HomeAway invests ‘tens of millions of dollars’ in global campaign to appeal to modern families, pet owners and millenials
Home Away last summer hired its first global chief marketing officer in Mariona Dima, who had served in the same role for Visa Europe, and promised to increase ad spending worldwide by 50 percent. At the time, the home rental brand ultimately sent this proclamation to every hospitality competitor from Bookings.com to Airbnb: We’re serious now.
Today, HomeAway is unveiling the first sign that it wasn’t kidding around with an international campaign, which Dima told Adweek would total in the “tens of millions of dollars.” Digital ads and retargeted promos will start being seen across the Web in early March while pushing its “no booking fees” message, a sentiment that is designed to resonate with Airbnb users. Television ads in seven major American markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.) and a handful of European countries will begin airing on March 16. The initiative will also involve out-of-home and print ads.
The creative reflects “a modern family feel,” Dima said. Like ABC’s hit show Modern Family that he loosely referenced, the images entail families led by straight and gay parents of varying ethnicities. Yet HomeAway aims to extend the “family” concept to include groups of friends—an idea the brand’s marketers believe will hit home with social media-happy Gen Y.