Marktd Talks To Ben Lerer Of Thrillist About Jet Vegas

Men’s lifestyle newsletter publisher Thrillist recently ran a high profile co-promotion with JetBlue. Ever interested in the way media is working directly with brands to develop fresh creative ideas, Martd interview Thrillist founder Ben Lerer about the campaign.

Recently you ran a promotion with JetBlue - a get away to Las Vegas. Can you tell us what it was about?

We teamed up with JetBlue to help promote their new “Jetting” campaign, and to tout the launch of Thrillist Las Vegas. They supplied their Beta Blue bluetooth enabled plane and we brought on a slew of sponsors to support the 36 hour extravaganza. Onboard we invited members of the press, some fun/interesting friends of Thrillist and JetBlue, as well as some readers from Thrillist and our event partners (Men’s Health, Yelp, Metro, The Onion, and GenArt).

We left NY on Friday afternoon, had a great Skyy Vodka, Dos Equis Beer and Wines of Germany fueled-flight, then checked into 100 rooms in the Mirage. After getting cleaned up everyone met at Bare Pool for the premier of two new Showtime shows and some dinner, followed by an after-party in JET’s VIP room. We woke up early to head back to the city in the morning.

A number of influential bloggers took the trip - what did they think about it?

It seemed like everyone had a really great time. Some of the bloggers even took advantage of the plane’s WiFi capabilities to post stories from mid-air. It’s hard not to have fun with a 36 hour all-expense-paid trip to Vegas though.

Did you work directly with the client?

We did have an opportunity to work with JetBlue to come up with the concept. We worked not only with their in house marketing team but with their media buying agency, their creative agency and their in-house PR. It was a great experience for us to see the inner workings of a brand as successful as JetBlue. Most impressive was their attention to detail, which was integral in pulling off an event like this so seamlessly.

So, what is the benefit for…

… the Thrilist reader?

The campaign was a great way to get our readers involved, by offering them the chance to win access to join us on the trip. It also helped to inform our readers about what Thrillist values as a brand.

… Jet Blue?

JetBlue got the chance to be seamlessly integrated into an event. With the airline industry having a tough time in general these days, we felt it was important to remind people that air travel can still be fun. By showcasing Beta Blue, JetBlue also got the chance to show that not all advancements on planes have to do with increased security and higher fares. JetBlue also got access to members of the press that might otherwise not cover an airline except to report scandalous or unfavorable news.

… and Thrillist

Anything that’s good for our readers is good for us, and because our readers got excited about joining us in Vegas, we got thousands of new subscribers due to pass-along between friends. Putting on an event of this magnitude also gave us a chance to bring in a bunch of exciting advertisers who we’d always wanted to work with in a bigger capacity. Also, the press attention didn’t really hurt if you know what I mean.

Thrillist