The Most Wander-ful Time of the Year

I've been working a lot lately with budget-friendly airlines looking to boost their standing in the marketplace. Naturally they're interested in understanding more about the right way to connect with consumers ahead of the holiday and winter break travel seasons.?

So what did I do? I took a look at the data, of course! Specifically I looked at Nativo Inc performance data from Q4 of 2023 to see if there are any potential seasonal dynamics these airlines can lean into. The three standouts to me were:

1. Home & Garden
2. Hobbies
3. Asian Americans

Let's look at each of those a little more in-depth.?

Home is where the heart...er, wallet is

Looking at how Budget Travelers were consuming content this time last year, I found them most likely to engage with Home & Garden related content, which saw 49% higher click-through rates (CTR) and 52% higher time spent than travel campaigns.?

Wait, budget travelers consumed more Home & Harden content, and for longer periods of time, than travel content last year?

Yep. Why? Well, these campaigns were for big ticket home items like mattresses and appliances. It's not a large leap to assume budget conscious traveler are wallet-motivated in other areas as well, especially traditionally more expensive purchases. In this case, people were likely participating in the hoopla leading into Black Friday and holiday shopping, thinking about what big ticket items were on the docket to replace.?

So what's a brand to do about it? Big ticket material purchases and holiday travel are likely viewed as a trade-off for budget-conscious consumers. As a result, brands like Southwest would be wise to:

1. Position themselves as a budget-friendly partner to 'get away' that fits into the other year-end purchases that are top of mind for consumers, rather than threatening to replace or offset them.
2. Reposition travel as an ideal gift - to your spouse, family, friends, or even just to yourself.

What does that look like in practice? Here are some very specific content ideas:

• Long-form editorial content offering practical advice for maximizing the value of your money during the holidays
• A holiday-focused list of the best budget-friendly winter travel destinations
• A testimonial spotlight on Jen and Mike who took their kids on a West Coast excursion to celebrate Hannukah on the beach
• Imagery of families in matching pajamas opening Southwest giftcards on Christmas morning, or wearing ugly sweaters boarding a plane to a warm weather getaway.
• An emotional side-by-side video series showcasing the memory-making appeal of experiences (travel) as gifts compared to the drab monotony of opening yet another pair of socks under the Christmas tree.

The point with all of the above is to tap into what's already top of mind for these consumers, using language that resonates with their concerns. Consumers are already stressed and thinking about finances during the holidays, especially those who are more budget-conscious overall. So rather than being perceived as a forced tradeoff that competes for consumers' money with other holiday necessities, position yourself as a valuable partner that can fit within their budget. Again looking at the data, we can see how amenable budget travelers are to personal finance related content. Specifically, they're 2.6-3.9x more likely to engage with personal finance content, and spend 1.3-2.7x more time with it. They're already consuming that content - the question is if you want to be a part of it or not.

Ho(bbie)s in different area codes

Monopoly was invented during the holiday season back in 1935. In the 90 years since, it's been the site of perhaps millions of family get togethers (and fights, let's be honest). Love it or hate it, everyone has a connection and emotional reaction to it. It's not wonder, then, that we see tremendous engagement with hobbies-related content from budget travelers - CTRs that range from 1.9x-2.7x higher than the average campaign.?

In addition to relaxing, people like to travel for experiences. They pick destinations where they can further explore their interests. Couple that with holidays plans to visit family, and you have a recipe for consumers who are looking for ways to both take a load off and have some fun.

For brands like Spirit Airways, the obvious response would be to go beyond messaging around being the leader in budget travel, and focus instead of bringing families together for the holidays. That's low hanging fruit that they should certainly explore, but I think there's open space here to differentiate by positioning themselves as a trusted, efficient partner to bring consumers to their quirky dream vacation. When I was looking at the data, specific topics that popped were things like birdwatching and jewelry making. From inspiration for brand new content to minor tweaks around imagery and headlines, these are interesting niches that could help Spirit connect on a more personal level.

Multicultural Messaging

Multicultural-specific advertising is expected to increase by 26% over the next few year as more and more brands lean into the important nuances that motivate different consumer groups. Looking at travel campaigns overall last winter, why: there's tremendous opportunity to speak to those audiences in a more tailored, relevant way.

For example, while Asian Americans were 34.1% more likely to convert on travel campaigns, they had a 6% lower CTR, and about an average amount of time on content. That tells me we have an audience that is primed to convert, but likely doesn't feel like the current messaging is reflective of them. Some immediate changes brands could make here:

1. Mix it up - use more diverse images in advertising and content
2. Widen the holiday scope - focus on holidays beyond Christmas, like Diwali and the lead-in to the Lunar New Year
3. Cultural Appeals - integrate key motivators and travel features important to AAPI audiences - things like multi-generational trips, food experiences, cultural experiences, etc.