Website Reviews 27 Mar

Buscando Nubes (Searching for Clouds)
http://www.buscandonubes.com/

This is a great social networking / competition site from Vueling, a Spanish airline. The promotional site is well sign-posted from the main brand site and also linked from other social networking environments. The idea is to take a picture in a city that Vueling flies to (more details of Vueling routes on skyscanner.es) and edit the picture to feature the Vueling "cloud" image. Post the resultant picture to the site and you might win. You can browse other visitor pictures using Google Maps, zooming into a city to see the locations of pictures taken so far. You can also add comments to existing posts.

The promotional site follows the design elements of the main site and is well translated into popular European languages. Originally I thought there were no Vueling flights to or from the UK, as the route map and list of Vueling cities does not include any in the UK, however using their flight search both Gatwick and Heathrow airports appear, so not sure what that's all about. In any event the site is well translated for English visitors and hopefully there are plans to extend their route network further into the UK.

This is a nice execution based on a very simple idea. What I especially like is the restrained tone that Vueling have adopted - there is no pressure selling on the site, it succeeds by being novel and engaging - it doesn't need reversed out "SALE NOW ON" messaging to make a point - it makes a subtle connection with visitors and that most likely has a more lasting (and more positive) impact. The site encourages you to experiment, to play and that might be enough to create some separation in a very crowded market.

I don't have access to the Vueling digital strategy but this is above all a happy experience, it brings a smile to your face and I hope it succeeds. Perhaps the strategy was that simple?

This post is dedicated to my Uncle Alex who died this morning. I think of him with a smile always on his face and a welcome always in his voice and this happy site is a good match.