Some of the Most Interesting Marketing Communications Is Off Topic — Or Is It?

There is one thing that so many of the great marketing communications pieces and campaigns we share on our blog have in common. They are “off topic” — or are they?

Here’s how they seem to be off-topic. They don’t get out the sledgehammer and pound you over the head with their sales pitch, their product features, or even their product benefits. The don’t tie you to a gurney and force feed you offers . They, it seems, aren’t even talking about themselves, or what they do, at all. Here’s a great example by a Danish travel site called Momondo. What does this video (which has racked up a gazillion views) have to do with travel? Nothing. It’s about DNA testing.

But is it really off topic? Not at all. It is all about travel, movement, migration, wanderlust, aspiration —  but on a much deeper, human level than the typical imagery of people drinking mojitos in a tropical paradise we’re usually served in the dead of winter.

There’s actually a framework that we use when clients are interested in this approach. Check it out.

In the Momondo ad the product is travel search. Some related concepts to travel (and, search, mind you) are change, newness, discovery, surprise. Their subject matter became DNA testing which embodies surprise, discovery, and change.

As a travel company, Momondo has a vested interest in encouraging people to be connected to cultures outside of their own. To this end, they commissioned a study that looked at the value of traveling, and found that 48 percent of responders believed that people “are less tolerant of other cultures today than five years ago.” That’s pretty sad news. But it inspired some seriously good stuff on Momondo’s part.

Partnering with AncestryDNA, Momondo trawled casting agencies for extras who were happy to have their DNA tested and their ancestry researched. Their idea was to show us the way in which we’re all connected. The project resulted in The DNA Journey.

It’s possible though that Momondo went a bit too far off topic. Not in what they did, but in how they packaged it. See the titling of the video here on Facebook and above on YouTube. It’s “momondo – The DNA Journey.”

The “Would you dare to question who you really are?” is perfect. They could have done without the “The DNA Journey.” Momondo, after all, is not a DNA testing company and they’re going too far from their brand here. Just “The Journey” would have been a lot better.