Travel brand Booking.com isn’t beating around the bush with its latest call to action. A new campaign called “Be a Booker” encourages consumers to stop dreaming about their next trip and finally make it happen.
Booking.com debuted its latest national campaign on Monday, celebrating those who travel and shaming those who are content to just “pin, post and swipe.” Social media makes it easy to dream about travel, especially on Instagram where popular influencers go to extraordinary lengths for their next “travel brag” post. Not surprisingly, a majority of travelers depicted in the “Be a Booker” campaign are young and virtually all “bookers” do so with a mobile phone.
At first glance, the campaign appears to cater only to those who actually finalize their plans, i.e. existing customers. One spot called “Ask Your Boss Later,” however, promotes impulse booking by highlighting the site’s free cancellation policy. This message is clearly aimed at those who hesitate; the “others” in a travel booking scenario.
“By creating a community of ‘bookers,’ Booking.com is aiming to celebrate the people who take action and empower others to experience the world, no matter where that is,” Pepijn Rijvers, chief marketing officer at Booking.com explained in a press release. “Booking.com wants to inspire ‘bookers’ and as a leading tech company, assure them that we’ll do all the work to take the friction out of the travel process to help them plan their trip in a seamless way.”
“Be a Booker” launched nationally on Monday and will air on primetime TV and online channels. The campaign includes a mix of 60-second and 30-second spots as well as four separate 15-second spots dubbed ”’Ask Your Boss Later,” “What You’re Looking For,” “Big Plans” and “L.A. Baby.”
Booking.com cited a 2018 study by Victorinox that found 76 percent of Americans wanting to spend more of their free time traveling. This statistic, says Booking.com, means that US consumers have an opportunity to take advantage of accommodations and daily deals featured in the campaign.
Throughout each ad, Happy travelers cavort in restaurants, hotel rooms and on the road, reminding consumers that the service isn’t just for finding a place to sleep. These visuals are a nod to Booking.com’s Experiences portal, which just launched in September.
In addition to experiences offered around a traveler’s destination, Booking.com has offered exclusive events such as a meet-and-greet with DJ Khaled and a Halloween-themed night for two inside The San Francisco Dungeon.
