The Saga Group has launched a new multimillion-pound brand campaign aimed at broadening the company’s appeal and says it was shaped by travel agent feedback.
At the launch of the Experience is Everything campaign in central London, chief customer officer Stuart Beamish paid tribute to travel agents, saying they had been “fantastic” for the over-50s specialist.
The campaign’s TV advert is due to premiere this Friday during Midsomer Murders on ITV before airing on Channel 4 and Sky channels in the coming months. The campaign is also due to run on social media and in print.
Saga said the campaign would reveal a “new creative direction of the brand” and that actor Nicholas Farrell brings “a fresh take on perceptions of age, replacing negative connotations with a savvy and sharp-witted monologue”.
According to Saga data, its customers feel on average 14 years younger than they are and 91% want to experience new things and enjoy an active, healthy lifestyle.
Last week, the business spoke to more than 2,000 over 50s and 67% of those polled said they more likely to spend with a brand that embraced a positive view about life over the age of 50.
Chief executive Euan Sutherland said the new brand strategy “champions what we are calling ‘Generation Experience’” and said assets would be sent out to the trade.
Beamish said: “The travel trade has been fantastic for Saga in terms of the quality of their relationships with customers.
“That feedback from travel agents through our account team is part of the insight that has spurred us on to do this. It’s not just from customers, but also colleagues who talk to customers and travel agents.
“In return, we’ve got people calling our trade partners asking for Saga, so there’s mutual benefit there.”
Beamish said Saga Group would invest £8.5 million between now and the end of February as it runs the campaign across media platforms.
Sutherland said the campaign had taken two years to create and the messaging would be used in the future for “multi-year campaigns”.
He added: “This is the beginning for us and the next chapter and the beginning of a conversation about age. We’re challenging the perceptions of age and we’re moving that to ‘experience generation’.
“It’s a truism we become more experienced. We know what value and quality looks like. We cannot see anyone else in the UK who is prepared, ready and invested so much in supporting the older generation. That is our goal.”
Explaining how and when agents would learn about the campaign, Sutherland added: “There’s a whole programme going out where we show the ads to our colleagues internally and explaining what we’re doing but showing them the entire brand relaunch identity.
“Then the following day we’re going to go out to our trade partners, suppliers and everybody who helps us deliver for our customers. This is clearly of benefit to everyone who is out there.”
Agents will receive an email, fact sheet and a link to all three advert versions, Saga confirmed.
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