Situation

The travel lockdown prevented travelers from exploring the world, and families and friends from being together. As the desire to travel and reunite started to rise, travel anxiety was exceedingly high with 80% of American adults feeling stressed about booking international trips.

Brief

Travelers lack confidence to do what they love most. The challenge was clear: How can Expedia ease traveler anxiety and encourage them to explore the world again?

Objectives

Create a breakthrough campaign that addresses traveler anxiety

Demonstrate Expedia’s commitment to travelers throughout their journey

Generate national, business, travel and lifestyle media coverage

Led by a “can’t believe they did that” promotional item, Expedia produced a fully integrated global campaign where a physical hand drove news, conversation and brand affinity during an anxious time. Expedia Helping Hand was brought to life in diverse and dynamic ways in some of the biggest cities worldwide.

With pervasive travel anxiety, Expedia was presented with a critical dilemma and an opportunity to serve as an empathetic travel companion. With a “we’ve got your back” mindset – we created the Expedia Helping Hand. A hand is a universal symbol of support and gives travelers what they need in their journeys. There was no brand in a better position to reach out to travelers with a reassuring hand than Expedia, a brand upon which millions of people relied for their travel needs.

We identified a beloved ambassador to be the hand of the campaign: Joe Jonas. We printed 550 exact replicas of Joe’s hand and gave them to travelers. The campaign engaged audiences in the US, UK, Canada, Mexico, France and Germany. We also donated $100,000 to Mercy Corps, a humanitarian aid organization, which has been a true helping hand to humans in need worldwide.

The hand was custom developed from start to finish. We began with a 3D scan of Joe’s hand with tracking sensors to configure all surfaces, and sculpted the hand further in collaboration with a 3D artist. We made the hand through stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing of each hand for 227 hours. After each hand was painted and sealed, we applied handcrafted details, such as Joe’s signature, the Expedia logo and the brand’s signature journey line – a reminder of the hand’s role for travelers. A custom mailer kit was created for each hand. The scan-to-ship process took four weeks.

The Expedia Helping Hand campaign featured localized “Helping Hand” elements that included social content with the hand in a supportive role, timelapse assets with the hand, street murals featuring the hand, as well as large-format wild postings and vinyl-wrapped pedicabs that offered free rides to people via Expedia ambassadors.

With the Helping Hand, Expedia was able to ease traveler anxiety and spur excitement in a memorable way. Results indicated the world was embracing and welcoming the opportunity to regain one of our most compromised privileges during lockdown. More than 400 earned media stories were generated across top media outlets, including: CNN, LA Times, USA Today, E! News, The Washington Post, CBS This Morning, Billboard and Travel & Leisure. With nearly 1 billion impressions, the coverage was 44.24% positive and 55.76% neutral (0% negative). The buzz was strong as all 250 hands were immediately claimed on Expedia.com.

Travel content creators shared 70 posts featuring the Helping Hand, resulting in more than 37,000 engagements. With #ExpediaHelpingHand appearing in social media, street murals (one was even celebrated by a mayor in Mexico), as well as wild postings and pedicabs, travelers were reminded that Expedia was committed to travelers throughout their journey.