VRBO’s TikTok Challenge, Yay or Nay?
Look at me
Here I am
Right where I belong
I see that face coming back to me
Like an old familiar song
What better place could anyone be?
Cause you’re here with me — reading, oh I mean humming, this song by Kermit the Frog from The Muppets Take Manhattan.
This iconic song was brought back to life after 38 years by Expedia Group’s VRBO in their latest campaign at this year’s Super Bowl. The pregame ad entitled “A Place For Together,” shows large groups of parents and cousins, single parents and kids, long-time couples, old friends, golf buddies, karaoke groups, and other circles of people who genuinely need or enjoy each other’s company.
Through this campaign VRBO wants viewers to think of fat happy family moments, relive pleasant memories with loved ones, pine for those times, and recapture the magic with unforgettable trips in its new user competition. The commercial ends with the message binding this emotion to vacations and family:
“Vacation homes for you and whoever you call family”
TikTok Challenge
This is VRBO’s first official TikTok challenge and a natural extension of its A Place for Together campaign spotlights diverse definitions of family — multigenerational clans, childhood gangs, and inseparable friends sowing new memories together on vacation.
Running through February 19, participants would post a TikTok video/mashup of themselves with the people that they love. Productions must, of course, be set to include the song “Right Where I Belong” using the hashtag #AVrboforTogether. The participants with the best entries would be sent on $5,000 VRBO vacations.
Actor Ewan McGregor, well-known for his world travel in addition to acting, is a sponsor of this campaign and also uploaded his version of it on TikTok.
In my Opinion:
VRBO’s commercial wants to show several things:
1. VRBO is for family travel,
2. VRBO has an inclusive definition of the word as one family,
3. Places rented on VRBO are large, entire houses, that can host large families and groups of friends
This campaign was a perfect example of how the brand chooses to display its values through social media. Although the challenge had a positive message, a great idea, and also a rewarding win, it had a low engagement rate.
Why Low Engagement?
TikTok had approximately 78.7 million users in the United States, it is one of the fastest-growing social media apps in the United States and especially popular with younger digital audiences — Around 37.3 million of these users belong to Generation Z but just 10% of 45–64-year-olds felt the same. Around 20% of all adults had a very unfavorable view of TikTok.
Since the target audience of VRBO isn’t GenZ but adults with families and children, it does not make TikTok the most favorable social media for the campaign explaining its low engagement rate. Tell us what you think about the #AVrboforTogether TikTok Challenge in the comments!
