Priceline's longtime spokesman,
William Shatner, with an assist from his sponsors, has taken off
the gloves and gone after a rival, Travelocity's Roaming Gnome.
However, Shatner didn't launch his tongue-in-cheek attack on the
Travelocity mascot from the Starship Enterprise or at a travel
conference, but from a newish battleground, MySpace.
Shatner last week
introduced his MySpace page, which bolsters his image in a
Priceline ad campaign last year as the Negotiator. (See www.myspace.com/thenegotiator.)
In genuine MySpace
style, the deal-hungry Shatner lists his favorite song as "Money
for Nothing" by Dire Straits and his interests as "deal-making" and
"price-chopping."
A video of Shatner
verbally taking on the Roaming Gnome from what appears to be a
movie set is hilarious. I think even the Gnome's benefactors at
Travelocity and the Gnome itself, were it not merely "ceramic" as
Shatner characterized it, would have to chuckle a bit about it,
too.
On MySpace, I guess,
some of the rules of Public Relations 101, namely not openly
bashing a competitor, are not observed.
"The Travelocity Gnome
is a stupid little icon," Shatner begins in his video interview.
"It doesn't have half the charm I have. It looks a little better.
In the looks department, he's OK. He's a shade above us at
Priceline, but the quality of what I represent ...
"Look at my quality,"
Shatner continues, flexing his not-so-buff biceps. "See, this is
what Priceline really is. Strong, forceful, meaningful. Not a
little gnome, who may be good-looking and athletic."
An interviewer, who is
off camera in the video, then interjects, "He's ceramic. You are
flesh and blood."
Shatner quickly takes
up the theme. "It is an icon," he continues. "If you pinch me, do I
bleed? Will I not hurt if you punch me? A gnome is
ceramic."
Travelocity's Roaming
Gnome launched its own MySpace page (www.myspace.com/roaminggnome) well before Shatner's,
as both Travelocity and Priceline see the value of marketing to a
younger generation on a site they visit frequently and in a style
to which they can relate.
Assuredly, more travel
companies are readying MySpace or Facebook offerings as we speak,
smartly taking advantage of the social-networking craze and turning
it into an effective marketing tool.
One of the things I
like about the Shatner page is that it isn't full of corporate
marketing-speak, and that's in sharp contrast to many
company-sponsored blogs these days.
Consumers detest this
corporate pablum and would rather ingest something crunchier and
more meaningful. Shatner's page is funny and edgy, and it pounds
away at a message, with no apologies to the Gnome or anyone
else.
Shatner says things
that Priceline itself couldn't get away with. For example, in
another dig at the Roaming Gnome, Shatner asks visitors to "post
your favorite lawn ornaments."
Both the Shatner and
Roaming Gnome pages urge MySpace members to become their buddies.
Then these new "friends" receive deal messages from Priceline and
Travelocity.
Or maybe they could
just try to get to know the Roaming Gnome, whose sexual orientation
on MySpace is "no answer." However, the Gnome acknowledges it is
interested in "dating/serious
relationships/friends/networking."
Meanwhile, the
communications departments at Priceline and Travelocity are not the
only ones discovering the latest online media venues.
Our new-age State Dept.
is posting videos on YouTube.
When the department
revised its policy on passport requirements for travel, it posted a
video message on YouTube from Maura Harty, the assistant secretary
of state for consular affairs.
No word from Shatner
yet on what he thinks of Maura Harty.