Programmatic allows global brands to manage media strategy and execution from one central resource. One central resource that can reveal insights from billions of consumer touchpoints in one market and use them as a shortcut to success in many others.

For Expedia with its 16 different brands across the world, programmatic meant that it no longer needed to silo the market-specific data owned by each brand.

It could liberate the insights held by each brand on its consumers to improve the whole group’s performance.

If Expedia could use one global programmatic technology solution to connect the wealth of data that each brand and market generated, then the cross-market insights into its online consumer’s behaviour could create one aligned global media strategy that constantly evolved as new data delivered new insights.

Through its global programmatic technology solution, Expedia could manage the planning, execution and analysis of all activity through one central platform. Every single global data touchpoint could be fed into it.

Suddenly, Expedia could take a bird’s eye view of all activity. And with one person in Expedia managing all global programmatic activity, it could be fully responsive to what data revealed.

With the technology doing the heavy lifting, Expedia was able to roll out a global strategy within 6 months. Using a cookie cutter approach, the learnings from the initial markets of UK, Netherlands and Germany, were used to launch the US, rest of Europe, South America and APAC - whilst still taking a localised approach to data and inventory insight.

Local consumer insights can now have a global impact. Expedia tests in specific markets, and if successful, can apply changes to its global media strategy immediately.

Expedia now has one evolving digital media strategy, informed by data, across five key travel brands, (Expedia, AirAsiaGo, ebookers, Wotif and Travelocity) executed in 25 markets, including UK, US, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Its has aligned its media strategy with its business goals of using technology, global expansion and channel penetration to and grow and take market share

In the space of a year, Expedia has launched in 25 markets whilst achieving an ROI 25% higher than target.

This justified a 300% growth in budget in a year, as global insights have fed performance.