The driving idea behind our work was to strategically launch and promote Expedia Group’s loyalty program, One Key, in the United States. The primary goal was to create awareness and generate significant buzz surrounding the program’s launch. To achieve this, we engaged a dynamic team of 19 influencers as advocates, aiming to effectively connect with a diverse audience.
The specific goals that we set out to achieve included:
Ultimately, the overarching idea was to position One Key as an enticing and valuable loyalty program, and the specific goals were aligned to create a comprehensive and impactful campaign that achieved both awareness and education among the target audience.
To raise awareness and amplify the messaging around the launch of Expedia Group’s membership program, One Key, in the United States, we activated a dynamic team of advocates to help us to effectively engage a diverse audience and generate significant buzz surrounding the launch. A total of 13 brand ambassadors and 6 incremental influencers helped to highlight how members could reach Silver tier in just one short trip, as well as encouraged travelers to start planning future trips using One Key.
The campaign consisted of two phases, each featuring one of One Key’s main offerings. During Phase One, influencers like Helen Owen, Angela Liguori and Lesley Anne Murphy demonstrated how attainable and rewarding reaching the Silver tier can be in just one trip, effectively educating their audience on the perks associated with being a One Key member.
Phase Two focused on demonstrating the program perks, so we divided influencers into two groups. One highlighted how Hotels.com’s Smart Shopping feature helped them plan future travel; the other focused on how they get extra perks booking VIP Access properties, now that they are Silver tier members and above. Content examples: Lesley Anne Murphy, Jane Ko and Colby Holiday.
The review and approval process of this campaign proved to be a challenge due to the nuanced aspects unique to the One Key membership program, which many influencers were not very familiar with considering it was so new. As a result, this campaign required more time to execute successfully than the previous ones, highlighting the importance of allocating more time for a thorough briefing and review stage in future campaigns.
Ultimately, we are confident that the campaign’s distinctive framework, imaginative content, and the unwavering dedication of our selected influencers were pivotal factors in attaining significant outcomes and effectively enlightening travelers about the One Key program.
The outcomes of our One Key campaign, which focused on elevating awareness surrounding the launch of the One Key program in the United States, have exceeded expectations, affirming the success of our endeavors. With an impressive reach of 924,000 people and a total of 1.4 million impressions, our campaign significantly expanded its impact across our target audience. The engagement metrics further underscore the effectiveness of our strategy, with a noteworthy 41,000 engagements and 2.8% engagement rate, which is over 2× the industry benchmark of 1.18%. Moreover, the campaign generated substantial interest, as reflected in the 5,035 link clicks to One Key’s sign-up website, our best equivalency of direct sign-ups. These results not only indicate heightened awareness but also demonstrate the resonance of the One Key program within our audience, marking a substantial milestone in our pursuit of promoting this unified loyalty initiative.
