Thomas Cook launches website ads
Tour operator and travel agent Thomas Cook is backing the relaunch of its website with its biggest online ad campaign to date. Banners will appear on sites including Yahoo!, Wanadoo, Lycos and Teletext Holidays.
Created by Oyster Partners, the banners were inspired by Fifties artist Saul Bass, who designed the opening credits for classic Alfred Hitchcock films such as Vertigo. Oyster planning director Claire Hunt says the creative idea deliberately evokes a period when going on holiday involved “glamour and thrill”. Hunt adds: “It celebrates Thomas Cook’s travel heritage but challenges preconceptions of what the brand offers.”
The online campaign will highlight offers targeting a range of markets, including both traditional Thomas Cook customers and Web-literate online travel buyers. The Thomas Cook range has been broadened with the addition of long-haul destinations and other holidays designed to appeal to independent world travellers.
Thomas Cook claims its redesigned website, which went live last week, gives customers the ability to book 90 per cent of all holiday packages available in the UK online – a total of about 13 million holidays. Thomas Cook says that while other sites claim to offer similar choice, their customers can only browse online and must phone to book.
Oyster Partners has worked for Thomas Cook since 2004, when it won a four-way pitch. Thomas Cook has also been advised by e-commerce expert Andrew Doe, founder of Confetti.co.uk, who has been working with the travel company for the past six months.
