James Villas picks Inferno for £2.5m advertising task

James Villa Holidays has appointed Inferno to handle advertising for a £2.5 m campaign launching in the new year. The pitch was handled by sales and marketing director Joanna Howard and the AAR (MW October 21).

The campaign will include television, press and online activity. ARM Direct will handle media planning and buying and i-level develop digital activity.

The independent direct sell tour operator specialises in villa holidays at 19 destinations across the Mediterranean and in Orlando and Florida. It will offer Turkey as a destination for the first time next year.

Howard, a former Eurostar head of marketing, joined James Villa Holidays in May and oversaw an outdoor, press and radio campaign created by Smarter Communications (MW May 22). The campaign stressed the affordability of villas and that they were not just holiday options for families.

The company is privately owned and launched in 1984. It has a dedicated store in Bluewater and a target of 130,000 clients by the end of this year.

It signed a £450,000 deal to sponsor ITV1’s Today With Des And Mel in January when negotiations between Carlton and Ken Hom’s Oriental Food Range collapsed.

Inferno is a full service agency with clients that include National Express.