The carpet at Portland International Airport is more popular than you
In 2015 it's the norm for airports, hotels, and tour companies to be on social media. But if there's one airport that isn't scared to leave the realm of normality, leave it to Portland — the American capital of weird.
The carpet at Portland International Airport (PDX) now has its own Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, and it probably has more likes and followers than you do. Let that sink in: you are (probably) less popular than a rug, at least on social media.
People are interacting with the rug using the hashtag #PDXcarpet. At the time of writing, it had 11,448 Facebook likes, 1,217 Twitter followers and almost 16,000 Instagram followers — about eight times as many Instagram followers as I have. It's an odd feeling getting trampled on by a rug.
If that's not enough, the carpet's popularity even extends from the cyber realm into physical reality. True to their quirky roots, Portlanders have bought clothing, sneakers, and even tattoos to pay homage to the, um, iconic print, after finding out that it would be ripped out. Rogue Ales even came out with a tribute beer, and IPA called PDX Carpet. As a result, the airport has installed an art display featuring the beloved swatches.
Creating such a bizarre social accounts seems like great marketing, even in sections of the country that aren't obsessed with the bizarre. When venues do something outlandish, such as giving inanimate objects access to the internet, people tell their friends, travelers post photos, and (if the venue is really lucky) super important, big-time journalists might even write about it.
Recently I attended a round table discussion (search #RoundTableST on Twitter, if you'd like to check it out) with a number of travel experts, including Sean Murphy, Editor-in-Chief of Jetsetter. He compared our smartphones to a remote control for our lives. According to Murphy, most travelers posts on social media within six minutes of landing in their destination. Before even grabbing their luggage, they are posting plane views, welcome signs, and — apparently — carpets.
We're already seeing how tourism operators are trying to further glue us to our phones in the future by offering apps that allow us to check into hotels and flights, open hotel room doors, book tours, and earn rewards for posting on social media. In 2015, Mr. Murphy predicts we'll be seeing operators working to create more "Instagramable moments," as well as beginning to offer free Wi-Fi to make content more easily shareable.
Essentially, travelers will become true brand ambassadors, although I'd say getting a tattoo in honor of your local airport is taking this a bit too far.