Local travel giant Expedia launched an online campaign Friday geared toward millennials to take the mystery out of online booking and travel.
Called “Expedia Interns,” it features two doofuses named Jay and Stuart, a sort of “odd couple” with one all buttoned-up nerd with glasses, the other obviously a stale-pizza-in-the-morning slob. (Side question: Why two white guys with glasses?) The premise is that the two interns take travel questions from youngsters to demystify the travel experience.
Potential travelers are encouraged to tweet travel questions to @Expedia at #ExpediaInterns.
Two-four-six-eight-ten months in advance? When’s the best time to book an int'l flight? WATCH the #ExpediaInterns:https://t.co/z41OpMV0cJ
— Expedia (@Expedia) March 9, 2015
The series has five videos right now, which address the best time to book international travel to how to score a lower ticket price.
“Expedia is the leader in online travel and this message reinforces our brand position as the travel experts,” Vic Walia, senior director of brand marketing at Expedia, told Digiday. “We feel we have an opportunity to engage with a new, younger traveler who might be less familiar with the Expedia site. It is for this reason we taken this specific creative approach and have decided to launch this campaign exclusively online and on mobile.”
It is a novel way to engage the millennials, who, let’s face it, are more likely to engage with a brand via Twitter, and I like the idea of being able to tweet questions directly to Expedia. But I have to agree with what the head of content, Jason Clampet, over at the travel site Skift. He told Digiday: “My worry is that it is too glossy — an old person’s idea of what young people like,” he said. “I think it could end up backfiring because it doesn’t appear authentic.”
That said, tweet your questions away to Expedia. Nothing like free advice.
Check one out below:
