‘We want to send messages that matter’

Bord&Stift has been teaming up with Booking.com quite a bit over the last years. Bord&Stift’s Astrid had a chat with Myrto Vagiota, Communications Specialist in Partner Services at Booking.com.

What is your vision on communication?
‘We have been doing research in our Booking.com community on how people like to receive messages. It turns out there’s quite some variety in their preferences; in Europe and South America they love videos and in Asia they rather receive pdf’s. In a big company like Booking.com it’s a challenge to get people’s attention. When you present information you have to make sure it adds value. I want to send messages that matter. Video as a media format is a perfect way to captivate people’s attention and drive results for employee engagement. To show them what’s going on in a creative way and trigger them to take action.’

What were the videos about?
‘The videos we made with Bord&Stift were about the ranking of property on Booking.com and the benefits of contextualized ranking. The department I work for focuses on internal communication that goes out to all employees that work globally in our local offices with accommodations, but also at the headquarters in Amsterdam. We communicate about all kinds of subjects, from operational changes and company updates all the way through to Booking.com values and vision.’

What were your thoughts on the process of making the video?
‘The planning was super tight, Christmas was around the corner and we wanted to finish the video in three weeks. To go through the whole production process in such a short time is kind of crazy. The communication with Bord&Stift was personal and fast, over the phone we went over the changes we wanted. But if I would do it again, I would take more time. The feedback loops require time and attention.’

Do you have any suggestions for us to do things differently?
‘In the end I think it would have been good if you would have been more strict on the time schedule. It’s best to be super clear about the process; who is doing what, which phase requires which actions, what is possible and what is not. This way you manage expectations, build trust and show your client you’re the expert. And you’re not ending up talking on the phone on a Saturday evening. Don’t be too sweet, you can be honest, polite and involved at the same time!’