Mumbai: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, India’s leading omnichannel travel services company has leveraged outdoor media in a disruptive initiative to create buzz in both – the outdoor and digital – social media space. This exciting and clutter-breaking format, built on mixed reality and anamorphic displays is intended to grab attention and encourage social sharing by young India – amplifying Thomas Cook’s brand visibility and cool quotient.
To emphasize its campaign theme – Europe, Best Experienced with Thomas Cook – the brand has conceptualised a 3D anamorphic creative that showcases a breath-taking shot of Switzerland’s Glacier Express on a journey across the iconic Brusio Spiral Bridge. The moving display of one of the most scenic train rides in Europe, features the Glacier Express literally popping out of the hoarding, making it an exciting experience for the motorists/pedestrians passing the hoarding.
In addition, Thomas Cook India has also smartly utilized mixed reality to create an illusion of an outdoor hoarding installed at an iconic location in Mumbai. This short video of the outdoor site, showcases a train zipping through the Swiss Alps, while creating an illusion of snow cascading from the hoarding onto the streets, surprising/shocking onlookers.
The campaign was conceptualised and executed by one of the leading outdoor agencies – Outdoor Advertising Professionals.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd president & group head, marketing, service quality, value added services & innovation Abraham Alapatt said, “I am delighted to bring an innovative concept to our new-age Indian consumers, intended to create excitement/buzz around travel. We have smartly leveraged mixed reality and 3D anamorphic displays to bring to life the iconic Glacier Express speeding through Switzerland’s spiral Brusio viaduct – while showering snow from the hoarding onto unsuspecting bystanders! The shock and awe encourages social sharing among today’s digital natives, hungry for vibrant new formats/content. Our intent is to increase brand visibility via exciting/innovative concepts and to up our cool quotient/appeal to target young India.”
OAP Mediatech CEO Abhijit Sengupta said, “With optical Illusion on billboards having been a monopoly of an overseas agency, I was waiting for an opportunity to experiment on anamorphic executions as well as the mixed reality content in India. And then came Thomas Cook’s brief! While creating anamorphic designs with physical items like a can or car is relatively easy, but to come up with an idea on a holiday destination and that too entire Europe, was a challenging proposition. And we did not have any stock pictures or video shoots to work upon. That’s when we thought of making rail the hero, the ambassador. Everything was done from scratch – CAD modelling, to texturing, light & shadowing and finally rendering and compositing. In both the cases we chose a 1-plane anamorphic drawing, since the digital billboard chosen was a flat one. For the round bridge, a 3-plane perspective grid and for the tunnel a 2-point but reverse perspective grid was chosen. I would like to thank Thomas Cook for the opportunity and the faith in us.”
Mumbai: ‘Tis the Season! To be jolly and ring in the holidays. Except that it is not.
Just when it seemed like life was returning to normal, the spread of the omicron variant has once again put a question mark over the travel plans. The new restrictions being announced across states and countries have dashed hopes of a cheery festive season for many, including the travel sector that had just begun its road to recovery in 2021.
“The year ushered in significant opportunities for the brand to leverage, but it remained challenging nonetheless,” summed up Thomas Cook president and group head, marketing, service quality, value-added services, and innovation Abraham Alapatt. “A big win for us is that it gave us the ability to rapidly accelerate our digital journey – to build scale and create a contactless journey through digital means for both our B2C and B2B customers.”
The company worked on its conversation and brand messaging which underwent a major shift from price to safety-first and ease of travel. Digital became the new normal, as companies experimented with online tools – self-service apps, AI-enabled chatbots, build-your-own holiday platforms for personalisation, and CRM connectivity across business lines to its leisure and corporate travelers. “We decided to educate customers on the most credible and updated travel restrictions and guidelines and become the first point of contact for our customers. We organised virtual events to showcase travel experiences in the new normal in Europe, Dubai, and the Maldives to encourage customers to travel,” he elaborated.
