‘Spooky’ Trivago Girl ads ditched as brand trials refresh in Australia
Trivago’s notorious advertising campaign featuring a deadpan woman has been culled in Australia as the brand tests a “new direction”.
Trivago Girl no more
The campaign ‘Trivago Girl’ became a surprising viral hit last summer when the German travel brand spooked out London commuters by ‘taking over’ the capital’s tube stations with posters of Australian actress Gabrielle Miller.
Although it ran as a television commercial in Australia, the campaign never quite matched the cult following locally that it gained in the UK.
As such, the Expedia-owned brand’s latest Australian campaign, released on television today, has taken a more youth-focused approach by showing a group of friends living it up in Thailand.
Jonathan Laing, a Kiwi who works in Trivago’s creative production team in Dusseldorf, reads the ad’s voiceover, which lists all the travel services available on the platform.
Created in-house, the ad campaign will serve as a trial run as Trivago Girl continues to run globally.
Diana Vidovic, Trivago’s regional manager, said Miller’s omnipresent appearance had helped boost brand awareness, but that it was time to move towards a a more “holistic approach”.
She said: “Trivago Girl, played by Australian Gabrielle Miller, has been phenomenally successful in building brand awareness and encouraging travellers to visit our website so that they can compare the different hotels on offer.
“However, over the last year we have been moving towards a more holistic approach focusing on the complete travel experience, rather than just price comparison, and these new ads have pre-tested highly for audience engagement.”
She added: “It’s early days but if the ads prove a hit, his Kiwi accent may well go global.”
I think Diana means “if the ads prove a ‘het'”: it’s Gabrielle Miller who’s ‘hut’ with male audiences – hut,hut,hut!
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Wow! That is some clumsy audio mixing going on in that new ad.
No issues with his Kiwi accent, but you can certainly tell he’s in-house ‘talent’. Feels a bit like when a tile store puts their kid in the ad, cos they’re just so gosh darn cute!
I’m sure he’s cheaper than Gabrielle Miller, but you get what you pay for.
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Why change something thats not broken?
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Have the marketers lost their touch with the audience? Please bring Gabrielle back to the ads. The new ads are just not the same, and do not distinguish themselves at all from all of the other low cost travel ads – not memorable or interesting at all.
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I hate the new ads – bring back Gabrielle!!!
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The new ad is appalling, sounds like its being voiced by an already boring hipster, who they then fed Prozac, then recorded it in an outdoor toilet in Dubbo. Whoever came up with this idea should be horse whipped.
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Bring back Gabrielle, just watched the new commercial and it’s boring and dull. Gabrielle would always catch my attention.
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I agree 100% with you. Most TV ads are annoying . She is the epitomy of a natural , beautiful,down to earth asset that increased their business heaps. And was a pleasure to watch .
The current ad is a “ nothing “ ad and is lost with all the same ads and totally confuse the public.
I am a retired travel agent after 54 years in the business, and although I love Gabrielle my advice is talk to your experienced travel agent as most of the public are not aware that trivago is just another company owned by Expedia and very often you see that Expedia offers the cheapest hotel cost in their ads.
Clever marketing!
Bring her back ?
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Yes bring back Gabrielle, the adds are better with her.
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Hi, it’s crazy to not have the lovely young lady back on the ads. Every person I mix with love the down to earth approach of the ads. Please bring her back!!
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I miss the Trivago lady it is a most pleasant moment of general boring TV please return her
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Nice to see a return to reality from the Trivago ad last night. Gabrielle does a great job. Change is a great thing but not so much in this case.
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Great moments in marketing! Take off an ad that everyone was talking about. As iconic as the AAMI girl!
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Yep, have to agree with all the other comments. They need to sack their marketing management team over this one. They just cost the brand money. Totally out of touch with the public. They didnt recognise the appeal she had. Those ads made me aware of, and start using Trivago. This new ad has really put me back off them again. Returned to being just another search engine.
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The original Trivago girl with the bearded guy was a hit as is Gabrielle. All interesting, attractive and succeeded with the message. I travel frequently and use the website. Understand the refocus but not sure if the new ad will achieve their objectives.
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Every time the Trivago girl comes on, I reach for the mute button. Someone should do something about the weird clothes she wears..
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Bring back the Trivago girl. She has a great voice and subtle sexuality
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When those, SO clever, marketing thingos get to justify their silliness by using ‘change words’ such as “holistic”, and the druts who oversee ’em are looking for a reason to use those words, you know the brand & the product are to be badly damaged.
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The Trivago girl Gabrielle Miller is the most engaging presenter on TV today. To have had a saturation schedule for such a long time and it still is such a hit with the viewers says an incredible amount. For your own sake (and mine) keep her !!!
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I have to disagree with most of the comments on here as I find the Trivago girl as annoying and irritating as hell. I’m sure Gabrielle is a decent enough person but when you see the trivago ad between 15-20 times a day and not always the same one it’s tedious.And to be honest with you I welcome the change as long as it gets her off my tv.
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Disagree, I find these ads extremely annoying, second only to the ING ones with Isla Fisher (since when is being obnoxious and irritating a good thing?)
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Yes Jas! I agree 100%!
Seems like we’re in the minority though
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Gross
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I prefer throwing things at the TV myself
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Because the current ads are irritating to many people
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Do you actually know the effects of Prozac?
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The Trivago ads on NZ television are irritating to say the least – thoroughly fed up with the strategy of advertising oversaturation and don’t and won’t use the website on principle.
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If Mr Ryan has a job, it’s probably for Trivago competitor.
Gabrielle is a great presenter, her success speaks for itself.
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Did someone cut off the oxygen to your brain?
Miller does the best impression of a cedar box I have ever seen: very wooden
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Since Isla Fisher ?
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Hi Gabrielle. You are doing a great job with the commercials. Very creative and entertaining. Keep up the good work. Cheers
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[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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[Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy]
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Please get rid of her for good. Im a bit in London, married to an Aussie and am a sucker for an Australian accent, but [Edited under Mumbrella’s comment moderation policy] I want to gouge my brains out with a spoon! Get rid of her, pronto!
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