Expedia.com rebrands: “Where You Book Matters”
January 07, 2010 | Online Travel
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Expedia seeks to change the mindset of many travelers that it doesn't really matter where you actually book your travel. Its new campaign will communicate the reasons why booking with Expedia.com makes all the difference.
As reported earlier, Expedia.com unveiled changes to its brand built around a simple yet powerful premise: “Where you book matters.” The new tagline summarizes the strategy behind the new brand campaign launched over the holidays, which includes the new tagline, a redesigned brand logo, and an integrated advertising campaign initially featuring TV, print, outdoor, and online executions. The company’s signature “dot.com” chorus will remain in place.
“We seek to change the mindset of many travelers that it doesn’t really matter where you actually book your travel. Our new campaign will communicate the reasons why booking with Expedia.com makes all the difference, namely because of the superior value, ease and convenience Expedia.com offers,” said Paul Leonard, vice president of brand marketing at Expedia.com. “We’re also choosing to strike a different tone in our advertising than the rest of the industry, one that recognizes that our travelers are confident people looking for a terrific partner to get them the trip that they want, and are not helpless people in need of a protector.”
The launch of Expedia.com’s new brand campaign marks the midpoint of a process that began in early 2009, when the company began a rigorous search for a new advertising agency. That process culminated in July, when Expedia.com announced that The Martin Agency had bested a field of more than 100 top firms to be its creative agency of record.
Expedia.com is rolling out a series of nationally broadcast television ads in 2010. The first TV spot, “Girls’ Weekend,” introduces a visual metaphor of “building blocks” that represent the unique and personal way in which travelers interact with Expedia.com to plan and book their travel. “Girls’ Weekend” was directed by acclaimed director Sophie Gateau, as were each of Expedia.com’s first three TV spots in the campaign.
Expedia.com’s new logo, featuring a more classic and timeless design while maintaining the visual expression of the globe and a plane, was designed by LPK, a leading international design agency headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“If consumers continue to get bombarded with messages that imply that they have no control over their travel fate, they’ll start to believe it,” said Halle Hutchison, director, brand marketing, Expedia.com. “And when the moment arrives when their research is complete and they click to book, they’ll experience worry rather than excitement. And that’s a shame. Because travelers who book with Expedia.com can be confident that they got the right trip at a great price.”
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When a well-known brand such as Expedia invests so much money in a new campaign and a new marketing strategy the interesting question to ask is « why do they do that? ». After I read this article two remarks came into my mind.
RépondreSupprimerFirst of all, we all know Expedia had to go through different difficult trials this pas year and the brand was tarnished. This definitely means they needed to work on that. But they probably were also right to rework their brand because many other OTAs emerged on the market which means that Expedia needs to distinguish itself in order to gain customers trust. They seem pretty clear on that. But actually, I’m not sure that a communication campaign is enough. They probably should have looked for to offer something more and something more trendy. Why don’t they do something more about communities – groups of customers.
Also, as now Expedia represents a large group of customers they want (and they are right on that) to offer a new “experience” to their customers. They seem to have understood that customers need more than a simple booking engine. They need to be confident in that they are doing the right choice and that they offer more than a simple booking but that they book for their clients an appropriate service. But I actually think they are doing this a bit late: this should have been done before.