From launching a series of campaigns to building consumer confidence, travel companies and hotels also invested in strengthening customer safety. There was continued emphasis on vaccinated hotel staff, drivers & co-travellers, offering facilities of flexible rescheduling and cancellation when required and travel insurance that covers Covid related quarantine and/or hospitalisation, with some even going the extra mile by offering 24×7 doctor-on-call and contactless Covid-negative certification services with doorstep delivery.
Continued to pump money into advertising
The year saw the travel-booking platforms pumping money into advertising across all media channels, and leveraging social media. There was a significant shift from print to digital/social media which was not only used to inspire travel, but more importantly to spread positive news on travel and thereby build customer confidence. Online travel brand Goibibo rolled out its campaign ‘Apna Rule Toh Full Vasool’, announcing ‘Daily Steal Deals’ for hotels and last-minute flight bookings on its platform. While, My Trip roped in the hit-duo of Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt for its campaign ‘JoHogaWOWHoga’ to encourage travellers to plan, book and travel once again without any worries arising out of cancellation or hassle of refund claims.
Club Mahindra, the flagship brand of Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India also reached out to travel enthusiasts through its ‘Jaana Kahaan Hai’ campaign starring the ‘Shershah’ actor, Siddharth Malhotra. The campaign captured people’s desire to travel and explore new destinations and indulge in newer adventures in the new normal.
“Our 2021 visibility is almost back to the pre-pandemic levels while our share of voice in print has almost doubled to that of pre-Covid levels,” said Thomas Cook president.
2021: The year of domestic tourism
As most foreign destinations remained out of reach due to restrictions, 2021 emerged as the year for domestic tourism. There was a growing appetite for non-standard elements and a rising trend for deeper exploration of smaller yet undiscovered locales and a pronounced shift from micro-cations to in-depth stays. The trend also shifted from emergency travel to leisure travel, according to industry experts.
“India’s growing appetite for outdoor and adventure is fuelled by the desire to get away from crowds,” said Alapatt sharing insights on the changing consumer behavior. “We are seeing a strong uptick for our camping, hiking, trekking, and biking trips; jungle and safari experiences too. Our biking trips are in high demand – equally from millennials as India’s C-suite, with routes across rugged yet spectacular terrain from Kashmir, Leh-Ladakh, Rajasthan, Sikkim to South India’s Madikeri, Yercaud, etc. and the option of riding your own bike or hiring a premium Ducati, Harley Davidson or equivalent.”
According to Cleartrip chief business officer Prahlad Krishnamurti, there was at least 25 per cent improvement over 2020. “We have approximately doubled our user base from August to December which corresponds to a 30 per cent increase in conversion rates. There was a sharp recovery at almost 70-80 per cent pre covid levels in H2 2021. This recovery was stronger than what we saw post first wave in 2020,” he added.
Apart from the metros commanding the usual high share, the leisure destinations preferred during the festive season during the second half of 2021 were Goa, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Guwahati, and Srinagar- making up for nearly 15 per cent of the market share on the ClearTrip portal- with Goa and Rajasthan having the lion’s share in hotel bookings.
“However, there was and still exists a lot of anxiety and uncertainty around travel due to the pandemic,” said Krishnamurti. But he remains optimistic about the prospects for next year. “ClearTrip spent 2021 ramping up and investing in building our flight and hotel products, with the goal of making travel simple for customers. We are looking to gain larger mindshare with our customers and expect this to translate into a sizable market share.”
High hopes for 2022
Despite the challenges, the industry remains hopeful that the pent-up demand for travel could drive rapid growth in travel ad-spend over the next few years, but it will no doubt, be a long road back to pre-pandemic spending. According to Zenith’s latest Travel adspend forecast released in November, the fastest growth in travel advertising is expected to come from India, but it will take until 2023 for the travel ad spend to be 31 per cent above the 2019 baseline.
