Away website to watch the short film is doing so only to watch the film. They don’t care about what Home Away does or how they might be able to find them an away from home rental. As fun as it will be to see Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reunite for some hijix, the cost of the airtime would be better spent surrounding the campaign with value.

Home Away, which claims to be “the world’s most trusted vacation rental website” doesn’t even have any real life testimonials. No blog, no video, no quotes, nothing. Additionally, with all the talk about how much money a property owner can make by listing their property through the network, there are no current community members testifying how easy the site is to use, or at the very least, how much money they can make from listing through Home Away. You would think that this would be step one.

The hook to get traffic to the site is there. I predict the Griswold family holds a special place in many people’s hearts and it will translate into a ton of traffic for Home Away but there is nothing aside from the film to make people use the site. I would recommend they funnel the 3 mil into a full on testimonial micro site and that they use the buzz of the online film by bolstering their offering with real value. Get photos of real vacation goers. Put together a vacation diary blog. Add video, create a podcast that spotlight’s real property owners providing rental tips. Make it all easy to share with friends through Facebook. Use Twitter to let people know how much fun David and Penelope had in Mexico on their two weeks off…

Instead, chances are, Home Away will be no further ahead this same time next year.

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