Is it the Experience or the Destination?

This week I’m on hiatus from the “Will They Stay or Will They Go?” series, taking a well-deserved extended weekend vacation to visit family in beautiful Minneapolis, Minnesota.  For some, vacations are all about the destination – getting there, unpacking, getting everything you want to do on your itinerary accomplished before you have to leave, etc.  But for others, the journey is the vacation itself – being on the road, stopping off at random places, getting to know the people you’re with and surviving the unexpected that comes your way.

Imagine if the Griswold Family had flown to Wally World, or the Hoover Family had flown to the Little Miss Sunshine finals in Rodondo Beach.  True, each family probably would have avoided some extremely aggravating hassles and achieved their objectives sooner, but they would have missed out on the very experiences that strengthened their relationships with one another and left an indelible set of memories that become part of a larger story.

Being on the road to digital can feel a lot like a vacation.  Most organizations anticipate arriving at a final destination point with our online initiatives, but I wonder how many brands take a step back and realize that the journey is as equally important.  We are now living in a world where brands and consumer’s collective journeys can cross and merge within multiple real-time data streams.  Experiences are no longer silod, but mashed and shared.  Think about that next time you’re embarking on your next online initiative.

Now if I could just get that darn theme song out of my head….Kenny Loggins, will always be the King of the Summer Vacation anthems.