Looking ahead at 2022, sustainable tourism could become a very important factor as travellers become environment-conscious. According to industry experts, the post-pandemic travellers are going to be characterised by discerning, detail-driven, and discovery-oriented – seeing more value in depth of experience rather than whistle-stop ‘photo-op’ travel. Travellers will continue to depend on technological advancement to ensure reduced physical contact, even as safety and hygiene will remain the top most important factors in their 2022 travel decisions.
So, here’s looking forward to a stronger and safer 2022.
MUMBAI: Travel and tourism were among the first sectors to be hit in 2020, due to the outbreak of the Covid2019 pandemic and the resultant closure of borders. It has also been one of the most affected industries and probably will take the longest to revive, with both leisure and business travel taking the brunt. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTCC), the pandemic is likely to cost the tourism sector almost $22 billion and 50 million jobs. Last year alone, India's hospitality and tourism sector suffered an economic wipe-out estimated to be up to Rs 15 lakh crore. And just when it began to show signs of recovery, the country is witnessing a resurgence in cases, dimming the outlook for the sector.
Indiantelevision.com’s Anupama Sajeet spoke to Thomas Cook (India) president and group head of marketing Abraham Alapatt about how the travel industry plans to beat Covid 2.0 and assuage consumer fears. Alapatt also talked about the company's roadmap to deal with the large-scale disruption caused by the second wave of the pandemic.
Edited excerpts:
On the humongous challenge facing the tourism industry.
The travel and tourism industry has been one of the hardest hit due to the Covid2019 pandemic. Given the vaccine rollouts, we are now witnessing a growth in positive consumer sentiment and are seeing fear being replaced with cautious optimism. In the short to medium term, the opportunity for tourism will be dominated by a few new keywords — safety and hygiene, clear focus on less crowded, more open space, sunshine-oriented destinations, and as a result possibly more unexplored, undiscovered, destinations and experiences.
Going forward in the new normal, marketers have talked of the post-pandemic ‘3C’ customer, who is effectively going to be constrained — mentally, physically, and financially and will be connected to what’s happening in their country and the world. The post-pandemic customer is going to be defined by 4Ds, especially for travel:
· Will Deliberate more on decisions on leisure travel
· More Discerning about the choice of destinations
· Demanding/Detail-oriented regarding all aspects of the travel programs
· Discovery-oriented
On marketing strategies for the upcoming summer holiday season.
Summer is one of the primary seasons to travel for families given that most school vacations are during this time. While our marketing strategy in 2020 had been primarily digital, we have now reintroduced print to our mix of promotions. We believe in an omnichannel approach, giving the customer the choice to connect with us digitally, at our outlets, or via our toll-free numbers. Customers have now become more digital-savvy post-2020. We have seen an increase in the web traffic on our sites as well as walk-ins at our stores for final discussions and closures. We will continue to invest digitally and boost our retail network across the country.
Also, we quickly adapted to the new normal and created products and services in line with the requirements of the Covid2019 era. The consumer wish-list had changed and our teams worked accordingly to create easy to book, practical holidays such as workations, staycations, drivecations, affordable luxury holidays. We focused on quick breaks to counter the stress of work from home and home chores at convenient short drivable distances.
As international borders reopened, our teams negotiated deals with our vendors/partners to offer customers the best rates at Dubai and Maldives’ luxury and super-luxury resorts. The reopening of borders for additional countries has boosted outbound demand to destinations like Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and Seychelles. We have added the exciting Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights experience in Murmansk and launched our Nepal tours with a special offer. We are seeing growing confidence in international travel and the return of group travel.
On Thomas Cook’s roadmap for 2021 and beyond.
We conducted a survey with over 2500 customers across India’s metros and tier-1 and tier-2 cities to understand key consumer behaviours and trends. Our Holiday Readiness Travel Report – Future of Travel post-Covid2019 revealed key drivers in this new era of travel. Health and safety ranks as the primary concern for 75 per cent of respondents. We took this challenge head-on and put together a three-pronged customer confidence-building program in the form of 'Assured-Insured-Secured', that covers every aspect of physical safety, as well as mental and financial security to give the customer complete peace of mind.
