How Travel Brands Are Approaching TV Advertising Now
While some travel sectors such as airlines have virtually eliminated U.S. national TV advertising because of the coronavirus pandemic, there are some companies that are outliers in that they quickly pivoted their spots, or keep running the routine ads at the risk of brand damage.
ISpot.tv, the U.S. television advertising analytics firm, looked at March national TV advertising in the United States through the 22nd of the month, and found that:
- Airlines were all but absent from U.S. TV as of March 11.
- Online travel agencies including Hotels.com, Trivago, Expedia and Travelocity (all Expedia Group brands), Vuelosymas.com, and all others saw their TV advertising fall 67.5 percent to $17.3 million on 9,000 airings during the period.
- Cruise lines had been on pace for a larger-spending March in 2020 than the same month in 2019, but in the March 15-22 period spent just a little more than $28,000 on TV ads.
- Hotel brands spent $13.6 million on TV ads through March 22, but just $1.9 million in the week ending March 22.
- Theme park U.S. national TV ads fell 42.7 percent to $10.6 million, including only $3.8 million since the National Basketball Association suspended the season March 11.
