Expedia created online travel. But intense competition and the rise of price-comparison sites were leading to a decline in value, profitability and loyalty as more and more people turned to search engines to find ‘cheap holidays.’ In order to reposition itself in the market, Expedia created an ad campaign that focused on human nature and reminded people that travel is a valuable investment rather than a cost to be minimised.
Case study summary
• Created an ad campaign in the UK and France to reposition travel as a valuable investment
• The campaign won a bronze award at the IPA Effectiveness Awards 2014 and third place in the Warc 100 - World’s best marketing campaigns 2015
• The campaign has delivered a positive ROI for Expedia
Challenge
Expedia faced the challenge of creating an advertising campaign that would cut through the crowded travel industry in the UK and France. With an overcrowded and commoditised market, Expedia needed to find a way to both protect and grow its market share. Expedia teamed up with Ogilvy and Mather London a creative agency to come up with a campaign to reposition travel as a valuable investment.
Solution
Expedia created a TVC ad campaign to demonstrate that travelling makes you a more interesting person. The TV ads were accompanied by online films aiming to interrupt consumers on YouTube and Facebook and challenge them to move away from the screen and ‘travel themselves interesting’.
The TV ads focus on an underdog who comes out on top. In one of the films Esteban a horse whisperer performs amazing acrobatics and tricks with his horse, however his audience is more interested in Pedro, a ranch worker who has just come back from a trip to New York.
Andrew Warner, Senior Marketing Director at Expedia said: “Together we have created a brilliantly subtle new campaign, heroing the product whilst perfectly capturing and elevating the Travel Yourself Interesting idea. We’re confident that the great strategy and creative solution will deliver further positive, tangible business results for Expedia.”
Results
The campaign won bronze award at the IPA Effectiveness Awards 2014 and third place in the Warc 100 - World’s best marketing campaigns 2015.
The ‘Travel Yourself Interesting’ campaign substantially increased Expedia’s profit margins delivering a pay back of £11 for every £1 spent in the UK and €6 per €1 spent in France.
