3 Social Good Marketing Lessons from the Travel Company’s New “Find Yours” Video
As part of its “Find Yours” campaign, Expedia.com this week introduced a video, titled “Find Your Understanding,” that follows a father’s journey, both literal and figurative, as he deals with conflicting emotions relative to his lesbian daughter’s same-sex marriage. This emotional and beautifully-constructed video leaves us with three valuable lessons for cause marketers and social good aficionados.
Story Telling: Composed of real footage taken, this video effectively tells a story of a father’s emotional journey. In this case, the journey was undertaken by Artie Goldstein, a retired business owner and father to Jill Sloane Goldstein. Nikki Weiss, Jill’s girlfriend, “startled” Nikki’s father one afternoon when she asked for permission to marry his daughter. Artie had a dream for his daughter that included a traditional marriage and grandkids. The central premise of his story is the realization that he had to choose whether or not he would maintain a relationship with his daughter.
Making It Relatable: The video’s ability to creatively tell a story, leads to its second valuable (and potentially viral) attribute: it’s relatable. In a previous post, we talk about the importance of pulling from universal moments and truths to transcend borders, socio-economic backgrounds and generations. But how do you do that with a topic like Same-Sex Marriage where the majority of viewers probably have never attended a gay wedding? You pull from what’s relatable. In this case, that’s a parent’s relationship with their child and the often challenges and road-bumps that test this loving bond.
Shared Value: Aside from presenting this father’s journey, it also allows Expedia to showcase its shared value in investing in LGBT issues. The 
company has been a long-standing supporter of gay travel and features an LGBT travel store offering 1,400 IGLTA certified hotels. Furthermore (and even more timely), Expedia recently made a statement in support of the marriage equality legislation on this year’s ballot in Washington State, where the company is headquartered.
Have you seen this video? “Find Your Understanding” can be found at http://www.expedia.com/findyours. It is one video in a series of stories by Expedia to demonstrate that every trip is unique; that travel is very personal. What do you think?
The entire campaign, including the television commercial, was designed with ad agency 180LA, and features traveler-generated content.
