testTag: 2022 trends

Sail Away – Summer Travel is Back and So is Traveler Data

Posted on July 5, 2022 by - Trends

Whether you are taking a short vacation to the cabin or shipping off with the whole family off to a Hawaiian beach, this summer is already proving to be explosive in terms of increased travel. Do you ever wonder how much data plays into travel marketing? We do, but of course we do, we’re an audience solutions and data science company. Travel marketing is set to accelerate by 36% in 2022. Travel ad spend is set to grow at six times the normal rate of other industry advertising spend, with more growth expected in key markets such as the UK, US, and Germany.

In the past two years, travel and traveler data have changed dramatically across the globe. The ways people are engaging with the world around them are shifting too, leading to exciting new ways to look at the habits and intentions of citizens everywhere. 43% of travelers claim they enjoy experiences more than things. That’s incredible! It comes as no surprise that over the last few years of on-and-off lockdowns, people are looking forward to reinvigorating their lives with new, exciting moments. What is equally interesting is that those who are traveling have others’ – and the planet’s – well-being in mind as well, with 72% of people who travel believing in “sustainable traveling methods.”

Shifting Trends

These shifts in traveler sensibilities can lead marketers to hedge solid bets on focusing campaigns on digital and physical customer experiences. Using traveler data to create and deliver informed consumer-centric activities will help travelers feel as though they are living their lives to the fullest. In addition, it creates an emotional connection between travel aficionados and travel marketers. Travelers have a moment in time that they can tie back to their experiences with your brand that, in return, makes each consumer feel like they are the center of the marketing strategy itself. This physical-to-digital throughline has prompted a major shift to digital ad spend. Travel brands alone have increased their digital advertising spend from 63% in 2020 to 70% in 2023, driven by the rise of travel apps and digital concierge services.

At the end of the day, before the journey begins, travel data is one of the richest areas within which marketers can work. It’s filled with opportunities and exciting new territory. From resurging budgets to a heavier focus on consumer experience, there has never been a better time to get to know your customer. Summer travel is near pre-pandemic levels, and most travelers plan to spend at least as much as they did on their 2019 vacations. Summer travel in 2022 will be shaped by the continuing surge of remote work, interest in private rentals, excitement and relaxing of flight, and the expectation of flexibility.

Outlook 2022: A Year of Rethinking, Not Simply Predicting

Posted on January 26, 2022 by - Trends

“We live in a rapidly changing world where we need to spend as much time rethinking as we do thinking.”  – Adam Grant, Organizational psychologist at Wharton, #1 NYT Bestselling Author of THINK AGAIN

Never, in the span of most of our lifetimes, has this concept of rethinking held so much meaning.  Our Perfect Storm of Pandemic + Political Unrest + Educational Crisis is not simply a call-to-arms to embrace Resilience.  Rather, it’s a defining moment when the Winners will be those who rethink past assumptions and reimagine the future.

What does any of this have to do with Adtech in 2022?  Isn’t it enough to take the position of an Innovator, offering the best, newest, most exclusive solutions?  If we build it, will they come?

Within the digital marketing industry, we see no shortage of brilliant, thought-leading predictions, innovations, and new-to-the-world offerings.  A few weeks into this new year, we spotlight three defining forecasts:

Adweek Outlook 2022

Adweek Outlook 2022, featuring our Chief Data Scientist, Melinda Han Williams, offers a series of recent livecasts, capturing every angle of the adtech ecosystem.  Click here to watch Melinda’s presentation, sharing how marketers can engage with consumers on their terms, in a privacy-first digital landscape.

GroupM Forecast

This time last year, we were fortunate to have GroupM’s Global President of Business Intelligence, Brian Wieser, join Dstillery’s Chief Data Scientist, Melinda Han Williams, and our CEO, Michael Beebe, forecasting this past year’s trends.  His latest report looks ahead with predictions for the coming year.

Web Summit 2022 Marketing Trends Report

This November in Lisbon, at “Europe’s biggest tech conference” (Reuters), “The giants of the web assemble” (Wall St. Journal). Check out the Dstillery reference on p. 9, under “A world without Cookies” here.

With each of these, and so many others, the unique challenges that our world, our industry and our future brings have a common denominator: They’ve forced us to rethink our previous assumptions, to take nothing for Granted, and to view predicting [the future] as less Crystal Ball, more Science. All of which works to our advantage, since Science, and specifically Data Science, is at the heart of everything we do.