Is AI the End of Travel Marketing as We Know It?

In this episode of Travel Buddy, Rachel Satow and Jessica Steinberg tackle one of the travel industry's hottest topics: the evolving role of AI in travel marketing. Together, they debate whether artificial intelligence is disrupting traditional strategies or simply bringing new opportunities for engagement, personalization, and efficiency. The conversation explores generational differences, the importance of authentic brand storytelling, and why trust remains central—even in an AI-driven world. Tune in for practical insights and candid perspectives that will help marketers and travel professionals navigate this rapidly changing landscape.

Chapters
(00:00) Debating AI’s Impact on Travel Marketing
(01:00) Traditional Channels vs. AI Integration
(05:00) The Importance of Trust and Relationships
(06:00) AI Shifting the Marketing Funnel
(09:00) Conversational Marketing and Humanized AI
(13:00) The Evolving Role of Personalization
(14:00) Opportunities, Threats, and Authenticity
(18:00) Community, Brand Voice, and Dead Internet Theory
(21:00) Practical AI Applications and First-Party Data
(26:00) Leveling the Playing Field for Brands
(30:00) The Indispensable Role of Human Connection
(35:00) Final Reflections on Change, Adaptation, and Balance

Resources
https://www.phocuswire.com/news/technology/travel-marketing-ai-summit-phocuswright-booking-marriott
https://vonmackagency.com/community-driven-travel-marketing/
https://maddenmedia.com/eight-tourism-marketing-predictions-for-2026/
https://travelspike.com/2026-travel-marketing-trends-the-strategic-playbook-for-whats-coming-next/

Connect with Switchfly
Website: https://www.switchfly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/switchfly/
X: https://twitter.com/switchfly
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SwitchflyOfficial

Creators and Guests

Host

Rachel Satow

Senior Marketing Strategist

Guest

Jessica Steinberg

What is Travel Buddy with Switchfly?

See more at Switchfly.com

Welcome to Travel Buddy,
presented by Switchfly.

In this podcast, we talk about all
things travel, rewards, and loyalty.

Let's get to it.

Brandon Giella: We've got lots to talk
about today on the question of, is AI

actually ending travel marketing as we
know it, or is it just reshaping it?

we're talking about this today
because there was a PhocusWire

article that came out to talk about,
they had a summit about how AI is

disrupting or not, travel marketing.

And they had a lot of big influencers
there, and influencers by way of

either leaders at major travel brands.

And everybody was pontificating
about their thoughts, some of

which we disagree with, and we
have lots of thoughts ourselves.

And so we have Rachel Sattaw, as
always, and we have special guest

back again, Jessica Steinberg.

so we are gonna talk about
AI and travel marketing.

Rachel, to me about this.

what are your thoughts on this article?

'Cause I know we were talking
about this before the show.

We got lots of thoughts.

Give it to

Rachel Satow: Yeah.

Yeah.

So, I mean, before, before we hopped
on, we were talking about how there

really were two very distinct opinions
that came out of the Phocuswright

Travel Marketing, AI Summit.

Brandon Giella: summit And

Rachel Satow: one hand, you had
leaders in the industry saying that all

traditional marketing channels are gone.

Fundamentally, we need to accept
that all of our traditional…

Everything we know as marketers is
just out the door because of AI.

Brandon Giella: the

Rachel Satow: And then on the
other side, you have people

Brandon Giella: people

Rachel Satow: leaders who were
saying this hasn't changed

what we're doing fundamentally.

Like, we're incorporating new aspects
into our systems, but we are not,

Brandon Giella: not

Rachel Satow: steering away from
some of the core marketing channels.

Brandon Giella: efforts."

Rachel Satow: and I think,

Brandon Giella: think, you

Rachel Satow: we, we were
talking about this before the…

we started recording.

Brandon Giella: important.

Rachel Satow: lean a little bit more
towards the individuals who are saying

it is starting to be incorporated, but
the traditional marketing channels as

we know it are not fully going away.

In my opinion, they are just
going to evolve, as we've seen

Brandon Giella: evolve as we

Rachel Satow: million other things
evolve as technology advances.

So

Brandon Giella: So

Rachel Satow: I, I…

From that article, we got talking
about how is this really going to

affect travel marketing, and that's
why we wanted Jess to jo- to join.

She has been,

Brandon Giella: been,

Rachel Satow: fundamental from
Switchfly's side in helping our

partners market travel rewards.

Brandon Giella: rewards.

And she and I left talking,

Rachel Satow: were like, "We have to
get-- We have to talk about this," because

Brandon Giella: because

Rachel Satow: both have some very
interesting thoughts on, on, you

know, that there will always be an
audience for, those who are not wanting

The latest and greatest in tech.

And as marketers, we tend to live and
breathe what the most cutting edge

implementation might be, what the, what
the latest tool is that we can use.

How can we make our jobs easier with AI?

How can we I had a former boss
who once said, "If I can do it

in fewer clicks, I'm going to."

Brandon Giella: click."

Rachel Satow: that has always stuck
with me because I think as marketers

we inherently lean that way,

Brandon Giella: way.

