PLATFORMS

Netflix, but make it travel?

Most of us gained weight over the last year. Tripadvisor is coming out of the pandemic with a six-pack, nose job, and fresh tan—metaphorically speaking.

Alongside an updated app and website, the travel platform has debuted two new direct-to-consumer offerings over the past year, hoping to convert a slice of its (pre-pandemic) ~463 million monthly users to subscribers and paying customers travelers. 

Step back: Business was, uh, bad last year for the travel industry. During Q2 2020, Tripadvisor’s revenue was down 86%. In Q1 2021, revenue was still just 33% of 2019’s levels. 

But as travel makes a comeback, Tripadvisor is turning its attention to its own audience, some of whom are passionate enough to write reviews for free. Here’s what the company is selling:

• Reco, which debuted last year, lets Tripadvisor play matchmaker between travelers and travel agents for $199 per trip. Wanna go to the Bahamas, but aren’t sure where the best spot for snorkeling is? The agent will book it for you and take 25% of the fee.
• Tripadvisor Plus officially rolled out last week. It’s a subscription service for $99/year that unlocks deals, like a cheaper hotel room or upgrade. Tripadvisor claims it’ll save people, on average, $350 per stay, but we can’t confirm. The company has even said it might partner with a credit card company to offer Plus to its members. 

The thinking goes, if a traveler is willing to pay up front for a subscription, they’ll be incentivized to visit Tripadvisor + check deals over and over and over again.

“We believe we have this huge audience of high intent travelers; we have a trusted brand...how do we start to create that entrepreneurial muscle from the inside out?” Lindsay Nelson, Tripadvisor’s chief experience and brand officer, told Marketing Brew.

But travel is an infrequent experience, even as we’re coming out of a pandemic. Other subscription services like Spotify or Netflix get used almost daily, justifying the ~$9 a month, only a little more than Tripadvisor’s Plus subscription.

“For a travel subscription to work, it will need to be able to demonstrate a compelling price advantage for something that a traveler can see themselves using regularly, or give access to a unique service/product/perks that they can’t get anywhere else,” Alice Jong, director of research at Phocuswright, a travel marketing consulting company, told us.

Jong said “the pandemic certainly made the entire travel process more complicated, where hand-holding from a travel professional to navigate the new environment became more enticing than before,” meaning services like Reco could hold some appeal. But whether they’re willing to pay $200 “remains to be seen.”—RB

Click here to read about how Tripadvisor used the pandemic to test its new offerings.—RB

SPORTS

Does market size matter?

Save for a season spent in a bubble, in recent years, advertisers have been lucky to bank on an NBA Finals featuring either LeBron James or a team chasing a dynasty—or both.

Now, with the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers knocked out of contention, the remaining teams—Atlanta, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (no, not the Lakers)—are bringing smaller audiences to the league’s finish line. 

• Conference semifinal viewership was down 16% compared to 2019, according to Nielsen data cited by Sportico.

This got us thinking: Does market size even matter anymore? Is a Milwaukee vs. Phoenix championship really that big a deal if you're a broadcaster working with the NBA?

Kind of. First of all, math. “The [ratings] ceiling is lower for smaller market teams just because of fewer avid fan households tuning in,” Matt Balvanz, SVP of analytics and innovation at the sports marketing consulting firm NVGT, told Marketing Brew.

Plus, market size is a hedge against a drop-off, should a game become a blowout and viewers tune out, explained Will Mao, VP of global media rights at Octagon, a sports marketing agency. “Market size still matters to NBA sponsors and ad buyers during the NBA Playoffs and Finals,” he told us.

1+: Ratings are still the gold standard for evaluating media rights and advertising inventory. Bigger markets give advertisers more confidence in their buys, especially in the earlier rounds of the playoffs before a championship, Mao told us.

But, but, but: With the growth of social media and international fanbases (Milwaukee’s star player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, is Greek), ratings are less important than they were a decade ago, Balvanz said. To this effect, the NBA has publicly touted partnerships with Reddit, Snap, and Twitter to drive up engagement.

