HomeAway is planning such an extensive social media and online advertising campaign surrounding its 30-second TV spot during the Super Bowl Feb. 6 that the in-game commercial may almost seem anticlimactic.
After all in December, HomeAway began the build-up toward its second consecutive Super Bowl ad when it published a video about the Ministry of Detourism making its plans to save family vacations from those evil hotels.
The Super Bowl ad itself will revolve around the same themes, as unveiled a couple of months ago. Here is the ad, which will air during the game:
Leveraging social media to the max, HomeAway also will enable consumers to upload a headshot to "smush" their faces against the glass of a hotel room simulator in an extended version of the commercial here. Users have three options of displaying their faces in the video and they will be able to spread the message -- and their mug shots -- through email, Facebook and Twitter.
Vacation rental owners need not feel slighted.
Owners who list their properties on HomeAway.com and sister sites VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com, are eligible to get their few seconds of fame, as well. Owners can insert their properties in a customizable version of the commercial, creating a virtual tour replete with Google Maps, property photos and, of course, the Minister of Detourism himself.
HomeAway will put its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube presences into overdrive, updating them with new content about the campaign.
The vacation rental giant also will unleash a digital marketing campaign, with online advertising appearing on travel-focused and general-interest websites.
And there will be updates of video content on HomeAway's Detourism page, all of which will disparage hotels and paint vacation rentals as heaven on earth.
HomeAway declines to divulge how much it is spending on the campaign, which was developed by Vendor Inc. of Austin, Texas.
The 30-second commercials in Sunday's faceoff between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers are said to be airing for $2.6 to $2.8 million each, down from 2010's $3 million average.
But, the commercial itself is just the beginning of HomeAway's ongoing social media and digital marketing campaign.