In this short keynote, Ashish Arya, from Pinterest, guided us through how brands can inspire the return to travel.
He started his talk by explaining the three things he would cover during his talk: why social media needs positivity, why delivering inspiration matters and how the travel industry is ready for a comeback.
He started his talk by explaining the three things he would cover during his talk: why social media needs positivity, why delivering inspiration matters and how the travel industry is ready for a comeback.
In this short keynote, Ashish Arya, from Pinterest, guided us through how brands can inspire the return to travel.
He started his talk by explaining the three things he would cover during his talk: why social media needs positivity, why delivering inspiration matters and how the travel industry is ready for a comeback.
Ashish introduced this first topic by explaining that 2020 was the year that 'doom-scrolling' entered our cultural vocabulary. He indicated that we're addicted to this behaviour, but despite this, we crave for something different: people want to feel positive.
This search for positivity has increased online searches for positivity to spike. Pinterest's research shows that positivity drives impact at every stage of the purchase funnel, thus this is a trend marketers need to be aware of, as 6 in 10 adults have expressed that when seeing a product in a positive online space they are more likely to purchase it.
This shows us that in the post-pandemic world, context mattered more than ever, with most adults agreeing that it's a brand's responsibility to advertise in safe, positives places and avoid negative content.
Pinterest's mission is to bring everyone the inspiration to create a life they love. Ashish explained that positivity starts with policy. For example, Pinterest has always had a zero tolerance policy towards harmful content. Their most significant content policy decision throughout the years have been:
Pinterest's goal was to help brands to learn how consumers were changing in real time, so they could adjust their marketing and messaging accordingly. People's search for inspiration increased, people started re-planning for the future and people looked for inspiration to return to travel.
Ashish started by commenting on some of the emerging trends. Pinterest's statistics show that in 2020 people used the platform for Escapism and Optimism as a way to travel while being home. In result, this growth has evolved into pent up demand in 2021 for people wanting to travel. He highlighted that influencers are the new travel agents for Millennials and Generation Z. Travellers are open to new brands, which means there is a lower rate of loyalty. Furthermore, the reason for people to travel has also changed, with people seeking trips for passion. Lastly, the searches show a surge in looking for travel suggestions, people want to be inspired.
Ashish suggested that brands should reach out to open minded travellers, as a larger (undecided) travel audience is seeking suggestions. He added that brands should personalise on passions, reacher wider and more specific audiences.
1. Influence the booking. Show up where they plan their trip - not when they post about it.
2. Undecided travel audience. People are more open to new travel ideas than ever before.
3. Next destinations. As Pinners plan for the future, Pinterest have visibility into the next, to-trend, destinations.
As the Global Head of Strategy & Marketing for Travel at Pinterest, Ashish is responsible for building, growing & managing the travel business.
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