Thomson is to launch a £5.5 million autumn advertising campaign three months ahead of the peak sales period to once again steal a march on its competitors.
It is the second year in a row that the travel giant has broken with tradition by producing an ad campaign ahead of the usual post-Christmas peak sales period. Last year’s £5 million ‘Quality Time’ ad campaign launched in October in order to pip rivals to the post.
The new ‘Holidays Just Got Better’ ads – the first of which will appear during the ad break in ITV1’s X Factor this Saturday, September 22 at 8.25pm – aim to highlight how holidays have changed in the last 50 years and feature the new Dreamliner. Thomson Airways will be the first UK airline to operate the aircraft from May next year.
The ads, created by advertising agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, will appear during prime-time slots on TV over the next six weeks. The TV ads will use nostalgic videos and snaps from the 1960s to the present day and project them on to the surface of the new Dreamliner. They aim to recall the fun clients have had but also how times have changed and how Thomson has kept pace with the modern holidaymaker.
They will be supported by shop window banners as well as outdoor, print and online advertising, video on demand, email marketing, and social media. It is the first time “in a number of years” that Thomson has used outdoor advertising in what it calls its most integrated campaign to date.
The ‘photomosaic’ shop window banners to appear in its travel agencies will be made up of 780 individual photos, showing images of hundreds of different holidays from Thomson’s picture library.
A new site, holidaysjustgotbetter.co.uk has also been launched to engage customers in the new campaign. The interactive site will include the new ad, infographics, games and a behind-the-scenes video of the making of the ad.
Thomson marketing director Jeremy Ellis said: “Our new Holidays Just Got Better campaign aims to differentiate the Thomson brand from other tour operators. As the first UK customer to take delivery of the new Dreamliner, we knew the new aircraft should take primary focus in our new campaign.
“There was also no better way to demonstrate how Thomson is modernising the holiday experience, as the aircraft is set to innovate our holidays and change the way we travel.”