A Masterclass in Crisis-Driven Reinvention: How Trip Actions Reinvented Itself Overnight When Travel Collapsed

The Day Everything Changed

One moment, Trip Actions was a fast-growing travel tech company. The next, it was staring at an industry-wide shutdown. In March 2020, as the pandemic brought global travel to a standstill, 98% of their bookings vanished overnight. For a business built entirely around corporate travel, this wasn’t just a downturn, it was an existential crisis.

Greg Perotto, then VP of Corporate Marketing, recalls the moment. "We had spent years building a category-defining product, and suddenly, the rug was pulled from under us. The question wasn’t just how to survive, but how to stay relevant."

What followed was a rapid, strategic pivot that turned a near-fatal disruption into an opportunity.

Step 1: Listen to Customers, Not the Panic

Instead of scrambling for a stopgap solution, Trip Actions reached out to customers, CFOs, travel managers, and executives, to understand their immediate challenges. Two key issues emerged:

1. Traveler Safety & Logistics – Companies needed to bring stranded employees home and ensure essential travel was safe.
2. Managing Airline Credits – With millions tied up in unused tickets, finance teams needed a way to track and redeem travel credits efficiently.

The old value proposition, fast and easy business travel, no longer mattered. The new mission? Helping businesses navigate uncertainty.

Step 2: Adapt the Product in Days, Not Months

Armed with this insight, Trip Actions quickly realigned its product roadmap. Over a single weekend, the product and engineering teams launched new features, including:

• COVID-19 heat maps showing travel risks by region.
• Quarantine requirement tracking for informed travel decisions.
• Universal Airline (UA) card functionality, allowing companies to use existing flight credits before purchasing new tickets.

"We weren’t just updating messaging. We were solving new problems," Greg explains. "Without that, any marketing shift would have been meaningless."

Step 3: Rewrite the Playbook, Fast

Marketing needed to move just as quickly. Within 48 hours, Greg’s team:

• Rewrote Trip Actions' positioning and messaging to reflect the new reality.
• Updated 88 nurture emails to align with customer concerns.
• Overhauled website content to emphasize risk management and cost control.

The message was clear and direct:

• "Mitigate risk and ensure traveler safety."
• "Manage budget risk and maximize travel credits."

Trip Actions wasn’t just a travel platform anymore, it had repositioned itself as an essential business continuity tool.

The Results? Turning Crisis Into Growth

When Greg joined Trip Actions, the company had around 1,500 customers. By the time he left, that number had grown to nearly 5,000, most of that growth happening during the pandemic.

While competitors struggled or shut down, Trip Actions adapted. Because they weren’t selling travel anymore. They were selling control in a time of chaos.

What Marketers Can Learn From This

1. Listen first. Real pivots come from real customer problems, not internal assumptions. Trip Actions didn’t guess what customers needed; they asked.
2. Move fast, but with purpose. Speed is pointless without direction. They didn’t just react, they acted on clear customer signals.
3. Align product and marketing. A new message means nothing if the product doesn’t back it up. Marketing wasn’t just changing words; it was amplifying real solutions.
4. Let go of the old playbook. The hardest part of reinvention is abandoning what used to work. Companies that cling to past success often miss future opportunities.
5. Turn a crisis into an advantage. When everything is uncertain, the companies that step up with clarity and solutions stand out, and often come out stronger.

A Question for Marketers

If your market shifts overnight, how would you respond? Would you double down on what worked before, or find new ways to create value? The brands that adapt quickly don’t just survive; they define what’s next.

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Watch the Full Episode Here.

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