Hotels.com has recruited NBA stars Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokic for its new “Hotel like a pro” campaign in an effort to promote travel through the lens of NBA players.
Along with Jokic and Butler, NBA players Peyton Watson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. also make appearances in the "Hotel like a Pro" campaign, highlighting their own "hotel hacks," according to the release.
In the release details, Expedia Group’s senior vice president of global marketing, Michele Rousseau, said that this campaign was rooted in the insight that being on the road for over 40 games and 40,000 miles every season makes NBA players quite the hotel experts.
The campaign, which kicks off on Christmas Day, has a number of advertisements promoting Hotels.com's One Key rewards program, which went live in the United States in July, as well as a shopping tool inside its mobile app designed to assist travelers in comparing and selecting hotels. In one scene, "Pony Friendly," Jokić teams up with Watson to find pet-friendly hotels, fusing his passion for ponies with hotel research.
The "Hotel like a Pro" campaign not only highlights the distinctive characteristics of travel, but it also signifies the ongoing collaboration between Hotel.com and the NBA, which has been the company's official travel partner for years. This action comes after the booking platform's other innovative marketing strategies from this year, such as a partnership with English director Edgar Wright for a commercial that also highlighted its mobile app.
The most recent ad from Hotels.com comes as consumers, despite inflationary challenges, indicate a desire for in-person experiences, such as travel, that were postponed during the peak of COVID-19. The U.S. Travel Association reports that as of September, travel expenditures were up 3.5% year over year.
