Getaway.House

COML 540 - Digital Media Analysis
​Brand Analysis

About the Brand

Getaway or Getawayhouse is a tiny-cabin vacation rental company that puts “nature within reach” and is considered a member of the travel/hospitality industry (Getaway House, 2023). For its guests and social media followers though, Getaway is a lifestyle, a vibe, and something (or rather someone) to aspire to.
"At Getaway, we believe in making space for more free time. An easy drive from the city, our tiny cabins are your window into nature—giving you the wide-open space you need to rest and rediscover the best part of you." (Getaway House, 2023, para 1)
Success is evident at any access point to the brand. Their website, Getaway.house, shows a majority of “no availability” dates across their 29 tiny-cabin locations (About Getaway, n.d.). And their social media following is the dream of digital marketing professionals the world over. Their cabins – nestled in some of the most stunning natural settings across the US – may be tiny, but Getaway’s social media presence is anything but. With the exception of LinkedIn (more on this later), they have a presence across all major social media platforms. The number of followers on each platform ranges from Pinterest with 1,619 followers and roughly 41.7 thousand monthly views; X (formerly Twitter) with 6,508; TikTok with roughly 63 thousand followers; Facebook with 164 thousand followers; to Instagram with over 1.1 million followers and growing (Facebook.Com/Getawayhouse, n.d.; Getaway (@getaway) Instagram Photos and Videos, 2015; GETAWAY (@getaway_house) / X, 2017; Getaway (@getawayhouse) Official, n.d.; Pinterest.Com/Getawayhouse/, n.d.).

Branding Strategy

So how does the company achieve such widespread visibility and success? One needn’t search long or hard to find the answer. The tactics and strategies that compose Getaway’s brilliant marketing campaign start with defined values and crystal-clear branding which inform a detailed and tailored approach to each of their digital channels.
First and foremost, the brand’s values are rooted in, and strategically aligned with current societal trends. Recognizing burnout, prioritization of mental health and self-care, and cries for work/life balance are everywhere from trending hashtags to news headlines; Getaway has composed its messaging to empower its users - both in-cabin guests and digital “window shoppers” alike - to disconnect from society’s stressors and embrace moments of solitude. “There’s no WiFi (I repeat: No WiFi) and they provide you with a cell phone lockbox (don’t worry, it’s optional) to assist you in your digital detox” (Moskowitz, 2023, para 4). The added perk to this anti-digital tactic is that Getaway has managed to turn the absence of wifi - an otherwise expected amenity - into a desired feature of their facilities. And lastly, the detail that their URL is .house rather than the common .com further illustrates a laser focus on details that steer a user away from the potential stress-inducing triggers of our digital world.
The brand has made the Getawayhouse window into an icon and it serves as its visual trademark; a cartoon iteration as its logo (see figures 1 and 2). Anyone aimlessly scrolling Facebook or Instagram is likely to have encountered one or the other, and even more likely to have longed for all that these visuals promise.
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​Digital Media Strategy

When it comes to Getaway’s digital media strategy, the brand is vigilant in messaging, visuals, and content consistency and have mastered the nuance of each digital channel and platform. They now have a saturation of earned media, but have achieved this saturation through rigorous and ongoing influencer marketing campaigns. A form of paid media disguised as earned media, influencer marketing is:
a type of social media marketing that uses endorsements and product mentions from influencers — individuals who have a dedicated social following and are viewed as experts within their niche. Influencer marketing works because of the high amount of trust that social influencers have built up with their following. And recommendations from them serve as a form of social proof to your brand’s potential customers. (Sprout Social, 2023, para 6)
Because influencers have been commissioned to create content for Getaway, and compensated for that content, this media also becomes a form of co-owned media as both the influencer and Getaway have the right to use the content as they choose.
With a well-honed process for media/content creation in place, Getaway then tailors this content to optimize engagement and reach for each of its social media channels; focusing the majority of efforts strategically on Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
Getaway understands:
Facebook commands 53% of all social media site visits in the United States. It’s a supremacy that remains unchallenged to date. Other platforms, despite their individual strengths and popularity, continue to find themselves in Facebook’s shadow across desktop, mobile and tablet devices. This means Facebook remains essential for marketers aiming to capture and engage American audiences. (Wong, 2023, para 8)
And with this understanding, the brand utilizes Facebook less for user engagement and relationship maintenance but rather as its main advertising space; the place where the most eyes will be introduced to the brand through frequent sponsored (paid) ads in user feeds. Engagement is low in this space. Of the 51 original posts published on this platform from August 15th to September 15th of this year, each post averaged 32 likes/reactions, 2 comments, and 1 share per post.
Instagram is where Getaway’s engagement magic happens. In the same 30-day time frame and with a total 59 original posts, there is a 2000% (yes, you read that correctly) increase in likes per post at roughly 818, and a 1300% increase in comments at about 24 per post (see figures 2a and 2b).

