The travel giant Thomson is to unveil its final marketing campaign in the run-up to Christmas, before being absorbed into the Tui brand in 2017.
The TV advert – which will debut on 16 December – follows more than six decades of campaigns by the company including recent ads featuring Simon the Ogre and Miles the Bear. The group helped drive the popularity of cheap “sun and sangria” package holidays to Spain in the 1970s, offering breaks to Benidorm for as little as £37.
“The campaign forms part of an important brand migration programme as Thomson establishes itself as a global travel leader in the UK before transitioning to Tui later next year,” said the marketing director, Jeremy Ellis.
“While the 2016 film may be the final Thomson sign-off, we remain committed to bringing our customers with us on this journey while we continue to offer quality, modern and more personalised getaways you would expect from a holiday company with over 60 years of heritage in the industry.”
The theme of the final campaign underlines the importance of enjoying important holiday moments with loved ones. The advert features a little girl walking from the beach towards her father in a swimming pool – with “moments” frozen around her – before finally jumping into his arms.
In July Thomson and its sister brand First Choice (a brand name which will survive the restructure) announced plans to ditch their traditional holiday brochures by 2020, as customers demand increasingly sophisticated interactive digital experiences to help them choose and book their breaks. Millions of brochures are being phased out over the next four years, with racks of paper replaced by digital screens in the group’s 600 UK travel agencies.
The UK and Ireland arm of the Germany-based business – which includes the UK’s third largest airline, Thomson Airways – is Britain’s largest tour operator, with more than 10,000 employees serving more than 5.5 million customers every year.
The new advertising campaign is gearing up for so-called “Sunshine Saturday” – the second Saturday in January – which typically attracts large numbers of holiday bookings from consumers wanting to cheer themselves up with a break.
With UK customers’ spending money squeezed due to exchange rate volatility, the group expects all-inclusive holidays – which account for 60% of First Choice’s business – to continue to be popular next year.
