So, what even is a brand trip? Honestly, before I ever went on one, I just pictured fancy folks getting free stuff and lounging by a pool. Sounds about right, yeah? Well, kinda, but not really the whole picture, not by a long shot.
I remember when I first started just, you know, posting stuff online. It wasn’t even a ‘thing’ I was trying to do. I was actually trying to sell some old camera gear. This was ages ago, back when my main gig was… well, let’s just say it involved a lot of spreadsheets and not a lot of sunshine. I was miserable, frankly. Got laid off from that spreadsheet palace, right around the time my cat, Mittens, needed this super expensive surgery. Talk about timing, huh? So there I was, no job, a vet bill the size of a small car, and a bunch of camera gear I wasn’t even using.
Anyway, I started making little videos about the gear, just to show it worked. People actually watched them! Next thing I know, I’m getting comments, questions… and one day, a small camera accessory company, bless their cotton socks, reached out. Not for a trip, not then, just for a review. But that’s how it all kicked off for me. It was a slow burn, like years of just chipping away, making content, most of it for free or for a fifty-dollar gift card, if I was lucky.
So, fast forward a bit. The term ‘brand trip’ started popping up. And then, one day, an email landed. ‘We’d love to invite you on a brand experience…’ Fancy words, right?
So, what actually happens on these things?
Okay, so a brand trip, from what I’ve lived through, is basically when a company pays for you to go somewhere. They cover your flights, your hotel, your food, usually. Sounds like a free vacation, doesn’t it? That’s the hook, I guess.
But here’s the kicker: it’s not really free free. You’re there to work. It’s a job, just in a different location. They’re investing in you because they want you to talk about their stuff, their hotel, their destination, whatever it is they’re promoting.
I remember my first proper one. We landed, got whisked off to this amazing-looking hotel. Super nice. But then, out came the itinerary. It was packed. Like, 7 AM breakfast meetings, then activities back-to-back. Think:
- Product demonstrations.
- Workshops related to the brand.
- Photo ops at specific locations – and you better believe you’re expected to be snapping and filming.
- Dinners that are also networking events, or where they talk more about the brand.
You’re ‘on’ pretty much all the time. You gotta be thinking about content constantly. What shot looks good? What can I say about this? How am I going to make this interesting for my audience? All while trying to be sociable and engaged with the brand reps and other creators there. It can be pretty draining, not gonna lie.
And the deliverables, oh man. Before you even go, you usually agree to a certain number of posts, stories, maybe a video. So, during the trip, you’re not just experiencing it; you’re gathering material. And after the trip, the work continues – editing, writing captions, getting approvals sometimes. It’s a whole process.
It’s not like they just hand you a ticket and say ‘have fun, send us a postcard.’ There are expectations. Big ones. They’re tracking the engagement, the reach. It’s a business transaction, dressed up in a nice travel package. Some brands are super chill, others are really specific about what they want you to say or show. I once had a brand ask for like, three re-edits of a video because the lighting wasn’t ‘aspirational’ enough. Aspirational! For a video about a water bottle!
So yeah, a brand trip is an experience, for sure. You get to see new places, try new things. And I’m grateful for the ones I’ve been on, don’t get me wrong. But it’s definitely not just a free holiday. It’s work. Sometimes it’s amazing, fun work. Other times, it’s just… work, with a better view. That’s the real deal, from my little corner of the internet.