Rachel Satow: we need to be reminded
that there is always going to be

an audience who one, doesn't want
to click at all, they don't they

wanna pick up the phone, or two,

Brandon Giella: two,

are

just

Rachel Satow: in learning what is the
latest and greatest that they need those

existing channels to exist to continue to
get the information that they are wanting.

Brandon Giella: there.

Rachel Satow: so that's, that's my
two cents overall on this topic.

Jess,

Brandon Giella: That's

Rachel Satow: think?

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, I think I agree.

I, I think if you were to stop all other
traditional marketing and just focus on

the world of AI, you'd probably be missing

Brandon Giella: saying

Jessica Steinberg: a whole
bunch of your customers.

I think there's an older generation
that will just not pick up AI the

way the younger generation has
and probably will continue to.

So

Brandon Giella: to.

So I

Jessica Steinberg: depending on who your
core customer is, that really matters,

and make, making sure you're juggling all
the balls and adding the AI ball rather

than dropping all of the rest of them

Brandon Giella: of

Jessica Steinberg: is really important.

I do think it's gonna shift how a
few generations search for travel and

think about what they-- how they wanna
travel and where they wanna travel.

Brandon Giella: what they want forever.

Jessica Steinberg: So I think
taking into account that change

is gonna be super important.

but I think it's just changing how
we market and when and where, versus,

you know, dropping all of the other
marketing channels entirely, for sure.

Brandon Giella: Yeah, I
totally agree with you.

I, I would say the other angle I
would, I would get to and that sums

up my thoughts is, and I should
preface to say I love AI tools.

I have all the MCPs connected to all the
things with the GitHub files, and like

I would say I'm, I'm fairly advanced at
it, you know, above average at least.

But marketing and people buying things has
always been about trust and relationships.

And so of course, AI is gonna be
phenomenal at doing certain things,

but it always comes back down to
trust, which means you have to

have great brand, brand awareness.

You have to have great social media.

You have to have great influencer
marketing, if you will, because

it's still built on relationships.

That's why word-of-mark-- word-of-mouth
marketing is still the most

powerful form of marketing that
has ever existed because we've been

doing it for thousands of years.

Happened to me just this morning.

I almost bought this spray to get rid
of my congestion that I put in the

shower because somebody recommended
it to me because they told me a

great story about how it works.

And we love stories, and we love trusting
other people that recommend things to us.

I'll get off my soapbox.

But, I wanna jump on, Jess, what
you were talking about earlier

about like the way people are gonna
be, searching and finding things.

So let's talk about the funnel.

Tell us, what you're experiencing on the
way that the funnel is maybe changing or

what we could be adding to the typical
marketing mix that would get the best

of both worlds so that we don't drop
any of the balls like you're saying.

Awesome.

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, I think a
lot of customers, and I know I can

speak for myself when I say this,
'cause I do this all the time.

I think a lot of that kind of discovery
phase, the where should I go, when should

I go, how should I go, just figuring out
what the trip is gonna look like at the

highest level, I think is now starting
at least for, I think, the younger

generation with Claude, with ChatGPT.

You know, "I wanna go to
a warm place this month.

I have this much time off.

Give me suggestions."

and then I've gone as far as to
have it build an itinerary for me.

"These are the things I like to do."

Brandon Giella: two.

Jessica Steinberg: then by the time
I'm done with, you know, ChatGPT

or whatever AI tool I'm talking to,

to,

I'm now ready, pretty much
ready to book or pretty much

ready to find the best deal.

So it's gonna matter more and
more, that middle to lower funnel

engagement from a brand perspective.

and it's gonna matter even more,
especially from a Switchfly perspective,

that booking flow experience.

If the customer's coming to you
already primed versus, you know,

know,

at the higher level of the
funnel, then you need to be ready.

The booking flow needs to be a good
experience, the messaging needs

to be there, and the product needs
to be what they're looking for.

so I think it's almost like compressing
the funnel for a lot of brands because

by the time the customer gets to you,

you

they're already past the consideration
stage, and they're looking for

the best deal, the best value.

and so making sure that you're there
when that happens I think is gonna

be extra important moving forward.

Brandon Giella: That's great.

Yeah, and that, that brings in, you know,
people have been talking about AEO or

GEO, which is the, the basically, you
know, the SEO equivalent, in the AI space.

And that there can be some things
there that's really helpful, like

the way that you're creating content
or the way that you're building

your marketing infrastructure.

You can get surfaced in these
results, which can be great.

And I know there's, platforms considering
adding ads into that space, which

will further, you know, clarify or,
or the, the kind of traffic that

we wanna see in the middle bottom

funnel

Jessica Steinberg: content
needs to be written on,

Brandon Giella: Hmm

Jessica Steinberg: you
know, trusted brand sites.

It's less about including, you know, one
specific vacation package keyword over

and over, and more about including the
longer form actual question and answer.

So FAQs I think are gonna become huge.

Making sure that you're showing
up when AI does crawl, your site.

And so I actually did a little
exercise before and went on,

Brandon Giella: our front end on the-

Jessica Steinberg: asked it, you know,
"What are the benefits of, of bundling

with this package brand versus booking
the flights and hotels separately?"

