The power of the keyboard is behind Sunwing’s new writing contest for Canadians. Through Aug. 24, The #MissedMilestones Writing Contest will collect and curate a collection of firsthand stories from customers featuring travel moments and milestones that they missed out on during the pandemic, including how they would celebrate those moments in the tropics.
Conducted in partnership with Wattpad, a global multi-platform entertainment company for original stories and leading social storytelling platform, the contest will award the winner an all-inclusive vacation for two to Royalton Punta Cana Resort & Casino and will be featured on the Travel profile on Wattpad.
“Our partnership with Wattpad is the latest step in our marketing transformation at Sunwing” and in creating “relevant and inspirational content,” explains Sunwing Chief Marketing Officer Samantha Taylor, who notes that Wattpad counts 1.6 million Canadians amongst its global community of 90 million people, including a diverse and creative bases of writers.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we have focused our efforts on refining and elevating the customer experience and tapping into user-generated content is a key pillar of our marketing strategy,” Taylor adds. “By partnering with Wattpad on this writing contest, we’ll be able to leverage the power of storytelling to engage with customers in a more authentic, relevant way, offering them an even more seamless customer journey under our wing.”
The contest, Sunwing notes, reflects the pandemic trend of more people turning to reading and writing online as a form of escapism and self-expression and, at the same time, dreaming about their future vacation after being stuck at home for over a year.
Sunwing will work also with Wattpad Brand Partnerships to adapt the winning story into a short film or video, to be distributed across both brands’ channels including YouTube and their respective social media platforms.
“Creativity, connection, and expression are core features of Generation Z,” says Chris Stefanyk, Head of Brand Partnerships at Wattpad. “After more than a year of lockdowns around the world, Gen Zers have turned to creative platforms like Wattpad to share their experiences like never before. We’re thrilled to partner with Sunwing to engage our massive Gen Z community, turning missed milestones into inspired narratives.”
Eligible participants are invited to submit a short story in 500 words or less about their #MissedMilestones from the past year and the role that travelling to the tropics would play in making them epic. From beach getaways with friends to family celebrations in the tropics and destination weddings, writers are invited to get creative with their entries and post them to their Wattpad profile using the #MissedMilestones hashtag. The official contest rules can be found on Wattpad’s website.