Should agents have a share of the TV ad spotlight with supplier partners?

But with that return comes a question: where should those brands which are investing so heavily to be seen during the ad break of Gogglebox be driving their potential customers?

Despite the confidence that TV advertising implies, travel brands across the board still face significant challenges as they balance the ongoing economic instability at home and geo-political conflict and climate change abroad, with the need to secure bookings as cost efficiently as possible. In their endframe call to action (CTA), do they drive viewers or listeners direct to their owned channels – be that online or a call centre – or to agency partners? Or both?

And what are the varying advantages to the different CTAs – for the brand and its partners alike?

A booking taken via a direct channel usually represents a lower cost of distribution and sale to the brand and gives it with a wealth data which it can use for subsequent retargeting. Sounds good, right?

But according to Abta’s 2023 Travel Trends report, consumers are now nearly 40% more likely to book with an agent than they were before the pandemic, and there is plenty of evidence that the sector is thriving – particularly for customers wanting to book the kind of complex itineraries which online travel still can’t do reliably.

The single call to action 

Agent bookings have also been proven, via upsell and good service, to be able to command a higher average booking value, and be a catalyst for repeat bookings, than those made via their upstart digital cousin. 

So why do so many supplier brands feature a single direct CTA in marketing materials, bypassing a potentially lucrative – and long lasting – agency partner?