And it pulled up that brand's
FAQs from their website.

obviously then you can click through
and read, but if a customer is doing

their research and that's what comes
up first, I think you're winning.

and so again,

Brandon Giella: so again,

Jessica Steinberg: focusing on
those longer form actual questions

that people are typing into AI
versus just vacation packages.

I think that's gonna become a huge focus

Brandon Giella: Or voice too, you
know, the way peop- the natural

language processing is, you know,
what, what we're talking about.

So in, in natural language, how people
are with their voice talking into Claude

or ChatGPT or typing things out is, is
the way to, to be thinking about it.

That's great.

Rachel Satow: S-

Brandon Giella: what are your thoughts?

Rachel Satow: this brings up something.

I was at Loyalty Expo by Loyalty360
last week, and I attended one of the

sessions by Salesforce on conversational
marketing, and especially in how AI

is being applied for conversational
marketing and how this is probably

going to be what we see the most from

Brandon Giella: from

Rachel Satow: marketing
perspective and application of,

like real world application.

And Salesforce actually demoed

Brandon Giella: put

Rachel Satow: a,

Brandon Giella: a chatbot

Rachel Satow: implemented
or they are testing

Brandon Giella: day.

Rachel Satow: back and forth with
you regarding how you can redeem

loyalty points for specific things.

And one of the examples they used
was just type in that you want

to redeem loyalty points for a
specific type of, of vacation.

so Jess, like to, to your example,
you had mentioned that you're using it

for travel planning and, you have this
amount of time off and you want to go to

a warm location that has a beach, etc.

Brandon Giella: which

Rachel Satow: What

Salesforce demoed was a tool that
essentially allowed to, users to turn

that conver- that interaction with AI
into a full conversation rather than

answer output like most
ChatGPT, Claude, etc.,

currently are functioning as.

has,

they are, the, the way they are
implementing AI is allowing that to

turn into a conversation and I think
it goes back to, we Brandon, your point

we point

trust each other

other

more than we trust the internet
and the robots that exist there.

And that shift into conversational
marketing, I think, really showcases that

that

at our core, humans will always
want an interaction that parallels

talking to a close friend while
accessing the knowledge base of AI.

Yes.

And there was a great article by the
Von Mack Agency that goes into this a

little bit more and how, it's, it says,
"It's cu- community that's rewiring

traveling, travel marketing in 2026."

And the first headline in that article
says, "We don't trust the internet

anymore, but we still trust each other."

this to

And I think all of the tools and
applications from a travel marketing

standpoint are going to shift to how
closely we can parallel conversations

between each other and how AI can
power that, in order to make sure, you

for

people are accessing things in, one,
the easiest way possible, but also

in

a more humanized version of AI, which is
kind of a weird concept to think about.

Brandon Giella: think about.

Yes, I, I love that.

I think that's exactly right.

Now, I think people will, not trust
AI in that sense, but they will

have the experience that mimics it.

And so let's say you get 90% of the
way there, that's still-- If you're

90% as effective on, as word-of-mouth
marketing, that's hugely powerful.

I would be all for that.

`Cause imagine you call up your, you
know, your, your major airline, you're

like, "Hey, I wanna book a flight."

have this thing that is talking to
you like a person, and you don't

have to wait on any kind of phone
tree or wait for a representative.

You get it done immediately, and
it's done right the right time.

sounds great.

it doesn't have exactly what makes
up a human relationship, but I

think that's great, you know.

obviously there's, lots of technology
and rules and all that kind of stuff

involved in that kind of thing.

But, but yeah, I, I agree.

I think that's really exciting.

I wanna talk real quick
about personalization.

I was thinking about this w-- you
know, 10 years ago, it was the big

topic was personalization using big
data, you know, data lakes and data

warehouses to go through 10 zillion
rows of contact information, yada yada.

but how do you guys see personalization
now with AI in a marketing

context in the travel industry?

Automatically.

Jessica Steinberg: experience
just by what you put into AI.

but I do think there's, you know,
kind of this level, I think, of

expectation for a lot of the bigger
brands that things just be personalized.

I think at this point, if brands
are not speaking to customers in a

way that makes sense to them about
products that they think they'll be

interested in, they're behind the curve.

I think it's commonplace now, and
again, I- when I interact with a

brand, if they don't already know
something about me, I'm honestly…

I, I end up a little bit disappointed.

so I kind of expect it
going in these days.

Brandon Giella: High bar.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's hard to do 'cause
you gotta match all the technology with

all the content and make sure that that
experience is, is really buttoned up.

But yeah, sadly, I even
have that expectation.

I was served an ad recently.

I was like, "I have two kids.

You think I'm gonna go
rock climbing right now?

Like, absolutely…"

Anyway.

so okay.

So I wanna talk about opportunities.

What do you guys see as opportunities
that marketers in the travel industry

should or should not be doing?

You know, things that are
actually really exciting.

Okay, this is a huge moment for
lots of different industries, but

particularly in marketing, because as
this technology is in its infancy, it's

actually impacting marketing probably
as much as software development.

Those two go hand in hand
in a lot of different ways.

so what do, what do you think are
some real opportunities, maybe

some threats, things to look out
for or some advice you might have?

Jessica Steinberg: I think especially
for me, you know, working in the travel

marketing space, I think it just allows
at the forefront for me to move faster,

Brandon Giella: going

Jessica Steinberg: try new
things, propose new things

Brandon Giella: to

Jessica Steinberg: customers
that we're working with,

Brandon Giella: with,

Jessica Steinberg: and making sure
that we're still being genuine and

authentic, you know, depending on
the brand that we're working with.

Brandon Giella: with.

Jessica Steinberg: I think even though
you can move really quickly, and AI can

help you write copy or create an email
marketing campaign or give you insights

to some of the data that you have,
that you need to still be feeding it.

It's-- I think, you know, what
you put in is what you get out.

Brandon Giella: out.

Jessica Steinberg: And so if you're
feeding it kind of an unauthentic

brand story and things like that,
you're gonna get the same back out.

But I think

Brandon Giella: think

Jessica Steinberg: it's really important
to use, again, that authentic brand

storytelling lens, to give it what it
needs to give you something good back.

So it can help you move faster, but,

Brandon Giella: but,

Jessica Steinberg: I think it's
really important to make sure that the

quality doesn't get diminished there.

again, what you put in is what
you put out-- is what you get out.

Brandon Giella: that's the

Rachel Satow: sure that you do
not put in an inauthentic brand

Brandon Giella: why making sure

Rachel Satow: is…

The other side of that is making
sure that it's also realistic.

Because what the brand thinks

Brandon Giella: the core

Rachel Satow: are or the way it's
presented, it might be vastly

different than the word-of-mouth
aspects that Brandon was talking

about or customer feedback.

So I think

Brandon Giella: So I think

Rachel Satow: one of the biggest
opportunities is making sure that

you're putting in a holistic view

Brandon Giella: view of the

Rachel Satow: and one, what you
want to achieve, how you want to be

presented, and that authentic voice
from a brand perspective, but also two,

Brandon Giella: two

Rachel Satow: making sure that your
customers are represented in how

they feel currently about your brand
is going to be really imperative.

Because

Brandon Giella: be,
would be in their name.

Rachel Satow: the suggestions that
marketers will receive from AI

need to be able to close that gap,

Brandon Giella: gap.

And

Rachel Satow: you're only giving it one
side of this is what I want to achieve,

this is how I want to go about it, you're
missing that connection to your customers.

Jessica Steinberg: Totally.

And I think

Brandon Giella: think

Jessica Steinberg: than
ever, in my opinion, reviews

are all the more important.

I know, again, you know, I'm planning
a trip, I'm talking to ChatGPT

what I wanna do, and it suggests,
you know, all these great things.

The very first thing
I'm doing once I know,

Brandon Giella: I

Jessica Steinberg: wow, that activity
sounds really fun, I'm going straight

to TripAdvisor or Viator and I'm
reading reviews and looking at real

customer photos, to make sure that
what it's telling me is accurate and

that it is something I'd actually
like to do, to check the price,

Brandon Giella: come to life,

Jessica Steinberg: and to read about
those actual real-world experiences.

Because again, you know, ChatGPT
can tell you one thing, but

Brandon Giella: thing,

Jessica Steinberg: else, I don't
know that I'm gonna book it.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, I
mean, it all goes, it,

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, totally.

Rachel Satow: flip, flip the

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, it's
like, "Oh, yeah, I didn't think of

Rachel Satow: you're

Jessica Steinberg: that."

Brandon Giella: Yes, I get that all

Rachel Satow: I think, you know, at its
core, I think we're, we keep coming back

to this idea of, travel marketing is
definitely going to lean more into the

community is represented and how you can
bring the voices of your evangelists from

a brand perspective into play, because…

Brandon Giella: because

Rachel Satow: all familiar
with the dead internet theory?

Brandon Giella: Yes.

Yeah,

Rachel Satow: Yes.

Yeah, so, so f- for those that may not be,
the dead internet theory is essentially

a cultural critique that everything
on the internet has ceased to be

human-dominated and especially as AI has
become more, prevalent in our day-to-day,

Brandon Giella: day-to-day

Rachel Satow: through Instagram, you're
seeing reels that are completely made

from AI, you're seeing AI voiceovers, etc.

And it's, it essentially
claims that the web is now,

Brandon Giella: now,

Rachel Satow: m-

Brandon Giella: mostly AI-slummed.

Rachel Satow: and y- this is
honestly very, very prevalent in

some of the feedback that you…

If you scroll through the comments
on one of those reels, you will see

Brandon Giella: see

Rachel Satow: mixed commentary,
but most of the time, my

feed at least, is showcasing,

Brandon Giella: think,

Rachel Satow: "I can't believe you're
using AI for this," blah, blah, blah.

"You should've used a real, a real human."

And from a brand integrity standpoint,
that's something to be very careful

with, because from a marketing
perspective, yes, we can use AI to

move faster, to scale our output.

From a creative perspective,
we can use it to create assets,

Brandon Giella: assets.

Rachel Satow: the same time,
you need to be cognizant of

Brandon Giella: of

Rachel Satow: the backlash that you may,

Brandon Giella: may,

Rachel Satow: you may encounter.

Brandon Giella: encounter

Rachel Satow: back to what Jess was
saying about, you know, making sure that

Brandon Giella: that

Rachel Satow: you are representative
of your authentic brand voice,

Brandon Giella: in an
authentic and brand voice.

Rachel Satow: if

Brandon Giella: If your customers

Rachel Satow: are not ready to
use it, not willing to, to accept

Brandon Giella: accept

Rachel Satow: different,
AI-generated assets, etc.,

Brandon Giella: cetera,

Rachel Satow: something you need to
be very careful with, because you

don't wanna be marketing to them
in a way that you think is cutting

edge, and in reality, your whole
audience is people who just don't

Brandon Giella: don't

Rachel Satow: to see
anything generated that way.

So, I think being smart about its
application is, is, is paramount.

Brandon Giella: I think it's easy as
marketers because we're in this stuff

all day and playing with these tools
and experimenting, like Jess, what

you said, like experimentation is so
key right now, and I totally agree.

it's easy to think like, "Wow, that
was cool that I made that thing."

the users, you know, your end
audience, people that actually really

Rachel Satow: Yeah,

Brandon Giella: hate that thing.

You know, even though it's cool
for you, they don't want that.

so I think it i-- But I, but I also
think that people do understand

how AI can be really helpful, and I
think they would be very open to it.

But yeah, it's a very, very thin line.

what are some, This is kind
of a random question, but I'm

curious for, for both of you.

what are some interesting- experiments
or kinds of content or things that

you've seen either internally or
with another brand that you thought

were actually, "That was pretty cool.

That was a cool use of AI or a
cool experiment that they ran

that, that I, I kinda like that."

because I, I do think
there is some backlash.

There is some negativity and critique
that I think is very warranted, and I

feel that dead internet theory all the
time when I'm scrolling through my feed.

Sometimes I'm like: What the heck?

Where are, like, human beings these days?

Like, I see that same…

Anyway, so I get it.

sometimes there's some cool stuff
that, that actually is coming out.

Does anything come to mind?

Jessica Steinberg: I mean, I think, and
this isn't necessarily experimentation

per se, but I, I use it a lot,
specifically to help with data reading.

Obviously, there's a ton of data to be
had when we have a whole booking flow

for multiple brands to be looking at.

and I think it's

really, really helpful in finding the
story, and, you know, feeding it a ton

of data that otherwise would've taken
hours for me to probably read through,

you know, making pivot tables and
things like that to try and find, you

know, where is the user falling off?

Where are they not, you know, where
are we not generating revenue?

Things like that.

I think being able to feed it a ton of
raw data and get back a few different

answers, in a matter of minutes as to
where there might be a sticking point or

something isn't clear or something to look
into, and being able to iterate off of

that again in a matter of minutes where
something would've taken me hours, I think

50 hours.

is, has been huge.

really key.

and it's helped find a lot of
friction points that I think should

help brands moving forward, removing
them in the booking flow or on

their website or anything like that

Brandon Giella: else.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, totally agree.

Totally agree.

Rachel Satow: I would probably say,
I, I would probably say the best,

use of it is not necessarily from a
marketing perspective outside of, you

Brandon Giella: of messages

Rachel Satow: extrapolation, etc.

from like an in the wild, we see
this in our own platform, but I'm

seeing a real shift in, Just natural
voice or natural text implementation.

So

Brandon Giella: You know,

Rachel Satow: we have this.

You can put into our destination
recommendations, essentially

what I, what Jess had mentioned.

Brandon Giella: said

Rachel Satow: would
like to go to the beach.

I want it to be in this country, etc.

Give me recommendations.

so we have tools like that already,
but I think that's across the board.

This is

We're not the

Brandon Giella: squared off the whole

Rachel Satow: the only
platform that's doing it.

I know, like, Booking.com

has something similar, and what

Brandon Giella: what

Rachel Satow: I think we're seeing the
most is just how well systems can make

better use of their first party data,

Brandon Giella: all

Rachel Satow: and all of the
information that they are gathering from

booking flows, as Jess me-mentioned.

It's lesser so…

And not that it can't be used
from a marketing perspective.

It absolutely can.

Brandon Giella: can

Rachel Satow: I, I definitely see it
more from a product standpoint being,

Brandon Giella: being,

Rachel Satow: and I think that
is probably the coolest part as

Brandon Giella: as

Rachel Satow: marketer like we are.

so,

Brandon Giella: so

Rachel Satow: definitely that use
of first party data from, from a

booking perspective, and I think
what marketers can take from that

is not just your product, product
teams can use that information.

Brandon Giella: of your

Rachel Satow: you can then use that
information, you know, we, we have

data across multiple partners, etc.,

that we, I take a look at

Brandon Giella: a look

Rachel Satow: for developing our own

Brandon Giella: own

Rachel Satow: assets, right?

So from a marketing perspective
for individual brands, take a

look at your first party data and
see are there any trends in where

people are going or the types of,

Brandon Giella: of

Rachel Satow: you know,
the types of accommodations

that are being booked, etc.,

because that can in- better inform what
you might want to put out into the world

and what you might want to advertise,
and AI really comes into play to

Brandon Giella: play

Rachel Satow: make you be
able to do that faster.

Brandon Giella: faster,

Rachel Satow: and, and

Brandon Giella: kind of

Rachel Satow: potentially without as many,

Brandon Giella: many,

Rachel Satow: what's the
word I'm looking for?

Brandon Giella: for,

Rachel Satow: without as many

Brandon Giella: assumptions.

Rachel Satow: as we marketers, you know,
sometimes we do have to assume, like,

I don't have the answer for this, and
I think AI helps to be able to kind

of fill that, that assumption gap.

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

I like that.

Yeah, both of you, I think, hinted at
it's, less time is spent on data and

analysis, and more time is actually
spent on, "Oh, here's the story.

Now, how do I craft, you know, my
marketing around that story to, again,

build trust and, and communicate an
authentic, you know, narrative that

shapes people's purchasing decisions?"

I'll, I'll say my, my example
would be, I think generative

Rachel Satow: not going
out there training crabs to

Brandon Giella: any data on whether
it works or not, but I see some

videos that I think are hilarious.

I saw this one this week on Twitter that
was a crab, somebody put a GoPro camera on

a crab, and it went down its little hole.

And it looked like it was just
like a nature video, you know, it

went down like a crab hole, and
you saw these little crabs around.

And then it turned this corner, and
it opens up into this, like, nightclub

DJ lasers going everywhere, and all
the crabs are, like, dancing in this.

And that could have been a great ad
for some kinda club or something.

And I just thought it was so funny you
couldn't do that on your own, you know?

Anyway, I think it's

Rachel Satow: go to a

Brandon Giella: I was, I was actually
thinking of, like, hiring, like, a

3D video person that can make this
super complicated minute-long video,

when actually you could just prompt it
and get it in, like, 30 seconds, and

you have this hilarious video Anyway.

yeah, no, I, I, I have, I've been
thinking too, do you think it's easier

for upstart brands to get into the
market versus the incumbent, you

know, larger, enterprise players?

Like, what's the, maybe the, the
opportunities or threats for, you know,

kind of new competition, if you will?

What do you think about that?

Rachel Satow: Yeah, I mean, I definitely
think that it levels the playing field.

we all have the same version
of LLMs at our fingertips.

We all have, you know, the same
access, and I think that definitely

lowers the, the barrier to more
sophisticated marketing efforts.

and those smaller brands might be
able to capitalize on that, for sure.

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, I totally agree.

And I think…

I actually read an article, I forget
who it was written by, but it was

talking about kind of the relation to
job loss to AI and things like that.

and someone said that, you know,
people won't lose their jobs due to

AI, they'll lose their jobs because
they won't know how to use AI.

And I think that's very true.

I think that people who know how to
use AI will be better off for it.

again, it's all about what you put in.

And so if you spend the time to learn it,
to understand what it can do to help you,

Brandon Giella: do

Jessica Steinberg: and kind of be
iterative with it, don't expect

it to get it right on the first
try, you know, especially if

you're working on something new.

I think being able to use it and
use it well, I think is gonna be

huge for regardless of your…

if you're a huge brand or,
you know, a new startup

Brandon Giella: brand . I totally
agree, and I, and I also think

there's another play as well.

I heard this from a, an agency that
I know of that, they do not let any

of their team members use AI at all.

And they all-- they make all of their,
teammates be in the office nine to

five, Monday through Friday, and no AI.

their point is, their brand
position is that we want these

things to be highly crafted.

Like, we are a, like, a studio.

Like, we are gonna be pixel
pushing manually, and we're

gonna be very relational.

And so I think that's an interesting
brand strategy as well, or a marketing

strategy, that if you push in the
exact opposite direction, 100% high

quality craftsmanship and no AI,
there's actually something there too.

Now, I mean less content, or it might
mean very different kinds of marketing,

but that's a-- that'd be an interesting
play for, for upstarts as well, 'cause

it might increase trust, which I
think is the en- the name of the game.

Rachel Satow: Yeah, I mean, at the
end of the day w- that circles back to

Brandon Giella: There

Rachel Satow: people who, one, are
behind the curve, or two, do not want

Brandon Giella: or who

Rachel Satow: to,

Brandon Giella: Yeah.

Rachel Satow: be involved or, you
know, do not appreciate the, the,

the, the assistance that AI can,
can provide, and that's fine.

That's totally fine.

There will always be, you know,
an antagonist to innovation, and I

think, you know, we see big brands…

I-

Brandon Giella: like, like

Rachel Satow: Apple is
a really great example.

When they redid their new intro,
they did that full intro manually.

They could have put that into AI or,
you know, had a creative agency that,

utilizes the tools and probably done
it a lot faster, but they essentially

took a brand stance in saying,

Brandon Giella: said,

Rachel Satow: going to do
this with real effects."

And that's,

Brandon Giella: differently."

And

Rachel Satow: know,

Brandon Giella: you

Rachel Satow: it, it garnered a lot of
attention from the marketing industry,

because it was like, wow, you had
these tools at your fingertips and

probably could have done this in a
much faster way, and you still took

the time and invested in the craft.

That was a brand play,

Brandon Giella: brand

Rachel Satow: sure.

