2024 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Online travel booking is a competitive category in which consumers see little difference between brands — and show almost no loyalty. By late 2022, travel demand in the United States had almost entirely recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but the competition between online travel agents was as fierce as ever.

As the cross-border team handling Booking.com’s advertising in the United States, their task was to help Booking.com pull ahead of the pack. And to start on the world’s largest advertising stage: the Super Bowl.

But they knew the battle for bookings couldn’t be won in thirty seconds, no matter how big the stage. The agency’s larger task was to translate all that awareness into bookings with a fully integrated, full-funnel campaign.

Booking.com’s competitors focus either on low prices or aspirational destinations. The one thing no one focuses on is the booking experience itself.

Using Booking.com’s behavioral data and their own survey research, they discovered that 73%
actually enjoyed booking their last trip. And academic research shows that people enjoy the anticipation of a trip as much as the actual trip itself.

They took a two-pronged approach.

A memorable creative idea that would clearly establish the platform, “Booking is half the fun”, in a way that would get people talking. As well as a communications plan that focused as much on everything around the Super Bowl as the game itself to guide the consumer to purchase.

Their campaign featured beloved star Melissa McCarthy booking her first post-pandemic trip. The main spot is an over-the-top musical called “Somewhere, Anywhere.” In it, Melissa imagines all the places she could go and uses Booking.com to find accommodations that meet
her specifications.

The big game :30 was only the most visible part of a massive, year-long campaign to help Booking.com win in the United States.

They crafted dozens of assets for online and social environments. On YouTube, instead of simply running their TV spot, they took a different storytelling approach that dropped the viewers right into the action and kept their brand central.

Through that approach, they told a cohesive brand story even in the messaging aimed at customer need-states along the full booking journey, such as free cancellation, reviews, domestic travel, and vacation rentals beyond traditional hotels.

A lot of hard work has gone into a brand that’s all about vacations, but it’s had a remarkable
Payoff.

In the second-most-watched Super Bowl ever, it became the #1 watched Super Bowl ad on YouTube, with over 118 million views and counting. The campaign generated a high volume of earned media coverage, with over 3,200 stories covering the work and 94% of the coverage garnering positive sentiment.

After the ad aired during the Super Bowl, the brand saw a 400% increase in Booking.com-related searches and the North American campaign was extended to international markets, including Europe and Australia, proving that, just like eager travelers, a great campaign idea can go Anywhere.

Credits

Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Chairman: Zak Mroueh
Chief Creative Officer: Tim Gordon
Executive Creative Director: Casey Rand
Creative Director/Art Director: Rachel Goss, Vic Bath
Creative Director/Copywriter: Ross Wolinsky, Dan Cummings
Associate Creative Director/Copywriter: Marco Buchar, Greg Kieltyka
Associate Creative Director/Art Director: Michael Romaniuk, Ivan Mallqui
Account Team: Christine McNab, Meghan Mullen, Caroline Engram, Erika Dafoe, Amanda Wong
Strategy Director: Heather Segal, Sean Bell, Cameron Fleming, Shanaugh Farrelly
Client: Booking.com
Clients: Glenn Fogel, Arjan Dijk, Natalie Wills, Ben Harrell, Diana Agudelo Hernandez, Ali Ronca
Ian Kennelly, Andrew Slough, Cam Beaumord, Nick Thiel, Giuliana Latte, Wei Lun Wang, Ina Balabanska, Johannes “Yordi” Tromp, Leslie Cafferty, Angela Cavis, Laura Kaye, Eséte Workneh, Beniam Gebeyehu
Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Managing Producer / Executive Producer: Marc Marrie
Managing Director / Executive Producer: Mal Ward
Head Of Production: Milena Milicevic
Director: Alex Prager
Director of Photography: Matthew Libatique
1st Ad: Michael Salven
Production Designer: Florencia Martin
Producer: Terri Shafirov
Production Supervisor: Andrea Tello
Editorial: Arcade Edit
Editor (Somewhere, Anywhere): Geoff Hounsell
Editor Teaser/Socials: Will Hasell
Assistant Editor: Dean Miyahira, Mitch Mitchell
Executive Producer: Crissy DeSimone
Head of Production: Megan Dahlman
Senior Producer: Alexa Berman
Sound Mix: Wave Studios
Partner/ECD/Sound Designer & Mixer: Aaron Reynolds
Sound Designer & Mixer: Isaac Matus
Executive Producer: Vicky Ferraro
Original Music: Barking Owl Sound
Composer: Drew Gasparini
Composer / Arranger: Jacob Plasse
Executive Producer: Ashley Benton
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett