/ / / / / /

Kayak Launches Massive Old-Fashioned Ad Blitz

November 2, 2009 at 1:54 PM | by | Comments (0)

You'd think the recession would have catapulted price comparison engine Kayak.com into universal traveler awareness. The company's internal figures, though, tell a different story. Less than 1/3 of the more than 100 million Americans who use travel booking sites know about Kayak. Even less are able to differentiate Kayak from similar-on-first-look but significantly different competitors like Expedia. In a move that's bound to raise eyebrows in the travel industry and among travel advertisers, the company is shifting their resources into a massive offline ad campaign.

The new ad blitz was launched over the weekend and is set to blanket primetime cable through 2010. CNN, ESPN, and MSNBC have all been selected as venues, presumably on numbers promising that most coveted of travel industry demographics: 25-44 year olds with disposable income. Forbes.com has a full writeup on the campaign, including a description of one of the "witty 30 second spots":

In a new TV commercial... an old man packs a suitcase. "I'm returning to where it all happened," he says soberly. As though he's referring to a former war site, he says, "We stormed that beach like it was already ours, and after the first shot, it was all a blur." Behind him, on the type of schedule and boarding sign seen at busy train stations, a word and a price appear: Cancun for $139.

Kayak is also launching an online push to go along with their offline efforts, albeit one that's an order of magnitude less ambitious than their commercials. About $1 million per month will be put aside for digital ads, targeted at specific audiences with the help of the company's massive database of consumer habits. The overall campaign is Kayak's first play of this size, joining competitors like Travelocity that have been on the airwaves forever.

The huge investment in offline commercials will be seen as a rebuke of the trendy conventional wisdom that "digital advertising is the latest trend." Apparently weird considerations like "how many people will actually see or use this" still hold some sway in some travel company boardrooms. Now if we could only do something about those travel company Facebook apps.

Related Stories:
· Kayak.Com Tries To Build Awareness In Tough Times For Travel [Forbes.com]
· Travel Advertising Coverage [Jaunted]
· Kayak Coverage [Jaunted]

Comments (0)

Post a Comment

Return to » Kayak Launches Massive Old-Fashioned Ad Blitz

Join the conversation!

Not a member? .
Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy (Revised 08/01/2011). © Condé Nast Digital. All rights reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast Digital.
Ad Choices