And I think, going back to my previous
statement, it's being intentional with

the usage and the implementation, both
from a marketing side, a product side,

Brandon Giella: side,

Rachel Satow: a, a, a, a
community building side,

Brandon Giella: side,

Rachel Satow: you know, marketers could
deploy AI bots to respond to every comment

that they re- they, they receive on

Brandon Giella: on whatever

Rachel Satow: social
posts that they put out.

Brandon Giella: they put

Rachel Satow: They absolutely could, but

Brandon Giella: but having

Rachel Satow: on the other side
of that screen to make sure that

Brandon Giella: that

Rachel Satow: implemented is
still ensuring a level of brand

integrity and authentic, as Jess
was saying, like, an authentic brand

voice is still … Like, you can't

Brandon Giella: can't

Rachel Satow: ever replace that.

There will still n- you still
need a human in the loop.

Brandon Giella: needed.

Rachel Satow: and I think

Brandon Giella: I think

Rachel Satow: that will probably
always be the case, or at least in my

opinion, it should always be the case

Brandon Giella: requires

Rachel Satow: and we, we may
need a part two here, but

Brandon Giella: that-

Rachel Satow: because at the end
of the day, like AI, no matter if

you're using Claude or if you're
using Chat or if you're using

Gemini, they're working off of

Brandon Giella: on the

Rachel Satow: relatively
the same information.

The same user-generated content
was put in to train these models,

Brandon Giella: models.

Rachel Satow: you need somebody who more
intimately knows your brand and the way

things should be handled to navigate some
of those harder conversations or the more

sticky points or the friction points.

Brandon Giella: one-

Rachel Satow: The last thing that
you want is, you know, from an

airline perspective, let's say

Brandon Giella: say

Rachel Satow: something happens where all
the flights got canceled and you have a

lot of negative, negative feedback online.

You have a lot of
comments coming in, etc.,

and then you … all you have is an AI
bot responding to all of those people,

Brandon Giella: people, and

Rachel Satow: the model
that you've used is not

Brandon Giella: not

Rachel Satow: showing any empathy,
to the scenario that they're in.

Whereas if you have a human who,
on the other side of that, who's at

least monitoring, at least keeping
track of things, making sure that the,

the systems that you've deployed are

Brandon Giella: it.

It's great to know

Rachel Satow: doing the job

Brandon Giella: are doing

Rachel Satow: while reflecting the
integrity of the brand, like if you

get rid of that, th- you're Good luck.

Brandon Giella: other side

Rachel Satow: Unfortunately, good luck.

Brandon Giella: Totally agree.

Totally agree.

There's an advertiser from, it's just
got out- outside my mind now, but yeah.

His name's Rory Sutherland.

He wrote a book called "Alchemy"
that was a fantastic book.

And he talks about how, two things
actually that are really great.

One is he thinks that everybody
should invest more in call centers to

Rachel Satow: Yeah, AI, AI is the

Brandon Giella: budget line item there
is," which I, I find fascinating.

and the other thing he says is, is
what he calls a doorman fallacy,

which is, consultants can come to a
hotel and say, "Oh, to save costs,

you should get rid of your doorman
because you can get an automatic door."

his point is like, yeah, but doormen
do a lot more than just open the door.

You know, they are there to greet people.

They bring an umbrella.

They get the car for you.

They tell you where things are at.

You know, they-- there, there's a
lot more that goes into your brand

perception than just that function.

so he says, "Be very careful," and I
apply this to AI, "Be very careful about

w- how you define certain things that
AI can or can't do, because you might

define it one way, remove that thing,
and it actually destroys the value

of why somebody would interact with
your brand," which I think is a really

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, I think the need
for human connection is not gonna go away.

I think, like, humans are wired that
way, and that's not gonna change.

So I think specifically as it relates
to AI, I think it's important for it

to be used in a lot of cases, like, you
know, call center is a great example.

It's…

I think it should be used as
a tool to help people learn,

Brandon Giella: know- Yeah.

Jessica Steinberg: rather
than to replace them.

And so, you know, being iterative and
communicative with it and going back and

forth, and even there have been times
where I'm working with AI and I ask it to

tell me how it did something so that, hey,
okay, now I've at least learned something.

If one day it goes away, hopefully
then I know how to do it.

Brandon Giella: have to do it.

Jessica Steinberg: but I think
again, that, that need for human

connection, I think is here to stay.

Brandon Giella: have everything.

Yeah, I love that.

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah.

Brandon Giella: Oof, nice.

Jessica Steinberg: Mic

Brandon Giella: that.

I to-

Jessica Steinberg: drop.

Brandon Giella: perfect.

And there's always gonna be the,
the Wendell Berries among us

that are like, "You know what?

I actually…"

I was just reading his article or his
essay, last week, it's called "Why

I Am Not Going to Buy a Computer."

And I think he wrote it in like the '70s.

And I just, I love it.

I think he's so right about so many
different things, and yet AI is amazing.

It's changing everything.

Pay attention to it.

But yeah, it's, I don't--
I have so many thoughts.

We could talk about this forever.

Rachel Satow: We're gonna do a part two.

We've gotta do a part two.

Brandon Giella: I feel like
I have so much more to say.

yes.

Okay, so last question for both of you.

What is your final takeaway?

Is it a total reinvention, you know,
clean slate, get rid of everything?

Or is it like, you know what?

