The not so Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet on mobile, TV, touch, web, social…
First, we start with the Lonely Planet mobile apps offering Guide Books and the audio Phrasebook, offering travellers help in multitude of languages, from Arabic to Swahili.
Then there’s LonelyPlanet.TV that produces and develops some of the best travel and factual programming, including its flagship series, Lonely Planet Six Degrees. This playful, sassy, streetsmart and unexpected show that connects viewers to what makes each city special – the people that live in it.
To match that spirit, One Planet. 100 million stories invites you to share your travel photos and win a round-the-world trip for two. Pretty cool interface once you get to the photos but it is a little slow. Another is a Twitter contest that harnesses the lightheartedness and the social nature of Lonely Planet audience.
And in a true Lonely Planet traveler spirit, they developed the BlogSherpa where bloggers can blog about destinations and in return, get traffic and paid in return via Google Adsense.
The latest addition is Lonely Planet on Microsoft Surface prototype developed by Amnesia Razorfish to go into Lonely Planet stores. The app allows shoppers to place a guide book on the table and interact with content from that book, along with additional video content. You can then take a Lonely Planet passport book from the front counter, place it on the table, and then drag content from the books onto the passport, which you can retrieve later on the website.
This iconice brand seems to be doing stuff right. It stays true to the founders‘ attitude. Very cool.