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8 interesting things we learned from TripAdvisor’s recent brand strategy update

  Posted in Metasearch  Last updated 1/12/2023

TripAdvisor recently released its statement on the first quarter of 2017, detailing its results, growth, and development in the hotel segment.

The metasearch giant continues to work on becoming a one-stop shop for travellers and will once again push budget towards television advertising after failing to do so in 2016.

Here are 8 things we learned from the statement and subsequent news coverage:

1. Hotel shopper revenue returned to growth in Q1
Revenue per shopper lifted 2% in the first quarter of 2017, while total hotel shoppers rose by 9%. TripAdvisor also reached 500 million reviews with average unique monthly users increasing by 14% – indicating a massive influence on travel consumers.

2. A strategy to align product, supply, and marketing accelerates
TripAdvisor soon plans to roll out a brand advertising campaign to build user awareness on its ability to, not only offer research functions, but also assist travellers in finding low prices and booking a hotel.

3. Desktop browsing remains relevant, but phones are growing faster
For the second straight quarter desktop hotel shoppers grew year-on-year, but mobile continues to be the fastest growing segment with mobile revenue growth outperforming mobile hotel shopper growth 35% to 25% year-on-year.

4. There has been a big uplift in listed properties
Travellers can now price compare across more than 800,000, a year-on-year increase of 18%. They have also announced a global instant booking partnership with IHG, completing their deals with many major western hotel brands.

5. All the components of an end-to-end hotel product now exist
With metasearch and instant booking features added over the past few years, and with additional partners and improved merchandising, TripAdvisor is now in a position to launch a streamlined hotel shopping experience – namely a cleaner interface for users.

6. TripAdvisor returns to television advertising

After giving no budget to TV in 2016, TripAdvisor will invest $70-80 million on TV advertising.

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Beginning in the US, before hitting a handful of other markets. As they anticipate 2017 to be a busy year for global campaigns, TV once again becomes part of their marketing mix to amplify and extend their brand message to an audience who already know them.

7. The value proposition of TripAdvisor’s brand is subsequently changing
One of the reasons TV is back in the mix is so TripAdvisor can move away from being known as ‘the brand I trust for reviews’ and towards ‘the place where I can find the lowest price and book the right hotel for me.’ It wants more revenue from the bookings it says are already being influenced on the site.

8. Product redesign unearths a new feature: MyTrips
MyTrips stores the user’s search history in an effort to offer a more personalised service. The idea is that if a traveller is visiting New York for the fifth time they won’t be recommended the Statue of Liberty, but rather something different and off-the-beaten-track.

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By Shine Colcol

Shine is the SEO and Content Manager of SiteMinder, the only software platform that unlocks the full revenue potential of hotels. With 5+ years of experience in content strategy, Shine has produced informational content across various industry topics, mostly about operations management and continuous improvement. She aims to share well-researched articles for hoteliers to discover how to optimize their time and increase room revenue.

 

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