Amazing hologram during your event !

Everybody has already heard about holograms, especially thanks to the viral video of Mister Mélenchon's hologram during one of his meeting (http://www.lepoint.fr, 2017).

But what is exactly a hologram?

A hologram is a three-dimensional and free-standing image created with photographic projection. People do not require screen nor glasses to be able these see the 3D pictures (Rouse, 2005).

It has been several years now, that some industries have understood the potential of this kind of an appealing attraction: the television industry, the movie industry, the marketing and digital retail industries, as well as the advertisement and event industries have adopt this new trend (Gazeau, 2013).

It has now become common to attend events using holograms to entertain customers. It is especially the case during music concerts, fashion shows and product launches.

People are fed up with conventional presentations and feel the need to interact with the product, to observe it and to try it. Holograms offer them the possibility to discover a more tactile interaction with the product or show. This new kind of dynamic event can really impress people and give them the will to buy the product (http://www.sxsevents.co.uk, 2017).

Thanks to this technology, companies can showcase their products in the venue of their choice, while all attendees can go around the picture and discover it in every shape and form ! (http://www.sxsevents.co.uk, 2017).

Holograms programers can also make image of real people appear: imagine your boss is not able to physically attend your massive event because he is busy at the other side of the planet: instead of offering your customer a 2D videoconference, why don't you make your boss appear on stage, talking and moving, like the real thing? This could also be done with celebrities! 

However be careful ! Holograms cannot totally replace real people ! 

Even better: in order to interact with your attendees, why not organising a game to engage your attendees around holograms ?

Languages would also not be a problem anymore as programers can decide which language can be spoken (http://prsonas.com, 2016).

We can say that holograms are THE event in the event: people are attracted to this added-value technology and companies can be sure to leave a big impression on their visitors (http://www.3demotion.net, 2015). Indeed, as this impressive technology is not well-know by people yet (except in science-fiction movies), they do not know how it is implemented and this mystery is extremely exciting.

We understood that holograms can be a good tool to revive today's events and provide to attendees a brand new experience they will talk about for years !

Go for it !

References:

L'hologramme bluffant de Jean-Luc Mélenchon (2017). Retrieved from:

http://www.lepoint.fr/presidentielle/l-hologramme-bluffant-de-jean-luc-melenchon-05-02-2017-2102605_3121.php

Hologram definition (2005). Retrieved from:

http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/hologram

Gazeau, C. (2013). De la Transparence à l’Immatériel : l’Emergence des Hologrammes. Retrieved from:

https://christophegazeau.wordpress.com/2013/05/01/de-la-transparence-a-limmateriel-lemergence-des-hologrammes/

3D émotion (2015). Retrieved from:

http://www.3demotion.net/project/hologramme-scenographie/

SXS Events (2017). Holox Holography. Retrieved from:

http://www.sxsevents.co.uk/services/holox

PRSONAS (2016). 7 Great Ways to Use Holograms for Event Marketing. Retrieved from:

http://prsonas.com/holograms-for-event-marketing/

Crowdsourcing in favor of Tourism campaigns

Crowdsourcing in favor of Tourism campaigns

“When thousand heads are better than one”

Who better to promote a destination than people living there during all year? Who better to give some touristic “tips” to travelers than people who have already visited the destination? That is what Crowdsourcing is all about.

What is crowdsourcing?

Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson from Wired Magazine have first developed Crowdsourcing in 2006. It consists in using, in a collaborative mode, users’ creativity, knowledge, know-how and experiences. This emergent trend is used by several markets and more and more by the tourism industry. Indeed, millions of surfers are willing to give their opinion online and consequently, to share personal experiences. By seeing the wealth of content and exchanges generated on the Internet by customers, in some country, tourism authorities and DMOs jumped at the chance to solicit web users. Consumer has now become to the service of the business.

Significant campaign examples:

- Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launches a campaign called “The Most Amazing Show on Earth”. Past travelers are invited to upload some pictures, videos, stories on a dedicated website. Thanks to these real experiences, TAT will develop a movie in order to promote Thailand in a more realistic way.

- Washington tourism officials have created an online marketing campaign called “Share your Washington”. This campaign mainly focuses on Washington residents who will have to invite relatives and send them some online postcards. This method will help residents participating in the economic development of their city.

- “Talk for Ireland” is focused on social media participation with a competition and weekly prize to win. This dedicated Facebook page encourages people to post and share videos of attractive activities and areas in Ireland. This campaign motivates travelers thanks to a prize depending on how passionate was the description of Ireland.

Crowdsourcing are being crucial for tourism campaigns. Indeed, companies can take advantage of this trend by increasing their destination visibility, by accessing to a market more quickly (thanks to residents’ relatives for instance), or even reducing marketing costs. However, companies shouldn’t use this trend for every campaign theme, as they have no control on the content of information uploaded by online users.

In other words, even if crowdsourcing has become an unavoidable way of promoting better a destination by using the “power of the crowd”, tourism professionals should be aware that “bad buzz” can happen on the dedicated website create for advertising.

Sources:
http://www.toposophy.com/blogs/blog/?bid=191

http://veilletourisme.ca/2009/09/04/le-crowdsourcing-quand-des-milliers-de-tetes-valent-mieux-qu%E2%80%99une/

Sevan Karaoghlanian
Patrick Rakotondrajao