The World Series has just begun, and already we're talking about its football equivalent, the Super Bowl. Or at least HomeAway™ is. In late October, the company announced that it will air its first-ever national TV commercial during CBS's broadcast of the big game on February 7, 2010.
HomeAway did not mention the price of the spot, but industry estimates put the cost for a 30-second ad at $3.01 million. Pricey, perhaps. But then again, the Super Bowl television audience is estimated to be around 90 to 100 million people worldwide.
From the company's press release:
Our loyal travelers already know they can get a whole house for half the cost of a hotel room when they rent vacation homes through sites like HomeAway.com and VRBO.com. However, consumer awareness of vacation rentals is still low, even though it’s one of the fastest growing segments of online travel,” says Brian Sharples, founder and chief executive officer of HomeAway. “We’re going to use the Super Bowl broadcast to launch an exciting campaign highlighting the benefits of vacation rentals to reach more than 100 million people. HomeAway is working with its agency of record, Publicis in the West, to develop and produce the ads and related online marketing promotions. The HomeAway Super Bowl ad kicks off the beginning of the company’s first national broad reach marketing effort. This spring HomeAway worked with Publicis to test advertising creative in select markets in preparation for the 2010 campaign. The campaign launched at the Super Bowl will extend through next year. |
We would argue that while it makes perfect sense for a well-known brand, like Budweiser, to buy spots on the Super Bowl, we're not sure this is the right venue for educating people about the vacation-rental lodging option. In 30 seconds. For $3 million.
Still, this is a most welcome development. If nothing else, a HomeAway Super Bowl ad says, "We're here. We're players in this space. Indeed, we're the major player. And we're committed to promoting vacation rentals."
The real significance, however, is the year-long advertising and marketing campaign that this ad will kick off. Finally, HomeAway is using some portion of the huge amounts of money it has raised to raise something else: public awareness.
Assuming the company's efforts are successful, and we hope they are, we can foresee at least two developments:
- The first is an increase in inquiries from first-time VR guests, who will need help in understanding how VRs work and how they differ from hotels and resorts. Just last week we quoted our price to a guy who wrote back, "Is this like a full-service resort where everything is included? Or are there extra charges." We gently explained the VR concept in our reply.
- The second potential effect of a successful HomeAway campaign will in evitably be increased competition for those of us who are already "in the space." More second-home owners will say, "Hey, I want to get in on this." In fact, if you think about it, increasing the number of advertisers has to be HomeAway's main goal. Spreading the word about the VR-lodging option may result in more rentals, which will help retain advertisers. But HomeAway doesn't make any money from increased rentals. (At least not yet.) The only way it makes any money is to add advertisers.
The bottom line is that, with increased competition, if you're good now, you're going to have to be better. You're going to have to do even more to truly stand out. Then again, a rising tide raises all boats. Greater public awareness of vacation rentals simply has to be a good thing.
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