Variety returns in-person for its annual Entertainment & Technology Summit, presented by City National Bank. This one-day event will explore advancing technology’s impact on TV, film, gaming, music, digital media and consumer brands.
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00:00Who besties? I am in Hawaii.
00:10I just made it to one of the new Seven Wonders of the World in Petra, Georgia.
00:13We had an absolutely crazy idea.
00:18Because you need that vacation.
00:20I've traveled all around the world.
00:22On a mission to find the best and most unique hotels.
00:24And this is what it's like to stay in this private spa and sauna hotel in Kyoto.
00:27New York.
00:28Hawaii.
00:28Liverpool.
00:29Jordan.
00:29Los Angeles.
00:30Bali.
00:30And Japan.
00:38Expedia just announced their travel shop.
00:40All of my hotel recommendations in one place.
00:42Unique bucket list experiences that I will never forget.
00:44Your ultimate guide to unforgettable getaways.
00:47Handpicked by yours truly.
00:49Ready to share with all of you.
00:54All right, thank you.
00:56So, Lori, tell us about what we just saw.
00:59What are Expedia travel shops?
01:01Yeah, well, first of all, hi, everybody.
01:03This is a blast from the past.
01:05Because I've spent a long time in the entertainment industry.
01:09And moved over to Brands.
01:10So, it's super fun to be back here.
01:13If you guys don't already, pull out your phones.
01:17And you guys should all be following Shop With Caroline.
01:20And I will tell you, a lot of people like myself,
01:26I'm highly influenced by what I see.
01:29I don't even go to the store anymore.
01:31I don't know about you guys.
01:32But I don't even go to the store anymore.
01:33I literally follow influencers.
01:36And that's how I buy stuff.
01:38So, what we found at Expedia is basically 80% of people are inspired on social media to book their travel.
01:48You're searching on social media.
01:50And you're like, oh, that looks really cool.
01:52How do we book it?
01:53Well, at Expedia, we basically came up with a storefront.
01:57And created a place where creators can share their content.
02:01And then basically you, as a consumer, can book it right away.
02:05And so, that's what Travel Shops is.
02:07It's a way that you can find it both on our app.
02:10But also through the creators and the influencers and the brands that we work with.
02:16By the way, Breaking News Variety also has a Travel Shop.
02:20So, you should...
02:21This just launched in the last week or so.
02:23Yeah, we just launched this last week.
02:25So, it's really fun.
02:26If you're going to New York, you can go look and find your favorite creators.
02:31And figure out the best hotels to stay at.
02:33So, it's really just taking out the planning part of it.
02:38And making it as easy as possible.
02:41So, Caroline, tell us how you got into this business.
02:45And how you hooked up with Expedia.
02:47What to expect from the Travel Shops.
02:51Absolutely.
02:51Thank you, everyone, for being here.
02:53I'm really excited.
02:53Because getting to work with Lori and Expedia.
02:57As an influencer, as somebody that you're on every single day sharing your life.
03:01And what I have realized in the last eight years, showing the good, the bad, and the ugly,
03:06is that's how you really build connection.
03:08That's how you really build friendship.
03:10That's how you build community.
03:11And that's how they trust you, right?
03:13They're watching your life.
03:14And when they start seeing you on vacation, I have to say, it is the greatest engagement.
03:19It is the greatest, you know, when you see the momentum.
03:21People are so excited to see what you're experiencing.
03:24Because they're not reading a review.
03:26They're actually experiencing it with you.
03:27And they actually get to see the good, and the bad, and the ugly.
03:30And I think that's what's incredible about using influencers.
03:33Is that you're seeing the real experience.
03:36And I think when you're at home, especially a mom, you know, you're with your kids.
03:40And I think we're all looking for a little escape.
03:43We're all looking for a little fun.
03:45And a little family time.
03:47And I think what Expedia has created in this travel shop, what's incredible, is those little
03:52things that we do, we actually can make it super easy for this incredible community,
03:57all these incredible women and moms, to get that break.
03:59It's not, there's no thinking to it.
04:01You can just press a button, and you know when you're guaranteed an incredible getaway.
04:07That's what I love about it.
04:07Yes.
04:08I mean, honestly, 70% of people trust influencer recommendations.
04:14Like, so, you know, that's a big reason why we did it.
04:20And you were being coy, but like, she, I'm a big fan, and I follow her stuff.
04:26And so, I said to my team, we have to work with her.
04:30I can tell you, Donna over there too, like, I can tell you, all our friends, they are influenced,
04:38and they follow.
04:38And it's like, you're seeing her on a trip.
