Travel Vida Campaign

Design Objective

The objective of this proposed design is to create a set of three social media ads for Travel Vida, an online travel service. The ads will be shared as an Instagram post, Facebook post, and animated Instagram story. They should include relevant images, logo icons for app stores, the company logo, and the website URL.

Summary and Themes

Travel Vida offers authentic travel experiences that partner clients with local hosts and fellow travelers. Housing is offered by local residents who help travelers immerse themselves in the culture. The company also offers a service that connects travelers with each other and helps coordinate dining, touring, and adjacent activities. Potential clients can book their services on the app or website.

Research

The travel services market on social media can be very casual and friendly in tone. Kayak’s uniquely laidback and humorous content makes it one of the more memorable competitors to Travel Vida. One of Kayak’s recent posts is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid filled in by an out of office window (1). Airbnb’s Instagram posts are less humorous but they highlight the beauty and uniqueness of some of their host locations through stunning photographs. One such space is Casa Hezbo in Mexico (2). Expedia also uses gorgeous landscape photography in their posts, occasionally combining it with bold font. One of Expedia’s posts from May uses white font and their logo over a slightly darkened landscape picture. It presents summer travel trends and data in the rest of the carousel (3). This post is both visually appealing and helpful to audiences. On Facebook, it seems that posts are mostly surveys (like Expedia’s polls) or promotional (like Trip Advisor’s destination recommendations) (4).

Audience

Travel Vida’s target audience is between 18 and 38 years old, made up of both men and women, largely single. College attendees or graduates are a large part of this target demographic. The average household income is $57,000 and 30% have travelled outside their country before. This audience is eager to learn more about new cultures. They may be scouting for places to live post-graduation, to intern in, and/or to continue their education. It is unlikely that they have family at the destination, since it would likely be cheaper to stay with them.

Color

Since Travel Vida has its own logo and branding, I would like to stay within that palette. This will help improve brand recognition and lend authenticity to the ads. To include more contrast and variation, the design could use whites or some lighter shades of yellow to highlight the black font around the logo.

Imagery

To follow some of the conventions of the industry on social media, I would like to feature some pictures of the hosts and/or their houses. Since Travel Vida is new and aims to promote “different perspectives,” I would also like to promote destinations that are off the beaten path, and maybe highlight how much cheaper those trips would be. The relatively low cost and unique experience would likely draw in the target audience. This could consist of side-by-side images of a popular destination and its average cost, next to the Travel Vida destination and its cost. It could also portray how the service brings people together in homey settings, like maybe featuring a set of suitcases by a small house door.

Typography

The typography should follow the sans serif font of the Travel Vida brand. I would like to occasionally pair this with a serif font just to highlight a word or phrase for headlines, like how Expedia does with destination names on Facebook (5).