Unilever ups its creator spend to 50% of its media budget

It is sometimes good to look outside of travel to see what the future for travel might look like.

Earlier this year new Unilever CEO Fernando Fernandez, announced “the FMCG giant intends to spend 50% of its media budget on social channels and will increase influencer marketing investment twentyfold.”

The article explains “Fernandez believes that traditional corporate messaging no longer works. Consumers are skeptical of brand-driven narratives, and Unilever’s massive investment in creators isn’t just about shifting ad dollars — it’s about building an integrated machine for “content creation” and advocacy.”

Don’t make the mistake of thinking travel is somehow different in the eyes of the consumer. Unilever owns some of the most recognisable and trusted brands in FMCG.

I fully expect travel to follow an identical path here. Here is how I think it will unfold: Travel marketers will likewise move more of their media and marketing budgets over to creators but expect one subtle but game-changing addition. Instead of talking about “social media budgets” which is meaningless internal speak, expect to see some big early movers talking about this money as “creator funds”.

This terminology is already well understood by the creator community via these types of funds from platforms like YouTube and TikTok. I fully expect some forward leaning brands to co-opt this language and give themselves the first pick of the creator crop.

This subtle shift will act like a siren song and have the best coming to those brands, rather than having to prospect for them. First movers will be the winners here.

In the article Scott Sutton, CEO at Later explains, “The most successful brands don’t just repurpose creator content, they build systems around it.” We’ve built Videreo as an integrated travel specific platform to manage the entire process of working with creators at scale.

Think of Videreo as your creator fund partner. Videreo is your turn-key solution for building this integrated machine for “content creation” and advocacy.” in travel. It is the place to measure creator performance and optimise your creator fund towards your KPI’s.

We are ready to roll with the first movers.

Videreo is the place for brands and creators to meet & create a new sales pipeline together.

Contact Adrian or myself for more details on how to get ahead of the curve when it comes to creator driven sales and marketing.

This content is provided by the newsletter sponsor Videreo.com

Accenture reports staggering AI usage numbers

Accenture this week dropped a report that was well covered by many outlets.

Phocuswire highlighted these incredible stats: “Approximately 80% of respondents across airlines, hotel stays and travel platforms are using generative AI tools, while 93% of active generative AI users have or would employ it to support their purchasing decisions.”

Active users are defined as “people using gen AI tools at least weekly for personal and/or professional reasons,” and here are some other killer snippets you might need to consider for your own strategic planning:

• 42% of respondents said they would switch to a brand that could proactively provide solutions to improve their experience while planning

• 78% are already using a trusted AI-powered shopping assistant

• 81% of travelers want immersive experiences during the research and discovery phase

• 86% of travelers want to shape their own experiences &

• 93% of active generative AI users, the ability to do so (shape their own experiences) was cited as important to their personal connection with a brand.

Of course, shaping your own experiences in a text is one thing. Making that happen on the ground and tying it all back to that single transaction is an entirely different thing.

Apple moves into digital ID’s acceptable for US domestic travel

Apple’s developer conference is ongoing this week. Unfortunately for them it is a heavy news week in the wider world and so the coverage is getting drowned out a bit.

For travel specifically, there hasn’t really been a lot to talk about except for the implementation of digital ID’s that will interact with boarding passes in the Apple Wallet. In this report’s own words “iOS users will be able to create digital identifications with their passports, which can then be used at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints for domestic travel.”

It is due to be rolled out in the next iOS update (iOS 26) is released.

Digital ID’s are also heavily connected to how many believe AI agents will interact in commercial situations, by sourcing updated personal information that is held on device to inform how the AI might approach a particular task it is given. In travel this might be preference information (eg: high floor, view important), which loyalty cards are also in the same wallet and how they might be leveraged and pretty much anything else the human wants to share in there.

The Accenture report referenced in the previous story also told us that “79% want a brand that “makes them feel special” by remembering them personally” & “Brands that provide these emotionally engaging experiences also saw higher engagement, with travelers also more willing to accept a higher price from them.”

So, important to stay up to date with how this will all hang together!

AI tools now considered essential by young travellers

Samsung NZ this week released a report that was covered by CFOTech where it was reported “tools such as real-time translation and AI assistants for itinerary preparation are now considered essential by young travellers.”

