The broadcaster’s Lucy Crotty and Glenn Gowen explain how travel brands of all sizes can enhance their marketing activity
ITV unveiled exclusive research at the Future of Travel Conference as it launched a new partnership with Travel Weekly. The broadcaster’s Lucy Crotty and Glenn Gowen explain the background to the project and how travel brands of all sizes can enhance their marketing activity
How did the research come about and why is the travel sector of interest to ITV?
Gowen and Crotty: We conduct a huge amount of programme research and what was clear is that our viewers love travel programmes. Our programmes provide viewers with not only entertainment and discovery, but also pure escapism in a world of gloom and doom.
In many ways we are in the travel industry ourselves, offering viewers a chance to learn about other cultures with Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road Adventure, dazzling them with epic locations in Martin Clunes: Islands of the Pacific or driving local tourism in the phenomenon that was Broadchurch. These are all reasons why we jumped at the chance of partnering with Travel Weekly.
What areas did the research cover and how was it carried out?
Gowen and Crotty: Working with our strategic research partners System1 and Researchbods, we used a mixed methodology including online focus groups, in-depth consumer interviews and our biggest-ever category-based quantitative survey among mainstream audiences recruited from the ITV Village, our community of viewers. We also tapped into System1’s validated methodology to explore creative effectiveness in the travel category.
What were the main areas of focus?
We focused on three key objectives for the research:
● Understand current motivations, attitudes and behaviours towards travel and holidays.
● Quantify motivations, attitudes, and behaviours towards holidays among mainstream audiences to understand key holiday drivers this year and beyond.
● Explore the key ingredients of creative effectiveness within the travel category with the aim of unpicking the predictors of short and long-term success.
What were the main findings?
Gowen: We believe the results from the research provide lots of rich insight for travel brands. However, the key take-outs from our perspective are focused around three areas.
First, mainstream audiences are looking for travel brands to be honest and transparent regarding costs and the entire booking process, and to be a supportive partner who can help them navigate their trip with confidence. Travel brands can create real value for consumers by focusing on the simple things.
Second, mainstream audiences are looking to brands to enable them to make better travel choices. However, many found it difficult to say with certainty which travel brands are sustainable. There is a real opportunity for travel brands to own this growing space.
Last of all, travel category communications have brilliant, engaging emotional appeal but there is a huge area of potential for communications to work harder by being more distinctive, and we have identified three wins for long‑term success.
How do travel companies compare with other sectors?
Gowen: What was interesting about the findings was how comparable they were to other categories, particularly around planning ahead – 64% of respondents claimed they will plan holidays more thoroughly to get better deals, with more than half stating that they will plan holidays further in advance. We are seeing similar results in the build-up to Christmas as consumers are putting more thought and time into the gifts they buy this year.
Crotty: In terms of creative effectiveness, we can see that travel drives a fantastic emotional response in TV advertising with an average of 3.1 (out of 5) compared with categories such as cars at 2.5. We can make an educated guess that this response would also be high in other communications channels due to the feelgood nature of the category. There is an opportunity to improve effectiveness around increasing the use of distinctive brand assets in communications to drive better brand recognition.
Are the findings only relevant to companies that have big advertising budgets?
Gowen: We believe the results from the research are applicable to all travel brands regardless of their advertising budget.
Crotty: Most definitely not when it comes to creative effectiveness. There are principles that are relevant to all communications channels, from above to below the line.
How can companies of all sizes practically implement the findings to improve their cut-through?
Crotty: In a recessionary and inflation-busting market, it can be tempting to communicate a rush to the bottom line. That might work in the short term but it doesn’t pay off for long-term growth. This research will hopefully arm brands with how to communicate value in ways beyond price point.
How can travel companies find out more?
Gowen: We shared some of the key learnings for Future of Travel delegates but there is lots more rich insight to share. It is free to access as we work with Travel Weekly to support the industry, and can be found here.
ITV unveils £500k fund to aid travel recovery
In addition to the research, ITV also revealed an exclusive Backing Business Fund to support the travel industry’s return to growth.
The matched-funding initiative will see ITV give new and lapsed travel brands of all sizes access to an exclusive ring-fenced fund of £500,000 on a first-come, first-served basis if they meet qualifying criteria.
The fund was announced at the conference by ITV business development director Jason Spencer, who said: “We’re committed to helping travel businesses of all shapes and sizes to grow. Right now, it’s even more crucial that businesses are able to test and invest with confidence. This fund is based on like-for-like value, whereby for every pound a brand invests, ITV will match it.
“What’s more, we are also offering creative production support – to help you make your TV ad – at cost. This adds up to experiencing the effectiveness of ITV for your business at a significantly lower cost of entry, enabling you to measure the impact and scale up as a result.”
Lucy Huxley, Travel Weekly Group editor-in-chief, said: “This partnership reflects our desire to help travel firms of all sizes rebound as strongly as possible as the world reopens.
“The travel industry was one of the worst-affected by restrictions imposed during the pandemic, so we are delighted to work alongside ITV to support the sector’s recovery through the Backing Business Fund, exclusive free-to-access consumer research and more invaluable insight.”