Data showed peak conversation would occur during Shark Week’s premier. So Travelocity seeded HowFarAmIfromSharksRightNow.com on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter two days prior to achieve maximum momentum.

Upon accessing the site, a user’s GPS location was identified and they were served the number of miles they were from sharks at that exact moment. Then they could choose to get closer or farther away. After choosing, they were shown destinations they could book on Travelocity.com.

Sharing functionality let users post their personal “shark mileage numbers” to Twitter, Facebook and Google+, amplifying the reach of the effort well beyond paid media alone.

Interactions with tweets featuring HowFarAmIFromSharksRightNow.com leading up to and during Shark Week helped drive 1.9MM Twitter impressions — well beyond Travelocity’s fan base.

Followers proclaimed their love for the effort, calling it, “Quite possibly the best use of a geo-locator service I have ever seen,” a “great use of the Shark Week phenomenon” and a “valuable resource when deciding to do anything.”

The effort drove positive earned brand awareness with zero media investment. Generating 523K earned social media impressions, thanks to sharkophobes posting their personal mileage numbers, and 30MM PR impressions, thanks to features in publications like USA Today.