Click here to learn why ratings are losing out to engagement + why advertisers still shell out $$ for championship ads despite fewer viewers.—RB

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Personalization is touted as one of the core tenets of cross-channel marketing, and for good reason. As a B2C marketer, your goal is to establish a one on one connection with your audience throughout the lifecycle. To get there, you must understand the foundation of personalization, broken down into three levels. Like on the pyramid up there!

And there’s no better way to understand personalization than with this guide from Iterable. From creating dynamic content based on user data to learning how top brands are building individualized recs, Iterable’s personalization guide has you covered.

Acquiring all this knowledge will have a serious impact on your bottom line: 

• 91% of consumers are willing to buy from brands that offer relevant recs 
• 83% will share their data in return for a more personalized experience
• 72% say they only engage with personalized messages

Grab your copy of the guide here.

REPORTS

The return to work through Rosie colored glasses

“People still worked. In fact, they worked harder. Innovation, creativity, and collaboration still happened. Actually it happened more. And we did it all through trauma.” 

So says the latest report from We Are Rosie, a company that connects freelance marketing talent with brands and agencies on an as-needed basis. It’s the second annual “Rosie Report,” an analysis of its 7,000+ freelancers, a survey of 423 anonymous marketers, and more. 

The survey in question found that, after the world’s largest WFH experiment, marketers aren’t ready to go back to the Before Times™. 

• 63% are planning a big job or career change this year. 
• 100% want the option to work remotely.
• And 40% said they now require flexible hours. 

So, uh: What does that mean for our jobs going forward? Does what workers want really matter to enormous organizations?

WFH 4EVR

We Are Rosie founder and CEO Stephanie Nadi Olson and Head of Product and Strategy Jessie Kernan say yes. 

“Now we finally have some data to show just how prevalent this refusal to go back to the old way is, and how the balance of power between employer and employee is certainly shifting as we emerge into the new workforce,” Olson told Marketing Brew.

• The pair said agencies in particular will be forced to adapt. We Are Rosie works with about 40 ad agencies, and Olson told Marketing Brew those agencies have more open headcount than they've ever had before as a result of these issues. 
• “We have two agencies with over 400 open roles right now,” Olson said. 

Bottom line: “The employee servant era is coming to an end,” Kernan told us.—PB

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Google kicked the can on cookies. Chrome won’t get rid of the third-party tracker until 2023.
• United Nations calls for a ban on pot advertising. We’re sure Snoop Dogg’s international lobbyists are hard at work.
• A gun safety organization conned a former NRA president into starring in a gun-control PSA.
• New York City’s $30 million tourism campaign is out, and we’d definitely hang these posters in our (meager) apartments.
• Canada Goose is officially done with fur, after years of negative publicity from activists.
• Open AP and Xandr are setting aside their rivalry to work on targeted audience buying.

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FRENCH PRESS

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren't those.

TikTok: Here’s an explainer on the TikTok algorithm, in case you felt like it was too late to ask how it works. 

Analytics: ICYMI, Facebook will sunset its Analytics tool on June 30. This piece explains why you shouldn’t panic just yet.

SEO: Because we really all work for Google when it comes down to it, check out these eight tips for page one ranking.  

Data crash: Bad data practices have led to consumer data being harvested by third parties, eroding consumer trust and triggering chaos in digital advertising. Learn how to prepare for the great privacy reset at Permutive’s global summit on July 14. Register for free here.*

METRICS AND MEDIA

Stat: 35 of Marriott’s 36 Midtown Manhattan hotels are open, and booking at about 70% of 2019’s levels, per The New York Times.

Quote: “The Harlem Globetrotters are looking for a long overdue seat at the table...it’s time the NBA recognized our contribution to the game. With the league already considering an expansion, the time has come.”—Harlem Globetrotters EVP and GM Jeff Munn.

Read: You might have missed it earlier this month, but Digiday’s Kate Kaye wrote a fantastic piece about how ad tech companies are gaming Google’s FLoC.

ICYMI

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Inside Recess’s first in-person marketing event since the pandemic
• The Supreme Court sides with student athletes over NCAA
• TikTok unveils Jumps—mini apps that creators (and brands) can add to videos