기발한 홍보

오스트레일리아의 조용하고 아름다운 섬 이야기입니다. 어떻게 하면 섬에 많은 관광객을 많이 모을 수 있을까 고민했습니다. 그리고는 인터넷에 아래와 같은 광고를 실었습니다.

'천국과 같은 아름다운 섬에서 육 개월 동안 편안한 휴식을 취하십시오. 당신이 하실 일이라고는 일주일에 한 번씩 섬이 얼마나 아름다운지 글로 써서 인터넷에 올리는 일입니다. 그러면 일억 삼천만원의 돈을 드리겠습니다.'

광고를 본 사람들은 멋진 휴양지에서 휴양을 즐기며 돈도 벌 수 있다는 생각에 너나없이 지원하였습니다. 전 세계에서 엄청나게 많은 사람들이 자신의 이력서와 동영상을 인터넷에 띄웠습니다. 이렇게 보낸 동영상과 이력서는 인터넷에 접속하는 사람들의 투표를 통하여 후보자를 선정하였습니다.

또 다시 많은 사람들이 동영상과 이력서를 보낸 사람들을 평가하기 시작했습니다. 이런 과정을 통하여 섬은 이미 세계적으로 유명해졌습니다. 관광객이 와서 쓰고 갈 돈에 비하면 고용된 사람들에게 지급하는 비용은 아무것도 아니지요.

내가 제공할 서비스가 차별화된 본질가치를 가지고 있다면(대개의 경우 그러함)창의적이고 적극적인 홍보방법을 통하여 알릴 필요가 있습니다.

파울로 코엘료가 쓴 연금술사는 처음 발행하였을 때 고작 구백 부를 찍었습니다. 이십년 후 그의 저서는 전 세계적으로 삼천만부나 팔렸습니다. 훌륭한 가치를 지녔으면서도 제대로 알려지지 않아 사장되는 것(제품이나 서비스, 아이디어 등)이 엄청나지 않을까요?

참, 일반인이 참여하는 온라인 투표는 3월 24에 마감되었으며 최종 선발자는 5월 6일에 발표될 예정이랍니다. 일은 7월 1일부터 시작된다고 하네요. 섬이야기 말입니다.  

<The one feel-good story>

The news is pretty grim these days (that's an understatement), but if you haven't heard about The Best Job in The World, you're missing the one news story on the planet guaranteed to make you feel better and get you through the rest of this #$%^&*! Winter of’09.

Back in January, someone in the Queensland Department of Tourism had an inspired idea. What if we start a job search for the best job in the world? And so they did, and they're not kidding. Based on all criteria and the Geneva Convention, this is the best job in the world.

It's a six-month contract for a “caretaker” for the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef.

The successful applicant basically plays tourist on some of the world’s most beautiful tropical islands, is required to blog about their experience once a week, and gets paid the equivalent of $124,000 for the, um, task.

You're immediately tempted to ask, “what's the catch?” And those clever Aussies have that one listed in their website's FAQ, under “Is this a real job?” assuring visitors that yes, it is and no, there is no catch. Just apply, mate.

Sadly, while I was dreaming about refilling the towel dispensers on Daydream Island, just one of the 900 islands in the world's largest coral reef system, 34,684 real applicants got busy and sent in their applications, which include a one-minute video. So many people just wanted to bang on their drum all day, they crashed the site.

Tourism Queensland has just announced the top 50 applicants and the lucky 50 and their videos are posted on www.islandreefjob.com. You can vote for your favourite, and the applicant with the most votes gets an interview along with 10 others selected by Tourism Queensland. It is a “real job,” after all.

Of course, anyone can see through all this malarkey. It's just the most clever tourism promotion ever.

And it doesn't hurt that it's the antidote to the worst winter in the worst economy in decades.

Maybe that's why such a disproportionate number of the final 50 are Canadians. Desperation breeds creativity. Three are from B.C., one is from Alberta and two are from ontario.

Anny Chih of Vancouver gets big marks for her irresistibly cute video, but Mitchell from ontario is the Canadian to beat. He staged a musical job application on a busy downtown street with a cast of dozens that rivals the best of Broadway. Mamma Mia!

So most of us aren't going to get the job of island caretaker, but at least we can vote for our choice.

Maybe they'll send us a sack of sand in gratitude. We better roll up our sleeves, though, because Mitchell’s currently in second place behind Julia, the Russian Bond girl, who is way out in the lead with 4005 votes and counting.

Then again, maybe you'd consider a write-in campaign for me, your favourite columnist.

(source: metro news Wednesday, March 4, 2009 page 10, written by Paul Sullivan)