Entertainment and advertising merge as travel brands partner with YouTube celebs
It used to be that we felt a little creeped out by product placement in TV and movies. But now, some hotels and tour companies have merged advertising and entertainment completely. By partnering with YouTube stars, travel companies are creating video content intended to entertain while it advertises.
This is smart on the part of hotels and tour companies: According to a recent study Google conducted with Ipsos MediaCT, two out of three people in the U.S. watch travel videos as part of the decision making process in planning a trip. It's also a risk: success of the ad campaign depends, to some degree, on creating a video so entertaining that viewers will choose to watch it. (Though some of the videos do play as traditional advertisements, too).
That is, instead of disrupting your online experience, advertisements can now be your online experience. Here are some of the travel companies currently trying to advertise by partnering with YouTube stars:
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1. Marriott & Grace Helbig: There are many reasons to book directly through your hotel, from price matching to additional discounts to better service. To drive this point home, Marriott teamed up with comedy network Above Average to produce a series of #itpaystobookdirect videos starring comedian and YouTube star Grace Helbig.
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2. Marriott & Taryn Southern: Marriott's Moxy brand recently partnered with Taryn Southern, who uses her channel for antics such as talking about penis tattoos and sucking on helium and singing. In her project with Moxy, titled Do Not Disturb, she interviews famous people about work and travel, truth-or-dare-style, in a Moxy room outfitted as a slumber party.
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3. Best Western & AAA & travel vloggers: With more than 4,000 locations, most of which are directly off the freeway, Best Western is popular with travelers on road trips — or travelers who are #RoadTrippin, as the brand's latest hashtag campaign, in partnership with AAA, suggests. Best Western and AAA have enlisted YouTubers including Stuart Edge, Hey Nadine, Teresa Strasser, The Day Tripper and Wander the Map to help hype road trip possibilities that involve staying at Best Westerns.
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4. California & Jennifer McAllister & Jack Baran: Visit California is collaborating with the AwesomenessTV Network and YouTube stars Jennifer McAllister and Jack Baran for a series called First Times with Jenn & Jack. The duo will be traveling throughout the Golden State in a "bougie RV" having a number of experiences — as the title suggests — for the first time, from skydiving to working on a farm. The goal is to make California look appealing, but in order to work, it will have to be as fun to hate-watch as a reality show.
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5. Contiki, a travel tour company for the 18-35 crowd, is no stranger to YouTube vlogger partnerships. In fact, it's actually in its fourth year of the "Roadtrip" campaign, where popular travel YouTubers explore a destination to craft script-free content with challenges like food-eating contests and scavenger hunts, in order to upload content to their Contiki YouTube channel. This year's Roadtrip traverses Southeast Asia with 10 YouTubers.
Are these partnerships smart ways to woo the younger generation of travelers, or harbingers of an eerie meld between advertising and entertainment?
Jessica Festa is the founder on the solo and offbeat travel blog, Jessie on a Journey, and the online responsible tourism and culture magazine, Epicure & Culture. She's constantly searching for local experiences beyond the guidebook. You can follow her travels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.