We also launched the Assured Safe Travel Program and Doctor on Call 24×7 service in partnership with Apollo Clinics; a free-service offering expert guidance and assistance for safe holiday planning via a tie-up with ICMR accredited labs.
Given the situation, the demand for virtual and contactless sales and services has accelerated. Our survey also revealed that given the prevailing uncertainty, a significant 71 per cent of respondents stated that they require the guidance of a holiday expert and preferred to visit an outlet/Virtual Store/video chat while planning their holidays. We introduced Virtual Holiday Store and our dedicated team of travel experts will be available over video chat to guide customers with contactless and convenient holiday planning. This is in addition to our retail outlets pan India, that are operational where permitted by local authorities.
(In addition to Thomas Cook, the Thomas Cook India Group operates leading B2C and B2B travel brands including SOTC, Asian Trails, AlliedTPro (ATP), Australian Tours Management (ATM), Desert Adventures, Luxe Asia, Kuoni Hong Kong, TC Travel, Private Safaris East & South Africa and Sterling Holidays.)
MUMBAI: IdeateLabs, one of the biggest independent full-service digital ecosystem, has won the social media mandate across Thomas Cook India’s business lines – including Holidays Outbound and Domestic & Foreign Exchange in a multi-agency pitch. IdeateLabs already caters to top-notch clients in varied sectors such as HDFC Bank, Brand Factory, Hiranandani Communities, RR Kabel, Fullerton India, Hafele to name a few.
Thomas Cook (India) Ltd is a leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company. The mandate includes managing the brand’s social media strategy, developing collaterals and artworks, managing queries, end-to- end planning and so on. The core focus is to create a huge buzz around various offerings including the Holiday & Forex businesses and also engage the target audience with interesting content.
The Holidays vertical of Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. comprises of various tours including group escorted packages, customised tours, adhoc groups, honeymoon packages, cruise holidays, luxury holidays, experiential holidays, outdoor and adventure packages and more both within India and overseas.
Commenting on the latest win, IdeateLabs business head Ashish Rana said, “We are immensely proud to work with the iconic travel and tourism brand Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. With a vibrant legacy of India operation since 1881. It is of utmost importance to sustain the brand positioning and further enhance its presence in the market. They are a leader in their space & their hybrid clicks & bricks strategy is perfectly in sync with India’s consumer base.
The brand is renowned equally for the diversity of its product range as also the quality of their services in its endeavour to delight India’s range of customer segments.”
He added, “We are living in an era where everyone is part of the social media. Brands are majorly focusing towards enhancing their presence and visibility on the social media platforms. We at IdeateLabs are passionate about creatively communicating messages by capturing the nuances and topicality of the subject. Our motto is to come up with logical ideas which are backed by scientific research and analysis. We are looking forward to enhancing the brand’s outreach and engagements by setting new benchmarks and achieving new milestones."
Thomas Cook India Ltd president & group head – marketing, service quality, value added services & innovation Abraham Alapatt said, “Social media continues to play a defining role in the consumer’s perception of a brand – helping not only to influence purchase decisions, but more importantly build a relationship. Through our digital outreach, we aim to move from simply just being present ‘on’ multiple social media platforms to harmonise and create the perfect synergy between our offline and online campaigns. We therefore sought a partner who was equally driven by passion and who could bring a fresh take of innovation and creativity in our social messaging, while understanding the pulse our customer. IdeateLabs has showcased a deep understanding of the sector and we look forward to rolling out engaging content and impactful campaigns in association with them.”
MUMBAI: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, an integrated travel and related financial services company, spearheads the citizen election agenda 2019 by launching its ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign ahead of the upcoming general elections. The brand seeks to empower citizens to vote while simultaneously rewarding them- both on their flight to their hometown pre-election, as well as holiday discounts post elections.
