Orbitz uses Invoke Solutions to concept test an award-winning advertising campaign

Because prices are similar among online travel agencies, Orbitz saw an opportunity to distinguish itself on an emotional level and create a distinct and memorable brand personality.  It developed an integrated marketing campaign with three objectives: differentiate from competitors, resonate with consumers and spark conversation.

In order to assess these three objectives, Orbitz needed a research method that was flexible enough to gather detailed feedback from consumers, with the ability to probe deeper when necessary.

Orbitz came to Invoke in the early stages of concept testing to evaluate three potential creative campaigns. During two online Large Scale Focus Group™ sessions, 142 travelers gave their opinions on a number of key measures for each campaign.

After analyzing the data, Invoke was able to identify the Declaration of Vacation campaign as a clear frontrunner. It received the most positive feedback and participants saw the message to take vacations back and abandon the “staycation” as clear, relevant, fun, inspiring and unique. This creative concept later became the storyline for the award winning on-air advertisement.

The “Take Vacation Back” advertising campaign earned a Gold Medal in the ‘Retail & E-Tail’ category at The Advertising Research Foundation’s Re:think 2013 conference

In pre-test, the winning ad boasted an 8% increase in Top Box scores for Relevance and Branding, as well as a 5% increase in Uniqueness and Enjoyment.  In-market, the campaign yielded 11MM PR impressions in print and online, including coverage in the New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, and AdWeek.  Facebook effectiveness also spiked – yielding 2.2MM+ impressions and nearly 92K referrals back to Orbitz.com.  And, its YouTube view counts exceeded all previous commercial performance over a 2-week window.

Despite having the lowest advertising spend among the top online travel agencies in 2012, Orbitz generated an awareness level 50% higher than the category norm (36% vs 23%).  Invoke is thrilled to be given the opportunity to help Orbitz select and optimize a campaign that has generated such a significant ROI.