send me to the beach...

...or just send the beach to me!

A recent opportunity at PayPerPost for the Beaches Family Resort clued in on some truly creative marketing. The website allows users to build their own virtual sandcastles, complete with beach sounds, flags, turrets, seagulls circling overhead and dungenous crabs scampering around wherever you want to place them.

The tool is fairly easy to use. So easy in fact that I have bookmarked it for my six year old to play around with later today. You just drag the different sandcastle pieces to the "virtual beach" to create your castle. You can change colors, add various custom features like seashells, and save or send the whole thing as an e-card or wallpaper. You also get to have your castle featured right there on their from page once created.

It's been a long time since I've done any sandcastle construction work, and this was a bit of silly fun. Sure, there's nothing like having real sand in between your toes, but that's why they point you to their vacation planner once you're done. here's my little virtual sand masterpiece...and yes, I ripped off the old He-Man castle name and modified it for my own purposes:



All in all, this is a very creative marketing approach that successfully targets families who may be in the market for a beach front vacation filled with sun and excitement.