Do you even remember the summer travel plans you had in mind back in January?
I think I was supposed to be spending some time in Florida, maybe Colorado? Honestly I think part of my brain has blocked it out to avoid thinking about how my scenery instead will be the view out the same back window I've been looking at for more than three months now.
Obviously much of the world is in a similar situation, with summer travel either flat-out canceled or scaled back to the level of "maybe I'll splurge and visit Whole Foods instead of Aldi."
Audible today launched a rather charming, vintage-inspired U.K. campaign that offers up audiobooks as a worthy replacement for travel.
"We felt we could have some fun harkening back to an era when the advertising was as special as travel itself,” said Ryan Newey, founder and CCO of agency Fold7, which created the campaign.
The TV and radio spots encourage you to journey to mythical and historical lands, along with the occasional dystopia (I think most of us will pass on a stop in Gilead, though).
The work reminds me of one of my favorite marketing moves this year: independent bookstore The Wild Detectives' pivot to being a travel agency. The announcement initially had fans concerned, but they soon realized the shop (with agency Dieste) had created a website that let you shop books by browsing destinations around the world where those titles take place.
So what are you reading or listening to these days? Is it escapism-themed, or are you getting heavier with topics like politics or moments from history that seem to parallel 2020 in unnerving ways? Let me know at the email below or at @Griner on Twitter.
Personally, I'm working through the final volumes of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series about naval warfare in the Napoleonic era (oh man, I truly have become a dad, haven't I?). It has made me somewhat wistful about traveling to destinations across the globe, but it's also helped me appreciate my unlikelihood of developing scurvy.
Gotta count the blessings as you find them!
David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com
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