According to the Election Commission, merely 540 million Indian voters or 66.4 per cent of those eligible cast their vote in the 2014 general elections. A key challenge attributed to the low turnout was the migrating Indian population, moving from tier II and III cities into larger urban towns and metros. Thomas Cook India has therefore strategically aligned its campaign to tap into India’s vote bank, by aiming to create awareness on the importance of voting while gratifying the voter with incentives.
Thomas Cook India’s ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign will extend from 26 March to 19 May 2019, to encourage Indians to exercise their right to vote by flying back to their respective hometowns- where they have been registered as voters. As part of the campaign, the pre-election offer includes a discount of Rs 1,000 off on return air tickets (per adult) on providing proof via any official document such as their Voter ID/ Aadhaar Card, etc. The last date of flight departure is 19 May 2019 to coincide with the last date of polling.
Voting in many states coincides with India’s largest vacation season. Hence, in its initiative to recognise the efforts taken by its customers who vote, Thomas Cook India will offer a special post-voting holiday discount – across both its domestic and international group tours (Rs 3000 off on its domestic group tours or Rs 5000 off on its international group tours, per family). All its customers need to do to avail the offer is to display their inked finger at any of Thomas Cook’s extensive retail outlets pan India. The post-voting holiday offer is valid up to 19 July 2019.
With several election dates falling on Mondays or Thursdays, Thomas Cook’s data reveals that travel hungry Indians are likely to extend their weekends into ‘smart weekend holidays’ thus giving a fillip to the emerging trend of ‘Election Tourism’.
Thomas Cook president and group head – marketing, service quality, value-added services, and innovation Abraham Alapatt said, “At Thomas Cook India, we are keen to do our part by motivating consumers to cast their vote in their hometowns and this formed the genesis of our Ghar Jao Vote Karo campaign.”
He added, “Social media is expected to play a strong role in the upcoming elections. Be it voting selfies showcasing an inked finger or the use of hashtags, consumers are taking their involvement beyond the booth. However, there is a strong urgency in getting the voting population involved in the pre-voting phase as well and hence our campaign motivates customers- both during the pre and post voting phases. Via our Ghar Jao Vote Karo campaign, we look forward to engineering a new wave of proactive social consciousness across metros as well as Tier II and III regions of the country.”
MUMBAI: While travel and tour companies are going all out to target the traditional family and youth segments, Thomas Cook’s internal research has revealed the emergence of a viable TG in India’s Gen S- senior citizens with plenty of free time and disposable income (often enough, topped up by their children) and are increasingly fit and raring to travel. The company has hence re-introduced an initiative, which is not only a great product and a great idea, but with a refreshing piece of communication as well.
To highlight the new services targeted towards the older generation, the brand has partnered with L&K Saatchi and Saatchi for its campaigns. The commercials have been produced by Light Box films and will be aired in cinemas, on TV and digital mediums.
Speaking about the campaign, Thomas Cook India Financial Services and Innovation marketing, service quality — group head and president Abraham Alapatt said, “Silver Breaks is yet another endeavor from Thomas Cook to continue its innovative and pioneering legacy in products and marketing. This is not only a great product, but a great service for those who really need the care and comfort while travelling alone or to unfamiliar places, especially at an age when everything becomes a challenge. With easy paced itineraries and an attractive value, we are encouraging people to travel the world, no matter what your age is.”
Speaking about the TVC, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi NCD Rahul Nangia said, “The film features real people in their real voices. Neither of them are actors or artists. The idea was to capture them minutes before they are about to leave for their first international trip. This is a moment when they are reflective about milestones in their life, before they embark on another milestone event.”
MUMBAI: While travel and tour companies are going all out to target the traditional family and youth segments, Thomas Cook’s internal research has revealed the emergence of a viable TG in India’s Gen S- senior citizens with plenty of free time and disposable income (often enough, topped up by their children) and are increasingly fit and raring to travel. The company has hence re-introduced an initiative, which is not only a great product and a great idea, but with a refreshing piece of communication as well.
