Skift Take
Will Booking.com, Expedia.com or Vrbo create Super Bowl advertisements that everyone will be talking about in the days after the Big Video game? We haven’t seen them yet, but so far it sounds as if they are trotting out very predictable and familiar themes.
Dennis Schaal
Netherlands-based Booking.com, which will air its first-ever Super Bowl advertisement in the 4th quarter on February 13, is hoping the game will be a captivating cliff-hanger at that point to keep the viewership up. Meanwhile, the brass at Expedia, which will run its first big video game ad in a years during the first quarter, is probably rooting for the face-off to be a yawner by the final quarter when its competitor gets the air time.
Such will be the online travel industry’s marketing drama with 30-second advertisements costing as much as $6.5 million for Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, with an expected TV audience of 100 million people to see them.
Expedia Group’s Vrbo holiday rental brand will kick things off in the NBC pregame program in the U.S. (and at halftime in Canada) with a 60-second ad produced by advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. Vrbo’s ad will press the message that the people you travel with are more vital than the location, according to an Expedia Group representative.
When it was an independent company called Homeaway, Vrbo’s predecessor brand name ran Super Bowl ads in 2010 and 2011.
Expedia.com will air a 30-second area in the very first quarter in collaboration with advertising agency Abnormality fixating the benefits of “experiences” over “things,” the representative said.
“We dedicated to the Super Bowl area seven months ago,” said Jon Gieselman, president of Expedia Brands. “I’m not a ‘do a Super Bowl ad for the sake of it’ type of guy, so I wanted to ensure there was a ‘why’ behind it. And there is– it’s a huge vote of self-confidence in 2022 as the year of the go back to travel and we’re launching a new brand platform.”
Gieselman stated that he does not view the spot as the start of “simply a new advertising campaign. This is the introduction of the message and personality of Expedia moving on. “
An Expedia Group spokesperson added that the company does not need to stoke demand since people currently want to travel. “We just require to communicate clear factors to take a trip with us.”
Of course, Booking.com will be making a similar and counter argument as the two business compete for market share in Seattle-headquartered Expedia’s greatest market, the U.S.
. In December 2021, according to analytics firm SimilarWeb, Expedia.com’s 58.4 million desktop and mobile visitor numbers in the U.S. were about 34 percent greater than Booking.com’s, which has actually been winning market share in the last couple of years. Booking.com visitors, nevertheless, tended typically to be more extremely engaged, spending more time on Booking.com than on Expedia.com.
In a 30-second area, Booking.com will renew its 2013 Booking.yeah brand project, said Chief Marketing Officer Arjan Dijk, adding that one opportunity is that mid-February is a time when many individuals start mulling their spring break or summertime itinerary.
“Integrated with the momentum we have (in the U.S.) and the marketplace, we truly think it is the correct time to go huge,” Dijk stated. “We really want to reveal to a very broad American audience we exist, and we are the easiest platform.”
Booking.com is a larger hospitality-oriented brand name than Expedia worldwide, and has actually been making inroads in the U.S. Some parts of Europe, however, such as Booking’s head offices’ location, the Netherlands, are still locked down.
Asked if there was an argument within the business about whether to promote in the Super Bowl, Dijk stated, obviously there was, adding that he exchanged texts with Reservation Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel throughout the Christmas break about whether Dijk was sure the timing was right.
Scheduling shot the ad, established with ad agency Horses & Mules, in several locations in December.
It’s uncertain whether Airbnb, which ran its We Accept Super Bowl ad in 2017, will buy an ad in the 2022 rendition. Asked whether it would, an Airbnb spokesperson said the business has “absolutely nothing to share.”
Vrbo, of course, will be marketing throughout the pre-game. A much smaller sized platform than Airbnb, Vrbo has actually declared to be making market share gains versus Airbnb, particularly in the U.S., although Vrbo hasn’t provided specific proof of that.
Turkish Airlines will likewise be advertising in Super Bowl’s 2022 edition. Alaska Airlines ran an area in particular markets in 2021, and Turkish Airlines promoted in 2020.
Correction: Turkish Airline companies will undoubtedly market throughout the 2022 Super Bowl in contrast to what we initially reported.