​Getaway also curates and organizes content in adherence to the established (but mostly unwritten) visual expectations of any seasoned Instagram marketer. The color story of the brand is consistent throughout the feed, and posts are posted in a way that creates visual balance and flow throughout. Additionally content subjects and subject matter are dispersed with a balance of variety and familiarity; and the brand has employed all the tried-and-true content necessary to ensure steady likes; Like dogs, almost-surreal nature shots, beauty/sensual influencer selfies, camping food/recipes, and self-care practices, all within or surrounding the Getaway tiny-cabin.
Getaway’s TikTok following is also nothing to sneer at. With over 63 thousand followers, the brand has taken advantage of this increasingly popular and highly effective new(er) kid to the social media block. Facebook may get user’s eyes, but TikTok gets user’s dollars. “TikTok made headlines in Q4 2022, generating $350 million in revenue, easily outperforming—to the tune of $205 million—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat combined” (Wong, 2023, para 15). As a video-centric platform, there are some interesting nuances to media creation strategies for TikTok content creators. Videos take more time to produce than text and photo posts because there is so much more to the process from conceptualization, A and B roll capturing of material, and then a potentially lengthy editing session. That said, return on investment is huge for video-majority platforms. With only 24 posts - less than half posted to Facebook and Instagram - from August 15th to September 15th Getaway averaged just shy of 2,000 views per post(Getaway (@getawayhouse) Official, n.d.).
Let’s discuss LinkedIn and Getaway’s lack of presence here. I am speculating here, but am fairly confident that Getaway very intentionally made the decision to steer clear of this particular platform. To have a presence on LinkedIn would contradict the brand’s values and messaging by creating an entry point rife with all the societal stressors, overwhelm, and triggers their users are trying to avoid. From an internal business perspective, avoiding LinkedIn makes sense too. I spent over a decade in the performing arts and learned quickly that the audience doesn’t want to see how the theater magic is made, they just want to believe in it. Why then would we take down the curtains and expose the mechanisms and rigging that make the magic happen? LinkedIn would essentially serve to expose the “wizard” behind Getaway’s curtain.

Competitors

​For purposes of this assignment, Airbnb and Vrbo are competitors of Getaway. They compete for market share in the vacation rental space, but that is roughly where the competition ends. While an online searcher can search for and book a vacation rental through the website of any of these brands, Airbnb and Vrbo have much less of a social media presence, and it shows. Getaway is dwarfed by Airbnb and Vrbo in terms of lodging inventory, diversity of experience options (from humble tenting to luxe mansions and even private islands, as well as greater spread of both domestic and international locations. Given this treasure trove of potential source material, Vrbo and Airbnb have an opportunity to create a social media fantasyland to overshadow Getaway’s. But both rivals seem rather to fear these digital channels. In the same August-to-September time frame as previously examined for Getaway, Vrbo posted a total of 20 posts to Facebook, simultaneously (and without consideration for platform nuances) posted these same 20 posts to Instagram, and posted 11 times to TikTok (Facebook.Com/Vrbo, n.d.; Vrbo (@vrbo) • Instagram Photos and Videos, 2017; Vrbo (@vrbo) Official, n.d.). Vrbo’s walls all looked disjointed and cluttered. Sadly, Airbnb was worse still, with 11 Instagram posts, 2 to TikTok, and a most recent Facebook post from March of this year; such sad representation sent me running back to the digital paradise that is Getaway’s walls (Airbnb (@airbnb) Official, n.d.; Airbnb (@aribnb) Instagram Photos and Videos, 2010; Facebook.Com/Airbnb, n.d.).

Recommendation

​I could make a plethora of recommendations to both Vrbo and Airbnb, but Getaway has left no room for this outsider to offer criticism or ideas for improvement. I applaud their attention to detail. I stand in awe of their strategic and intentional fine-tuning. And I admire their dedication to creative, authentic, and steadfast branding. Many lessons have been learned by this Marketing newbie.

References

About Getaway. (n.d.). [Travel]. Getaway.House. Retrieved September 13, 2023, from https://getaway.house/about/

Airbnb (@airbnb) Official. (n.d.). TikTok. Retrieved September 17, 2023, from https://www.tiktok.com/@airbnb?lang=en

Airbnb (@aribnb) Instagram photos and videos. (2010, November). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/airbnb/

Facebook.com/airbnb. (n.d.). Facebook. Retrieved September 17, 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/airbnb

Facebook.com/getawayhouse. (n.d.). Facebook. Retrieved September 16, 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/getawayhouse

Facebook.com/Vrbo. (n.d.). Facebook. Retrieved September 17, 2023, from https://www.facebook.com/Vrbo

Getaway (@getaway) Instagram photos and videos. (2015, June). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/jenahamarie/

GETAWAY (@getaway_house) / X. (2017, January 27). X (Formerly Twitter). https://twitter.com/getaway_house
Getaway (@getawayhouse) Official. (n.d.). TikTok. Retrieved September 16, 2023, from https://www.tiktok.com/@getawayhouse?lang=en

Getaway House. (2023). [Travel]. Getaway.House. https://getaway.house/

Moskowitz, R. (2023, May 4). This cabin rental service is a game-changer for those who love nature. Reviewed. https://reviewed.usatoday.com/home-outdoors/features/getaway-house-review-this-modern-cabin-rental-service-makes-camping-easy

Pinterest.com/getawayhouse/. (n.d.). Pinterest. Retrieved September 16, 2023, from https://www.pinterest.com/

Sprout Social. (2023, April 17). What is influencer marketing: How to develop your strategy. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/influencer-marketing/

Vrbo (@vrbo) • Instagram photos and videos. (2017, September). Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/getawayhouse/

Vrbo (@vrbo) Official. (n.d.). TikTok. Retrieved September 17, 2023, from https://www.tiktok.com/@vrbo?lang=en
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Wong, B. 18, 2023. (2023, May 18). Top Social Media Statistics And Trends of 2023. Forbes. https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/MoAtO/1/