It's another tool and it's very
useful, but in a limited case.

What's your thought?

Rachel Satow: I…

So going back to one of my original
points, there's always going to be

an audience that is behind the curve.

There is always going to be an audience
that does not want to or cannot, for

whatever reason, adapt to the new tools,
and your service is still going to need

Treat those people the same way that you
treat anybody who has adopted, adapted

Brandon Giella: doing

Rachel Satow: to,

Brandon Giella: Because as you

Rachel Satow: to, to
the latest and greatest.

Because as you were saying,
Brandon, like we, the three of

us on this call are marketers.

We live and breathe this every day.

Our in-laws, our, you know,
my, I love my mom dearly.

She ha- she had to call me to ask me,
like, "How do I even start using this?"

And I was like, "Here are five
things that I think you could use

it for, and, like, just try it.

It's fine."

Brandon Giella: before-

Rachel Satow: There is always going
to be an audience that you're, you are

still going to need to, to, to service.

And will that curve in the
next five, 10, 15 years?

Absolutely.

As things get more mature,

Brandon Giella: And

Rachel Satow: you know, adoption
of certain tools becomes greater,

absolutely that curve is going to
change, but there's still somebody

who's going to be h- behind that curve.

Brandon Giella: the

Rachel Satow: And,

Brandon Giella: And,

Rachel Satow: in my opinion, from a
marketing standpoint, to go back to

the, to the PhocusWire article, I
completely agree with the thought that

Brandon Giella: that it

Rachel Satow: I don't think
we can throw out traditional

channels and legacy channels.

I,

Brandon Giella: I,

Rachel Satow: I truly don't.

I think what we will see over the
next couple of years is more of a

consolidation of those channels.

So for example, if you're
using Google Ads to promote,

Brandon Giella: oh,

Rachel Satow: you may no longer be
paying for placements on Google Search.

Maybe you're paying for
placements on Gemini,

Brandon Giella: else,

Rachel Satow: you know?

And I think that's something
that marketers need to be cogni-

cognizant of, is like your tools
and the fundamentals that you know

today, I don't think are going away.

You're still going to need to
use them to reach an audience

who does not want to or cannot

Brandon Giella: cannot

Rachel Satow: adopt the latest and
greatest, but also you're still going

to need to know the fundamentals in
order to judge whatever AI is trying

to tell you to, to do or how to market.

Like, you're still going to need those
fundamentals, and those legacy channels.

So I think as my takeaway is like, don't
throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Like don't do that.

just because there's something … Like,
just because there is a shiny

object, and yes, it is great,

Brandon Giella: should.

But

Rachel Satow: it is the assistant to the
experience, not the experience it- itself.

And,

Brandon Giella: I

Rachel Satow: don't

Brandon Giella: don't

Rachel Satow: negate everything
that has worked up until this point

Brandon Giella: a

Rachel Satow: just because there's
something new that could work.

Brandon Giella: I love that line.

I'm gonna steal it

Jessica Steinberg: Yeah, I totally agree.

I think, I don't think, you
know, marketers should throw out

everything that they already know.

I do think that there needs to be a shift.

I think, you know, keep what you know,
but shift the way that you're focusing

on specifically top of funnel marketing.

The way that customers are discovering
your brand, specifically in travel,

is likely changing or going to change.

And so I think making that shift,
making sure you're aware of how

you're showing up in AI tools.

Go into an AI tool, ask
it about your brand.

Is it saying what you would expect?

and if not, maybe you
need to make a change.

So I think that's really
important, and I also think given

Brandon Giella: given

Jessica Steinberg: way customers
are gonna find you is changing, you

need to take another look at what
does your booking flow look like?

What does the experience look
like when the customer gets there?

Because they're now probably in a
different head space than they used to be

Brandon Giella: head

Jessica Steinberg: in your booking flow.

and then the product you're
offering, is it up to par?

Again, is it being, you know, perceived
in AI the way that you would expect?

and I think then just moving forward,
keep your eyes and ears wide open

because the way that your customers
are finding you is changing or going

to change very soon, and being able to
change with that is going to be huge.

Brandon Giella: be key.

Jessica Steinberg: there might be
a time where they don't need your

booking flow anymore, and they're
booking, you know, in Claude.

Brandon Giella: agent again.

Jessica Steinberg: and so again,
keeping your eyes and ears wide

open as that change happens.

It didn't take very long for us to
get to this place where everybody

has ChatGPT on their phone.

So who knows what's next?

Brandon Giella: is next?

Jessica Steinberg: but I think being
able to shift and be nimble and

paying attention is gonna be huge
for especially traveler marketers.

Brandon Giella: Could not agree more.

Perfectly said.

Brilliant.

Thank you both.

has, been a fascinating conversation.

I know you, you, all three of us could
sit here and talk for hours about

this concept, as most people can.

AI is just the talk of the town.

But, maybe we'll have a part two sometime.

I think this conversation's
fantastic, and especially in travel

marketing as this industry is…

It, it is being disrupted.

Things are shifting.

but what does that look like?

we will, we will find out.

It's, it's anybody's game.

thank you both.

These are wonderful thoughts, and
we will see you on the next episode.

Jessica Steinberg: Sounds good.