Kuoni ditches TV ads in turn-of-year marketing message
Kuoni has put the experience and expertise of its personal travel agents at the centre of its new marketing initiative, which is its biggest turn-of-year campaign so far.
‘Our experience makes yours’ is the message for Kuoni’s new marketing campaign for the peak early booking period, which will run on social media and radio but not television.
Kuoni said it has moved away from television advertising in favour of a highly targeted media campaign to reach its core customers.
The campaign has a strong regional focus, with activity targeting within catchment of Kuoni’s stores, John Lewis concessions and partner travel agents throughout the UK.
Local radio campaigns have been recorded in different regional accents.
Marketing director Dean Harvey said: "Our whole message is that we’ve been there – we are the experts.
"To talk about service rather than product is notoriously difficult on TV.
"We know where our customers are in the UK and we know where our stores are, so this campaign is more targeted.
"We’ve done a lot of work this year on our customer profiling, digging deeper into our honeymoon market, families and couples so we understand what motivates them, and we’ve invested in our campaign so we’re highly visible to both consumer and travel agents throughout the peak booking period."
The campaign is Kuoni’s biggest single investment in digital so far, blending paid search on keywords, social and display advertising for the turn-of-year period. Kuoni is also running a media partnership with the Telegraph.
The campaign also brings Kuoni’s highest spend to date on direct mail, reaching 2.2 million customers with a booklet delivered directly to targeted UK homes.
The Kuoni sale kicks off on December 21 December until February 12 2018 and Kuoni is using bold new window design and point of sale to highlight the best worldwide offers.
A new digital film starring Kuoni’s travel experts, filmed in the UK and Thailand will be on the Kuoni website and social media.
Harvey added: "People have asked whether we’re cutting down on our spend, but that’s not the case. TV can be expensive, so we’ve spent all of that money in other ways.
"I’m spending more than I’ve ever spent. It’s eye-watering and it’s in the many millions."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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