04:40I want to book that trip.
04:42Why not, you know?
04:43And what's incredible about that is that they are interacting with you, right?
04:45You're in real time interacting about what's going on.
04:48I have definitely told bad experiences.
04:50I've also told the best of experiences.
04:52But again, it creates this, it takes away the middleman, and you're actually able to experience something great.
05:00It gives that valued exchange between you and the customers, and you and your followers, but it's also between me and Expedia.
05:06Because this is a business for us at the end of the day, and we are sharing it with everyone.
05:11So, it really is a win-win for Expedia, for our followers, and for us as a business.
05:16So, Lori, just walk me through quickly on, you know, how does this compare with how you've done, you know, talent marketing previously?
05:24And why is this the way forward for you guys?
05:27Yeah.
05:27So, I would say probably we've made a major investment over the past two years in both the social media space and our influencer marketing.
05:39And part of the reason why is most consumers are actually getting their stuff on social media.
05:46You're just following the eyeballs.
05:47And that's for us as a brand.
05:50We want to go where the consumers are.
05:53If they're on social media, if they're flying through Heathrow Airport or going through Penn Station, we are finding our consumers wherever they are, and the travelers wherever they are.
06:03And we have seen most people are scrolling through social media.
06:08And so, it's just been such an amazing opportunity to be able to capture that.
06:13And it has been a big investment.
06:15I mean, for us, we don't necessarily do, like, huge, big, macro, celeb campaigns.
06:25We have seen that people like micro, mid, influencers tend to traffic.
06:31That being said, we do do a lot of partnerships with football teams, for travel shops.
06:36We also launched it with the captain of the Liverpool football team.
06:42So, like, we do.
06:44But we actually feel like, you know, real people, this is how they're consuming their stuff.
06:50So, why not be where they are?
06:52I want to just add to that because it is about looking at real people and somebody that you relate to, right?
06:57Because as, you know, our followers, our community, I hate using the word follower, but our communities, you know, you build this relationship where they feel like they know you.
07:05They feel like they like what you like.
07:06So, there is this community and a friendship that they're getting to experience something that you're experiencing, too.
07:13And I just think it's really cool.
07:14It's real people doing real things, not just a celebrity doing something on this crazy vacation.
07:19You're seeing a real mom with her kids or on a romantic vacation or on a girl's trip at a normal hotel, maybe in your hometown, just for an overnight.
07:27But it's incredible, too.
07:29And I think that sells.
07:30Yeah, but it is entertainment, too.
07:31I mean, you are a real person.
07:33You're a real mom.
07:34But you've been to these fabulous places that Cabo San Lucas and Italy.
07:40And I was looking at your French Polynesia, Ashford Castle in Ireland.
07:45She's fancy.
07:46Costa Rica.
07:47You know what it is?
07:47It's not even fancy.
07:48It's that we have, my parents taught us that travel was the greatest form of spending your money.
07:54They told us it was never a waste of money.
07:56It makes you a more interesting person.
07:58And you learn so much through other cultures and other people.
08:01So we actually grew up always traveling, and that's where we honestly spend our money, especially for our kids.
08:07Again, greatest lesson, greatest money spent is in travel.
08:10So we do.
08:11We like to go to good places.
08:12I mean, travel is universal.
08:16Every single person, if you, anybody in this room, they want to go travel.
08:21Like, travel is a universal thing.
08:24And I think what we've seen through our data is people are looking for experiences now, right?
08:30Like, people, when they go and travel, they're not necessarily like, hey, I want to go to Vancouver.
08:37It's like, we've seen these trends with set jetting, for example, which is people are going to travel to find, to follow their favorite shows or movies, you know?
08:50Like, for me, I want to go to the Emily in Paris and go visit all the places that she's going.
08:56Or, like, other experiences that people are doing is they're also traveling to go see Taylor Swift somewhere or Beyonce or, you know, some sort of an event.
09:07So, like, travel now has become about memories and making experiences and finding that.
09:14And it's the idea, you know, so you're working with about 100 influencers right now?
09:19Yeah.
09:19So the initial launch of Travel Shops, which, by the way, we just launched a week ago.
09:24So it's okay if you haven't found it yet.
09:26But I know everybody afterwards will go and find it.
09:30But we launched it with 100 creators, some brands, and some talent.
09:36It's invitation only right now.
09:39We are going to open it up.
09:41And everybody could become a travel entrepreneur.
09:43You know, everybody, like I said, travels universal.
09:46Everybody likes to travel.
09:47If you're posting something on your trip, why not go and make a travel shop and have your friends follow and book it?
