There’s a new addition to Snapchat: a travel show.
Topdeck, a U.K.-based travel company, has unveiled the first travel show on the platform, and roped in YouTube star James Hill — with a popular series and over 70,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel — as the host of “Topdeck Snaps,” a six-episode series that will focus on exploring and discovering offbeat stories and quirks of destinations. Hill will take a deep-dive into Europe and live like a local at his destinations as a part of this season, consisting of six episodes.
“Snapchat really taps into the ethos of our trips,” Hazel McGuire, the marketing manager for Topdeck Travels, U.K. and Europe, told Digiday. “As with Topdeck Travel, Snapchat is designed for personal, unguarded and free-flowing experiences— the perfect platform to explore for our latest campaign.”
The campaign takes advantage of Snapchat’s Stories section, which lets users stitch together a narrative of photos and videos, visible to their friends for 24 hours. The ephemeral-messaging platform is gaining traction among brands, as it serves the dual purpose of reaching out the younger demographic and creating creative content at the same time.
Topdeck Travel’s Snapchat handle will feature the shows as well as insider tips, as Hill travels to Budapest and Berlin, via Krakow and Prague— capturing authentic cultural experiences to share in real time. The first snap will be circulated tomorrow, followed by an active weeklong schedule featuring the sights, sounds and snaps captured by Hill.
“The strategic aim behind the campaign is our desire to increase our brand awareness within a UK and European audience and to challenge the stereotypes around coach travel in this particular market,” McGuire said. “James is the perfect fun, engaging and adventurous frontman to kick it all off.”
The campaign will also be promoted on Topdeck’s other platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #TopdeckSnaps.
“We hope the campaign will really introduce us to a 18-34 audience in a way which inspires and challenges perceptions of what a coach-based holiday around Europe actually is,” McGuire said.
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