Ollie Brown, Consumer Insights Analyst at Samsung New Zealand, noted, "It is interesting to see how phones are being used more like personal assistants for travel planning and travelling.”

31% of respondents said they would be comfortable letting AI plan elements of their holiday, and 43% reported spending between one and five hours on their smartphone researching their next trip.

Those trip research numbers sound VERY low to me.

AI powered cars change everything in travel

We hear this statement a lot in the Slack group where our chief poster, Alex Bainbridge keeps us well updated on this “fact”.

It was nice therefore to see some independent reinforcements come along this week telling the same story.

The Travel & Tour World article told us “self-driving, AI-powered vehicles are not just innovations—they’re revolutionizing how Americans travel. What used to require long hours of concentration and navigation now happens effortlessly through artificial intelligence.” & “Self-driving, AI-powered vehicles are not just innovations—they’re revolutionizing how Americans travel. What used to require long hours of concentration and navigation now happens effortlessly through artificial intelligence.”

The bit I love most about this rapidly approaching future world is he accessibility aspect. “For elderly travelers or those with disabilities, driverless vehicles create newfound independence. No more needing a designated driver. Just set your destination and go.”

Travel Advisors embrace AI for content creation

An interesting piece from the American Marketing Group about how travel advisors have embraced the AI Connect platform by Toby product for some of their core marketing needs.

“All exclusive supplier offers are sent directly to AI Connect. Advisors can then use that information to prompt the AI to build content like blog posts, social media captions and landing pages, all within AI Connect.”

I’m not sure why they couldn’t just have built a custom GPT for the same purpose but potentially the integration of the offers is the core piece? Or maybe it just the simplicity of having to go to one place.

Chief marketing officer Nicole Mazza said "Marketing that has taken them hours to produce, they can do in less than 20 minutes. If you're really quick, you can do it in less than five. It's that easy to use in these tools."

I love seeing AI live in the wild saving time, especially on (essential) jobs people didn’t like doing.

If you think someone (or everyone) you know or work with could grow from being more informed on the topic of ai + travel (or could use the training above) then please forward this email to them and they can click the button below:

Marketplace Spotlight: Satisfi Labs

The Satisfi Labs team is heading to the Windy City for U.S. Travel Association's IPW 2025 in Chicago!

They’re thrilled to join this premier international travel trade show, where innovation meets global travel partnerships.

Be sure to catch up with our team on-site, as Dan Flores, Kayla Fineran, Stephanie (Rocco) Horner, Danny Monckton and Don Jones will be showcasing how our conversational experience platform is transforming the visitor experience landscape at Booth 2123!

If you have a B2B business underpinned by AI and looking for people to notice you, you can sign up to the marketplace for peanuts (top right corner, 5 mins, bring your logo).

I’ve priced for bootstrapped startups but also accepting larger companies too.

Expedia is downsizing its in-house agency

An interesting story in Ad Age about Expedia downsizing its internal marketing agency. “A spokeswoman for the company, which owns Hotels.com, Travelocity, Vrbo and Trivago as well as its own namesake brand, confirmed the move on Thursday.”

Is this a consequence of AI?

“To drive greater creative agility and better serve our business and travelers, we are evolving our creative model,” Expedia said in a statement. “This will streamline and accelerate the creative development process, ensuring we produce relevant, high-quality content that meets the needs of our audiences and upholds our brand standards.”

Ad Age suggested “The reduction comes as in-house agencies struggle under new pressures, including the need to prove return-on-investment and invest in AI tools.”

Slack Group!

Shorts

Every week a lot of stuff is left on the cutting room floor. I thought maybe I’ll just lest those here for anyone interested in digging more:

• How agencies use AI for travel, new business, award entries

• Charting the future of AI-powered, sustainable travel

Podcasts and Sponsors

Podcasts now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts:

New podcasts are now showing up on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for your easy listening pleasure!

This week we caught up with Michael J Goldrich as he prepared for his AI inspired keynote at HITEC and had a great chat about AI + Hotels + Marketing.

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Most clicked last week was the link to Microsoft’s demo of their conversational booking helper.

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