What do Barack Obama, The Pope, my daughter and me have in common?
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Karun Budhraja, vice president marketing communications at Amadeus Asia Pacific, learns the art of the ‘selfie’ and how to become a ‘cool dad’…
As another family get together was interrupted by my daughter peering into the camera lens on her smartphone, I asked her:
“Why on earth are you taking yet another photo of yourself, don’t you have enough?” Her reply came with blind conviction, accompanied by a poorly disguised look of contempt, the sort only daughters can muster: “So everyone knows the cool things I’m doing Dad, obviously!”
I really should have known better.
It turns out, that 2013 was the year of the ‘selfie’ – the word termed to describe the act of taking your own digital photo and sharing it with the online world. My daughter is in good company: everyone from the Pope to the President of the United States has indulged in digital self-portraiture in the past year and the trend is still gaining momentum. As popular trends go, it’s better than leg-warmers or planking, and perhaps tells us a little more about the increasing personalisation of our commercial and personal lives too.
Socialising and sharing is not new – it’s as old as time. But today, the need to personalise everything has never been stronger. Every experience can be shared, with ‘you’ at the centre. Not only do we personalise our world with images and words, we are increasingly expecting the same level of intimacy and understanding from our networked friends, family and those we transact or communicate with online.
Personalisation is key for travel.
Travellers today want to travel the world in just one way – their own way. They want to put together a unique travel experience, tapping into inspiration from others and sharing their own personal plans with friends via social media.
But back to my family for a moment.
My daughter, interestingly, snapped a selfie with me, as a way of involving me in her online world. I was initially reluctant, but quickly realised that this was more than just a snap. She was proud of the photo and even made it her profile pic.
I am, for now at least, ‘A Cool Dad’.
When it comes to travel, many brands are embracing their own ‘Cool Dad’ moments.
Malaysian Airlines recently ran a competition where travellers could share their best travel selfie to win free flights. They’re embracing personalisation as a way to connect with and appear relevant to customers. And they’re not the only ones. A simple
Google search for ‘selfie competition’ shows an array of brands embracing the concept of personalisation as well from TV programs to the Winter Olympics.
We’re embracing this thinking at Amadeus too. Personalisation is a critical element to shaping the future of travel. Find out how we are doing more here: www.amadeus.com/blog
So why don’t you embrace the ‘selfie’, and the era of supreme personalisation; but only if you want to stay ‘A Cool Dad.’
Yours personally,
Karun, A (wannabe) Cool Dad
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