Expedia x IShowSpeed: Why Brands Are Doubling Down on Creators
Photo Credit: YouTuber IShowSpeed riding a vehicle with the Expedia logo. YouTube screen grab
Skift Take
Expedia's IShowSpeed partnership is another signal that creator marketing has moved from experiment to core strategy among travel brands — though it’s not yet clear how its social media impressions are converting to bookings.
One of the latest livestreams from the YouTuber IShowSpeed followed his day trip across four Caribbean destinations, where he sampled jabuticaba and jackfruit, joined a carnival, and hopped between jet skis, planes, boats, and buggies.
Throughout much of the nearly 12-hour video, the logo for the custom website Exspeedia.com was displayed in the bottom corner, marking the streamer’s debut livestream in partnership with Expedia. It’s the streamer’s first time teaming up with a travel brand.
“The mission since I started streaming and creating content all those years ago is to 1) have fun and 2) bring joy to the world however I can,” IShowSpeed, born Darren Watkins Jr., said in an email. “Expedia was such a good fit because they get this, but also because their own mission in helping people explore the world and travel isn’t that different from ours.”
IShowSpeed wears a life jacket with the Expedia logo during an early April live
