As more people get vaccinated, the pent up demand for travel is turning into real trips and Expedia wants to be there to help.
The online travel site has launched a new global creative campaign starring Rashida Jones and Naomie Harris. The spot highlights Expedia as the ideal travel companion. “Like a great companion, Expedia has your back throughout your journey. It matters who you travel with,” says Rashida Jones in the voice over.
‘This last year we had the chance to take a step back and go deep with the customer on what their travel needs are and as we spent a lot more time with the customer over the past year, understanding what their motivators and drivers are,” said Chandreyi Davis, VP Brand Marketing at Expedia.
For the last 25 years Expedia has been focusing on how to optimize the travel experience. With this new effort, they are “really opening our aperture to how we can support the traveler across their whole journey, across that time that they are dreaming about travel, the planning stage where we are already really engaged with them today but then also when they are on their trip, how can we support them more,” explained Davis.
The campaign comes out of a challenging moment for the travel industry and is the brand’s largest marketing spend in more than five years, hinting that creating a cohesive message that will resonate as people start traveling again. Davis explained that different travelers have varying degrees of comfort with traveling again.
“As travel returns it is so varied by marketplace and our job is to meet the travelers where they are at this moment,” said Davis. “In Some places that might be folks that are just starting to dream about travel and booking for a very far out window. For other travelers that might be folks that are ready to book today and start going on their trips in a couple of weeks. Wherever they are in their journey and comfort we want to provide the right information and inspiration for them to get back out there when they are ready.”
The new spot, which will debut at the Oscars this weekend, recalls the fun and the stresses of travel, but like a fun travel companion, Expedia is there to find the dream hotel in the back alley and will pick up the phone to help with any hiccups along the way. Davis said they chose the two actresses because the serve as
“perfect representations of Expedia’s new brand attributes – intuitive, travel-savvy and positive.”
“As personalities they bring these things forward in their own careers and in their own lives,” she added. “They represent brand attributes that we wanted to represent, being travel savvy, intelligent but initiative at the same time. The core of this campaign is about companionship and that is what you will see coming to life in how Rashida Jones and Naomie Harris really engage the traveler to engage them and support them throughout their journey.”
