Expedia's Facebook fans can now choose among the top 10 finalists in a contest to come up with a new name for Expedia's Vacation Packages.
More than 6,000 entries were submitted from Jan. 4 to Feb. 8, 2010, and a panel of judges determined that the following were the 10 best:
Book More Save More
Bundle, Book and Save
Combo-Cations
Fly, Stay and Save
Save-A-Bundles
Save-cations
Trip-Fecta
Vacation Combinations
Bundle Buys
Better Together
In crafting the idea for a social media contest, Expedia's goal was to come up with an appealing name for its Vacation Packages -- one which better captures the idea that you can book vacation packages and save money when compared with booking a flight or hotel separately.
And, there is also all the social media juice that Expedia can squeeze out of the Facebook voting and contest.
To vote on one of the 10 names, visitors to Expedia's Facebook contest page need to click on a "Like" button and then a Vote Now button.
The nominations then appear, along with the Facebook profile name [but not the profile] of the person who submitted each of the top 10 nominations.
When you click on the name you want to vote for, you must enter your name, email address and birthdate to complete the voting process. So Expedia gains some valuable data about you.
Expedia also offers you the option of agreeing to receive Expedia promotional emails.
The winner of the contest gets a vacation worth $10,000; the second place prize is a $500 travel credit; and several $250 travel credits will be distributed, Expedia says.
The contest runs through Feb. 15, and people are eligible to vote once per day.
Meanwhile, Expedia also provides a convenient link to book an Expedia Vacation Package, with the new name of the Vacation Packages tab to be determined after Feb. 15.
And, of course, there's a button to post a status update about the contest on your Facebook wall.
Hey, there are social media dividends in running the contest -- and it saves Expedia the expense of hiring a firm to create a new name for Vacation Packages.
The only hitch is that -- Like button it or not -- now Expedia will have to live with the voting results.