Dive Brief:
- Priceline is rolling out its first new brand platform in four years around Super Bowl LVII, according to a news release.
- The travel site will air pre-game spots starring brand ambassador Kaley Cuoco on Feb. 12 to introduce consumers to “Go To Your Happy Price,” which includes a new theme song. Starting at kickoff, the brand will run digital ads featuring interactive props that access hidden travel deals, with additional offers going live around halftime.
- Other campaign elements include takeovers of Meta, TikTok and YouTube, influencer marketing partnerships, audio and podcast ads and the release of the theme song on streaming platforms. Priceline joins others in the travel category in seizing on a rebound in consumer activity following the quieter early days of the pandemic.
Dive Insight:
Priceline is leveraging the massive audience draw of the Super Bowl to introduce its new brand platform and get people to book their next trip. Along with traditional commercials running before kickoff, the marketer is deploying a spate of shorter digital ads, which it calls mini-episodes, that feature interactive elements accessing over $5 million in travel deals.
The wedding of video creative with shoppable technology could help drive business for the 25-year-old travel marketer during Super Bowl LVII. The championship football match remains the biggest night in TV, but Priceline is also recognizing second-screening habits, where people check their phone or computer while watching the game. The strategy looks to capitalize on the surge in “revenge travel,” while highlighting affordable options amid a period of intense inflation.
"Consumers have emerged from the last few years with a renewed appreciation for travel's role in their lives. Travel is now prioritized as essential to joy and well-being," said Lesley Klein, senior vice president of strategy and brand marketing at Priceline, in a statement. "Our new campaign speaks to consumers for whom travel isn't just what they do, it's a part of who they are.”
“Go To Your Happy Price” is the company’s first work from indie shop Mirimar, which it named its creative agency of record in 2022. The integrated campaign mixes aspects of the old and the new for Priceline, with Kaley Cuoco returning in an ambassador role she’s held for over a decade.
The lead spot plays like a surrealist intro to an old-school sitcom, with a jaunty theme song introducing characters including a cliched “Family Man” and ‘gram-obsessed “Youth.” All of these oddball personalities congregate around an office setting where Cuoco serves as the ringleader and encourages her compatriots to break with the corporate grind and take their dream vacations. Each mini-episode available so far is built around the actor’s interaction with a member of the cast.
Priceline will build on the campaign throughout 2023 with future promotions, social content and other activations. During a period when many marketers are measuring their spending, travel and hospitality have gotten more aggressive. Expedia last year used the Super Bowl to premiere a splashy campaign where actor Ewan McGregor emphasizes how travel can provide a more meaningful experience than material things.