09:54Like, anybody can do it.
09:56So that is how we're scaling it in 25.
09:59But right now, it's invitation only.
10:01So are you looking, what are the KPIs?
10:03Are you looking at just overall engagement or are you looking at transactions, I mean, at this stage?
10:11To be honest with you, it's everything.
10:14We are basically looking at the full funnel.
10:17So it's a lot of brand awareness that you're getting on the top of the funnel.
10:21But it's also about the traffic.
10:23And then, quite frankly, the end game is also about conversion.
10:27And we look at the scale being when we open it up that everybody can do it.
10:31Like, I know that you're very active on Amazon, for example.
10:34Like, that's the idea is that anybody can do it, right?
10:38And you can open it up and that's where you sort of create scale.
10:40But what we're looking at right now is we have a bunch of KPIs and it really crosses the full funnel.
10:46Okay.
10:47You were going to say something, Caroline?
10:49No, I was just saying about, no, go ahead.
10:51I was going to say something about the future and what I see.
10:53Yeah, go ahead.
10:53Which is just incredible because when you talk about this and you were saying about community
10:57and that people now travel for experiences and for memories.
11:01And I know for me what I'm really excited about, I think as creators and you start building this community,
11:06you actually want to meet your community.
11:08You want to give back.
11:09You want to show them that you care as much as they care about you.
11:12So I know we get asked a lot about retreats, about weekend getaways, girls trips, you know, a one night, you know, one day at a hotel.
11:20And we're really hoping that Expedia makes something like that possible for women to be able to build that community,
11:26be able to come together, get a break, have some fun, or even it is just family time.
11:31Again, a great memory, supporting each other, having a good time.
11:35So I think Expedia is going to be just incredible for just women and families in general to start being able to build all these memories.
11:42And Laurie, this is an extension of the overall marketing for Expedia, right?
11:45Like this is not in lieu of TV or digital ad setting.
11:50No, I mean, we're a huge brand and we have three flagship brands.
11:55If you don't know, it's Expedia, it's Hotels.com, and it's Vrbo.
11:59We have very 360 marketing campaigns.
12:02We do a lot of traditional marketing.
12:05But quite frankly, we're also looking to do different things.
12:08This is just one element.
12:09Like we're working with Netflix.
12:11As a global company, we were like their first advertiser.
12:14So we're also looking for ways to market differently because we know that people are consuming things differently.
12:20But in this type of, you know, it's using, I mean, for lack of a better word, entertainment.
12:25It's storytelling.
12:27Watching, you know, Caroline's travel experiences and being there, you know, virtually there with you.
12:33I mean, that is a powerful way to get people motivated to do business with you.
12:41I mean, the short answer is social media, right?
12:44People are watching more.
12:45Instead of TV, I think people are watching their phones and they are watching.
12:48We are the movie.
12:49We are the reality show some of the time.
12:51Yeah, I mean, it just goes back to what I said is like 70% of people trust influencer recommendation,
12:57trust their favorite creator recommendation.
13:00It's just how people are consuming stuff.
13:02I mean, literally, if I ask you guys to raise your hands,
13:05I'm sure that's how most of the people in this room consume their stuff.
13:08And we talked about, you know, how something like White Lotus inspires people to book a trip where,
13:15you know, but this is a different dynamic, do you think?
13:20I mean, again, it's kind of like we're looking at everything.
13:24It's one part of it, but like we can also, which we do, by the way,
13:30send influencers on different Emily in Paris trips or White Lotus trips,
13:37you know, so we have seen the data and we are a data company.
13:42We're a tech company.
13:43We have seen the data that people are wanting to travel because they want those same experiences.
13:49So you can do it based off that and just relate it or you can,
13:55you know, we work to like we did a whole White Lotus thing where we do trend spotting
14:01and one of the things that we saw two years ago was this trend in set jetting
14:05and you know, we wanted people to experience it because it's one thing seeing it on TV,
14:10but it's another thing when other people real people experience it.
14:13So where where do you want to go in where should I personally I'm going to just say it African Safari.
14:26I mean, I just think it's it is I just I just think there's incredible cultures to see incredible places to travel people to meet.
14:35So to me, I think we make dreams happen at a guy's Africa.
14:39You get an African trip.
14:41You get an African trip tune in next year for Carolina.
14:48You want to go Todd?
14:50I want to go to New Zealand.
14:51Okay, let's all go use Expedia.
14:55Let's all go.
14:56We're out of our time.
14:57Thank you, Caroline.
14:58Thank you, Lori.
14:59And thank you so much.
15:01Good to check.
15:05You