£7m Thomas Cook creates roster of three

Thomas Cook has created a roster comprising Farm, Leeds-based Home and former incumbent TBWA/London to handle its &£7m advertising business.

The travel firm parted company with TBWA as its sole agency of record after more than ten years in July and announced it would work on a project basis with “companies with a range of skills” (MW July 22).

The company says it wants its marketing to be more sales based and focus on getting customers to use its range of sales channels. Thomas Cook has recently restructured and its 25-strong marketing department, led by head of marketing Kate Knowles, now reports to managing director of sales Steve Finlan. He joined the company in February from the position of acting vice-president for retailer Gap Europe.

Previously, the Thomas Cook marketing team reported to managing director of product Nigel David. That position has been axed and David has been appointed managing director of the specialist standalone business Style Holidays and Thomas Cook.

It is believed TBWA is working on the annual post-Christmas campaign that traditionally starts the sales season for holidays.

Finlan says: “The aim of the new approach is to expand our marketing expertise in various areas, particularly in supporting our direct sales channels such as Thomascook.com and Thomas Cook TV. We also want to gain measurable value for money in marketing initiatives.”