Passion Points: Contextual Creative at Scale
• Passion-led, personalized creative design
• Hands-on HTML5 creative build
• Cross-channel & global execution
• Performance tracking & optimization
• Brand alignment & stakeholder collaboration
• Channel's Best Practices
About
Always-on programmatic creative lacked relevance and failed to connect with what travelers actually cared about. The opportunity was to make ads feel personal, timely, and contextually aligned with traveler interests, without sacrificing scale.
I led the development of a passion-led contextual creative framework, translating audience insight and keyword data into scalable HTML5 executions. By connecting traveler passions to relevant destinations and benefits, the work significantly lifted engagement, conversion, and brand impact across channels.
Problem
Always-on programmatic creatives lacked relevance, limiting engagement and performance. Ads needed to feel more personal and contextually aligned with traveler interests to capture attention and drive action.
Strategy
Use research and audience insight to shift from generic messaging to passion-led, contextual creative.
By leveraging Google audience data and keyword analysis, we identified traveler interests and affinities and used them as creative hooks — connecting what people care about to the right travel product.
Execution
- Developed a Passion Points framework (i.e.: sports fans, food lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, luxury travelers)
- Built scalable HTML5 banners structured to:
- Hook with traveler interest
- Showcase relevant hotels or vacation rentals
- Close with a benefit-led message (member prices, discounts, rewards)
- Designed simple, clean, high-impact creative optimized for attention
- Continuously tested and optimized imagery, copy, and passion signals
- Expanded the approach from programmatic to Meta and YouTube
Results
- +37% CTR, +33% CVR, +97% VTR vs always-on creatives
- 2.1x increase in brand favorability
- Recognized as a high-impact creative innovation and scaled across channels
Impact
- Proved contextual relevance drives stronger engagement and conversion
- Established a repeatable, insight-driven framework for personalized creative at scale
Previous Contextual Foundations
Before launching the Passion Points test, Vrbo had already explored contextual creative frameworks designed to connect traveler interests with the right vacation homes. These earlier campaigns helped validate the role of relevance, emotion, and interest-led hooks, and directly informed the evolution of the Passion Points approach.
'AKA' Concept - Passion-Led Programmatic Creative (As Known As)
A Vrbo vacation home is so much more than just bricks and mortar. It's a place where passions are rutiled and memories are made.
Using on the 1st frame a property related to the passion point element as a hook to attract the traveller to look at Vrbo ads following by a passion point image that connects with the property on the 1st frame.
Passion Points:
1 - Fitness & Health
2 - Outdoor & Green Living
3 - Luxury
4 - Bargain
'Happy Place' Concept - Passion-Led Programmatic Creative
Emotive, commands the audience to do the things they love. Gets you thinking about what that means to you. Appeals to our desire to make ourselves and families happy.
Using as a 1st frame a passion point element as a hook to attract the traveller to look at Vrbo ads following by a nice property related somehow with the passion point for the property/product showcase element with a zoom out effect focusing on the space/location around the property.
Passion Points:
1 - Fitness & Health
2 - Luxury
3 - Outdoor & Green Living
4 - Value Shopper
