Vrbo and Expedia Dominate Online Travel TV Advertising in the U.S. So Far in 2021
Skift Take
Sister brands Vrbo and Expedia are being opportunistic in getting relatively aggressive about U.S. TV advertising early in 2021 when rival brands are standing down. You can debate whether it is smart or risky given the pandemic backdrop.
In the first three weeks of 2021, vacation rental brand Vrbo and sister company Expedia.com have dominated U.S. TV advertising among online travel agencies with a common message about the allures of vacation "togetherness."
Costamar Travel, with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, came in a distant third with a Spanish language TV ad, "Ofertas de Locura," which roughly translates to "Crazy Deals."
Travel websites spent an estimated $9.9 million on U.S. national TV advertising in more than 4,700 airings in the first 20 days of 2021, according to statistics from TV analytics firm iSpot.tv. That represents an 81 percent plunge in estimated spending and a 79 percent decline in airings compared with January 1-20, 2020, when Covid-19 was little-known except for in China.
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