Accor is banking on sports superstar Kylian Mbappé, to help solve an expensive problem: too many guests booking through online travel agencies instead of directly.
The Paris hotel group launched a campaign featuring Real Madrid’s forward on 12 June to promote the ALL loyalty program. It now boasts more than one hundred million members.
Brand awareness is not the goal. It’s more about convincing customers to avoid online travel agencies that charge 15% to 25% commissions.
While Mbappé’s ads never explicitly mention companies like Expedia or Booking.com, the film highlights the hotel group’s loyalty program. Accor is using data to identify and retarget online travel agency users with ads like the one with Mbappé to encourage more direct bookings.
Customers who have used alternative means