Hotelscom Enlists NBA All-Stars to Promote Their Mobile App and Loyalty Program

Article Brief:

Hotels.com has enlisted the help of NBA athletes Nikola Jokić and Jimmy Butler for their latest initiative, "Hotel like a Pro." This campaign aims to showcase the travel experiences of NBA players who are frequently on the move, as stated in a press release.

The campaign will debut during the highly anticipated Christmas Day games and will feature 10-, 15-, and 30-second commercials that will be shown throughout the season in the U.S. and Canada. The advertisements will highlight Hotels.com's mobile app and One Key rewards program.

Furthermore, the campaign will feature branding and promotional elements at arenas nationwide, as well as integrations in the NBA2K video game. This marks Hotels.com's fourth season as the Official Travel Partner of the NBA.

Article Insight:

Hotels.com is showcasing its travel benefits by featuring NBA players as the “ultimate road warriors,” given their extensive traveling and hotel stays during the basketball season. The "Hotel like a Pro" campaign also features NBA players Peyton Watson and Jaime Jaquez Jr., who share their personal "hotel hacks," according to the release.

Expedia Group’s senior vice president of global marketing, Michele Rousseau, stated that this campaign is based on the insight that NBA players, who travel over 40 games and 40,000 miles every season, have become experts in hotels. The campaign, set to premiere on Christmas Day, features a series of ads promoting Hotels.com’s One Key rewards program and a shopping tool in the mobile app for travelers to compare and choose hotels. In one ad, titled "Pony Friendly," Jokić and Watson collaborate to find pet-friendly hotels, combining Jokić's love for horses with hotel scouting.

In a different advertisement, Butler, who launched a coffee shop selling $20-a-cup coffee during the 2020 NBA Restart in Orlando, according to the press release, teaches Jaquez how to appreciate coffee - a reference to the way travelers can compare hotels within the Hotels.com app. In a third ad, Jokić uses the One Key loyalty program to plan a trip back home. The advertisements were filmed at the Roosevelt Hotel and Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The "Hotel like a Pro" campaign not only highlights the unique aspects of traveling but also signifies Hotel.com's ongoing partnership with the NBA as its Official Travel Partner. This move is part of the booking platform's creative marketing efforts this year, which also included collaborating with English filmmaker Edgar Wright for a campaign that showcased its mobile app.

The latest campaign from Hotels.com comes at a time when consumers are expressing a desire for in-person experiences, such as travel, that were put on hold during the peak of COVID-19, despite inflationary pressures. According to the U.S. Travel Association, travel spending has increased by 3.5% year-to-date as of September. Alongside Hotels.com's recent marketing endeavors, parent company Expedia has also been working to generate more interest in travel, including incorporating ChatGPT into its mobile app, joining the trend of utilizing generative artificial intelligence.