For the Booking.com Leader, Proving ROI While Protecting Creativity is Marketing’s Next Balancing Act

In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, marketing is at a crossroads, especially in sectors like travel where competition is fierce. For Hannah Chambers, who has dedicated the last eight years to Booking Holdings Group, the challenge of demonstrating return on investment (ROI) while preserving creative integrity is paramount. Her journey has taken her through various roles, from marketing innovation in car rentals to shaping go-to-market strategies at Booking.com. With a diverse background that includes customer insight, performance marketing, and digital expertise across financial services and gaming, Chambers embodies a data-driven mindset crucial for her role as head of marketing strategy and as a juror for The Drum Marketing Awards.

The Complexity of Measurement in a Diverse Channel Mix

As the marketing landscape diversifies—embedding social channels, artificial intelligence (AI), and new technologies—Chambers acknowledges that measuring the impact of marketing efforts has become increasingly complex. “As channel mix becomes increasingly diverse, measuring the impact becomes even more complex,” she notes. The urgency to prove the value of brand, performance, and customer experience investments is greater than ever; such proof is vital for unlocking further investments. Yet, this task is made all the more difficult in a rapidly evolving environment.

The Quest for Global Efficiency

Efficiency has been a defining strength for Booking.com on a global scale. “Being globally efficient in the way we scale and optimize marketing efforts has always been key,” she explains. Historically, such efficiency was pursued more vigorously than strict adherence to brand consistency. However, Chambers is candid about the trade-offs involved. In an industry reliant on meaningful connections with customers at pivotal travel moments, there’s a pressing need for localized understanding. “To really deliver a consistent and localized message to a global audience takes investment in market understanding,” she affirms, emphasizing that AI could hold the key to making these insights more scalable.

Navigating Economic Uncertainty: Opportunities and Risks

For agency leaders wrestling with economic uncertainty, Chambers sees both opportunity and risk. The explosion of technology and data has transformed decision-making for senior marketing leaders, making them more data-led and AI-enabled. While this shift accelerates speed and efficiency, Chambers warns that creativity and customer insights must not become collateral damage. “We must be conscious not to lose creativity and customer insight as part of this transition,” she says, underscoring the delicate balance that marketers must maintain.

Strategic Partnership as a Key Differentiator

If Chambers were to build an agency from the ground up, her guiding principle would be strategic partnership. “Marketing must act as a strategic partner to the business, including at the C-Suite level,” she asserts. While linking marketing activities to commercial outcomes is essential, she argues that marketing is more than just a trading lever; it plays a critical role in bringing customer and market insights to senior leadership. This understanding can translate into clear growth opportunities, making marketing a central player in the business strategy.

The Challenge of Distinction in Travel

Standing out in the travel sector is particularly challenging. As Chambers points out, travel boasts a wealth of captivating imagery that can easily inspire customer dreams. However, this visual abundance can also become a barrier to distinctiveness. To break through the noise and offer something unique, a travel brand must embody values that resonate beyond just aspirational destinations. “Customers can book those anywhere,” she reminds us, highlighting the need for brands to stand for something more meaningful.

AI’s Evolving Role in Marketing

AI is already woven into Chambers’ workflow, particularly in the “simple and efficient collation of insights,” like competitor analyses. However, she emphasizes that current outputs are still rooted in human creativity and judgment. Looking forward, Chambers predicts that AI will take over much of the executional layer of marketing tasks, positioning marketers more as strategic thinkers. “The role of a marketer will increasingly be to apply strategic and human judgment to AI-driven output,” she says, adding that the true differentiator will be the ability to ask critical questions and scrutinize both strategy and insight.

Caution and Creativity: A Balancing Act

Despite embracing technological advancements, Chambers approaches AI with caution. She admits, “I am not very confident that AI’s contribution can yet be proven beyond speed and cost efficiencies.” The biggest risk she sees is an over-reliance on automation, which could undermine brand creativity if marketers do not remain vigilant.

In her capacity as a juror for The Drum Marketing Awards, Chambers values submissions that illustrate measurable impact without compromising on strategic depth or human understanding. In a landscape increasingly characterized by automation and complexity, she believes that sound judgment remains an irreplaceable asset.

Celebrate the Future of Marketing

The Drum Marketing Awards aim to recognize leaders who elevate the standards of creative, intelligent, and commercially accountable marketing efforts. Observing jurors like Hannah Chambers will provide invaluable insights into defining effective brand-building strategies as the marketing landscape continues to evolve.

With the right balance of creativity and data-driven insight, marketing leaders can navigate these challenging waters and lay the groundwork for success in the future.