Your New Customer (maybe) Isn't Human

Hi Travel Marketers,

The pace of AI's evolution is staggering. This week, our team is heads-down analyzing the next major shift: the move from AI tools to AI agents.

This NavLog is your concise guide to what this new reality means for the future of travel marketing.

Inside, we break down OpenAI's next step into agentic web browsing, explore what the future of advertising looks like in this new world, and look at how luxury brands like Rosewood are already using AI video in their creative.

Plus, find out where you can catch the Propellic team this fall.

Grab a coffee and read what you need to know.

‍

OpenAI's Next Step Towards Agentic Web Browsing

By: Brennen Bliss, CEO, Propellic

Graphic Credit: OpenAI/PCMag.

ChatGPT Atlas was released last week, and I spent a few hours playing with it. It’s built on Chromium, which means it has much of the same underlying technology as Chrome, and some extensions (including password managers, coupon plugins, and more) from the Chrome Web Store can be used in Atlas as they would be in Chrome - but not all.

ChatGPT Atlas is not the first AI web-use browser, nor will it be the last - and hopefully, it will improve over the months to come - because right now, I see it as more of a gimmick than anything.

I am flying from Chiang Mai to Bangkok in October for the SEO Chiang Mai conference. I wanted to move my flight to a later departure, so I opened my TripIt and asked the browser to rebook my Thai Airways transit. – I watched ChatGPT Atlas research an alternative flight, copy the flight number, update my flight number in TripIt, then proceed to inform me that “[my] flight has been rebooked to a 5:00 PM departure.” – In fact, my flight was not rebooked - ChatGPT Atlas just updated the flight number in my TripIt itinerary but left the actual booking untouched.

Needless to say, ChatGPT Atlas slowed down my productivity - as I imagine it would for you. There will need to be advances in both processing time and logic chain for agentic browsing to trump self-executed action.

‍

AI-Generated Video in Luxury Hotel Marketing

By: Dasha Gastol, Sr. Director, Paid Media @ Propellic

Graphic Credit: Image from a Rosewood Hotels and Resorts brand campaign.

Earlier this month, Rosewood Hotels unveiled its new brand identity: an audacious and elegant redefinition of modern luxury. The “Reimagined Rosewood” campaign offers a glimpse into the brand’s vision for the future of hospitality, built on equal parts legacy and innovation.

Watch the Rosewood brand campaign video here.

Among the cinematic visuals, one element stood out: the deliberate use of AI-generated video. While many recent attempts at AI-driven creative have been met with skepticism (or full-fledged brand attacks in the Instagram comments section), Rosewood’s approach feels distinct and intentional. By integrating AI into a human-led creative process, the brand demonstrates how technology can heighten, not diminish, the artistry behind a campaign.

Watch the AI-focused campaign video here.

The result is a campaign that feels both artful and forward-looking. It proves that when used thoughtfully, technology and artistry can coexist to create work that’s as emotionally resonant as it is visually arresting.

Learn more about this campaign from CEO Sonia Cheng.

‍

The Future of Advertising in Agentic Browsers

By: Brennen Bliss, CEO, Propellic

Graphic Credit: Google Search.

Go to Google. Search for “Hotels in New York.” You’ll see search ads, Google Hotel Center ads, and organic results. – Which do you click?

Now, what happens when you tell your “agent” to book a hotel in New York? Will it click the ads or the organic results?

This is one of my biggest questions right now - do us humans lose our agency over proceeding with sponsored listings vs organic listings?

Search advertising - which underpins performance marketing (well… all marketing) in our industry - is going to self-disrupt. The clock is ticking, and I’m very curious to see where it lands. Something to think about…

‍