To highlight the new services targeted towards the older generation, the brand has partnered with L&K Saatchi and Saatchi for its campaigns. The commercials have been produced by Light Box films and will be aired in cinemas, on TV and digital mediums.
Speaking about the campaign, Thomas Cook India Financial Services and Innovation marketing, service quality — group head and president Abraham Alapatt said, “Silver Breaks is yet another endeavor from Thomas Cook to continue its innovative and pioneering legacy in products and marketing. This is not only a great product, but a great service for those who really need the care and comfort while travelling alone or to unfamiliar places, especially at an age when everything becomes a challenge. With easy paced itineraries and an attractive value, we are encouraging people to travel the world, no matter what your age is.”
Speaking about the TVC, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi NCD Rahul Nangia said, “The film features real people in their real voices. Neither of them are actors or artists. The idea was to capture them minutes before they are about to leave for their first international trip. This is a moment when they are reflective about milestones in their life, before they embark on another milestone event.”
MUMBAI: Home shopping network Shop CJ, which has inked a marketing alliance with travel services company Thomas Cook, is eyeing turnover of Rs 1200 crore in FY 2016, which is a growth of almost 40 per cent.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Shop CJ Network CEO Kenny Shin says, “We are poised to cross Rs 1200 crore turnover this year, recording a 40 per cent growth over sales of Rs 850 crore achieved in the last fiscal ended 31 December, 2014. Our channel reaches to more than 6.5 crore households in India and currently caters to about 40 per cent of the market.”
Through the marketing initiative undertaken by Shop CJ and Thomas Cook, the companies will showcase their ‘Holiday Savings Account.’
Earlier this year, the shopping network rebranded itself as Shop CJ from Star CJ Alive, which marked the conclusion of the treaty between CJ and Star. The transition has been smooth sans any glitches according to Shin.
“The transition has happened smoothly without any breakdown and we have continued our growth journey. We knew from the beginning that we have the strength to establish ourselves and I am happy to say that we are way ahead of where we were,” he informs.
Star CJ is planning to expand its base with multiple developments in various regions of the country. “Before the end of the financial year 2016, we plan to have our warehouse ready in eastern and southern provinces of the country. In the east, we are looking at Kolkata, which will help us deliver efficiently in the Northeastern states, while for the south we are yet to shortlist a place,” Shin says.
Not ruling out possible tie ups with established e-commerce ventures like Amazon.in, Flipkart etc, he however says, “In the future, we may go in that direction if we feel the need but at the moment, there are no such plans.”
Speaking about the tie-up with Star CJ, Thomas Cook (India) chief innovation officer & head – marketing and service quality Abraham Alapatt says, “Our Holiday Savings Account is a truly innovative product that allows customers to save, earn and travel! Its unique concept allows customers to save via 12 easy instalments while earning an attractive interest (via our Bank Partners Indus Ind, ICICI and Kotak Bank), with further benefits of a Thomas Cook top up on the 13th month and a zero exit penalty. Indeed a significant consumer empowering tool.”
Elaborating on the marketing association, he adds, “Our tie up with Shop CJ gives us access to its extensive network of high potential yet under leveraged travel hungry middle India. Our innovative Holiday Savings Account, is ideally suited to the informative format of Shop CJ’s electronic and online shopping platforms, ensuring visibility-reach, as also the personal touch of our Toll Free number for details and assisted transactions.”
“The home-shopping industry is growing rapidly in India and Shop CJ is expanding its market share by entering into a new segment to create a unique shopping experience for its consumers. Shop CJ, with a footprint of 75 million households will create great value for its consumers with Thomas Cook India’s unique and affordable Holiday Savings Account range of holidays. Travel is seeing impressive demand from Indian consumers and we bring to this partnership an audience, which is yet untapped by organized players in the Travel & Tourism industry,” Shin concludes.
