Booking.com’s Big Social Video Success

Booking.com has been trying to capture January/February travel interest for years, but this year’s approach saw the brand really take off on YouTube.

Tubular Labs data spots how Booking.com was the No. 1 brand on the platform by unique viewers (155.5 million), while also tallying nearly 130 million minutes watched in January – up 70% month-over-month.

Booking.com’s approach to content was simple: Blitzing YouTube with a single ad that (briefly) featuring Miss Piggy to drum up intrigue around getting ahead of travel plans. And unlike most ads, the spot also created a ton of engagement: Over 68K on YouTube alone, which was one of its most engaging videos of the last three years.

Compared to last year, it’s an enormous increase despite the brand not appearing during the Super Bowl this time around (it did last year with the Muppets). Booking.com’s U.S. minutes watched on YouTube grew by nearly 10x year-over-year in January, while domestic unique viewers soared by nearly 8x.