MxMIndia

Tag: Thomas Cook

  • The Company's forex bis claims over 1mn retail customers every year

    Thomas Cook rolls out leadership campaign in forex space

    By Our Staff

     

    Thomas Cook Group, global travel company, has launched a campaign to reinforce the company’s leadership position in the foreign exchange space.

     

    Notes a communique: With a clear intent to leverage the opportunity of India’s rapidly growing digital ecosystem and drive scale and speed, Thomas Cook India’s Forex business embarked on a journey of digitalisation pre-pandemic; and leveraged the lockdown to accelerate its digital transformation. The Forex business pivoted to enhanced digital models to deliver on the imperatives of contactless and safe transactions: launched the Virtual Forex Branch equipping its teams with VPN telephony/auto-diallers to stay connected and assist customers from the safety of their homes; the innovative FXMate digital tool to support B2B partners with virtual Foreign Exchange services; online remittances and card top-ups that proved invaluable for students stranded overseas with quick/seamless and secure transactions.

     

    Today, the Company’s unique Omnichannel model empowers customers with choice and convenience: simple, secure and quick bookings via its Online Forex Store; support through its call centre or by walking in to their closest forex outlet to transact with an in-store expert.:

     

  • The digital video campaign, #CricketDateWithDad leverages a significant trend close on the heels of Fathers’ Day

    Thomas Cook’s latest ad film for Fathers’ Day

    By A Correspondent

     

    This cricket season, Thomas Cook wants fans to travel from wherever they are to watch the World Cup with their first cricket buddy, their father. The digital video campaign, #CricketDateWithDad leverages a significant trend close on the heels of Fathers’ Day (June 16, 2019) and in sync with the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup.

     

    The campaign has been conceptualized and created by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi and includes a TVC, which is live on social media and digital mediums.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Abraham Alapatt, President, Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality & Innovation, Thomas Cook said: “The new wave of father-child bonding trips is a significant opportunity for our brand. Through our campaign #CricketDateWithDad, we aim to focus on the sentiment shared by father and child, and induce in our customers the need to take time out from their schedules and spend some exclusive time with their first hero – their dad. With cricket being India’s passion and Fathers’ Day coinciding with the ICC Cricket World Cup, we’ve combined the two to present it as a compelling proposition to our customers.”

     

    Speaking about the film, Debarjyo Nandi, Senior Vice President, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi added: “We don’t realise until it’s too late that these moments with our dads will never come back. We don’t realise that while we have now moved on to watching matches with our friends, he’s still at home, probably watching it alone. We don’t realize that watching a World Cup in the stadium is probably on their bucket list too, which we should prioritise over ours…else regret not realising this dream for the rest of our lives! ”

     

     

  • It implores the viewers to travel more and 'Turn what you know around'

    Thomas Cook asks people to #TravelToKnow

    By A Correspondent

     

    Thomas Cook India has launched a new campaign to promote traveling as a way to breaking cultural barriers.Focusing on North East of India, the two films feature young people from the region, who eventually invite you to their part of the world, to discover who they really are.Conceptualized by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India, the films are produced by Lightbox Films and directed by Rahul Nangia.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook India said: “Thomas Cook India has always been at the forefront of bringing fresh and exciting new experiences to our customers. However, the North East of India is undiscovered by a large majority. With this campaign our intent is to question the myths about the region and to generate a strong positive interest in the region.”

     

    Speaking about the films, Rahul Nangia, Joint NCD, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi said: “The characters in the film were facing the camera for the first time. The idea was to keep the films real and hard-hitting.  And to use a simple visual device to turn perceptions around.”

     

     

  • The company has re-introduced an initiative which is not only a great product and a great idea but with a refreshing piece of communication as well

    Thomas Cook unveils new campaign aimed at Seniors

    By A Correspondent

     

    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 thus re-introduced an initiative which is not only a great product and a great idea but with a refreshing piece of communication as well.

     

    Silver Breaks – Senior Citizen’s Holiday Plans from Thomas Cook has been specifically created for the needs and requirements of India’s Seniors / Silvers… A large population of eager travelers who may be even traveling for the first time and are filled with apprehensions and concerns about traveling on their own especially at their age. There are many people in this world especially in India who assume responsibilities at a very early age, and spend their entire lives fulfilling those responsibilities to their parents, children, family and society. They have probably never been even beyond their own neighborhood walls or city limits, never found the time or managed to save for an international holiday. This is an opportunity for them to fulfill this latent desire which they most definitely deserve to.

     

    The films have been conceptualized and created by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi. The commercials have been produced by Light Box films and will be aired in cinemas, on TV and digital mediums.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head – Marketing, Service Quality, Financial Services & Innovation, Thomas Cook India 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, Rahul Nangia, Jt. NCD, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi 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.”

     

  • The agency's Mumbai office will manage the mainline creative services for the iconic travel and tourism services MNC

    Thomas Cook assigns creative mandate to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi

    By A Correspondent

     

    Thomas Cook has assigned its India mandate to L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s Mumbai office will manage the mainline creative services for the iconic travel and tourism services MNC.

     

    Thomas Cook was founded in London and has a wide global presence today. Thomas Cook (India) Ltd. is the leading integrated travel and travel related financial services company in the country offering a broad spectrum of services that include Foreign Exchange, Corporate Travel, MICE, Leisure Travel, Insurance, Visa & Passport services and E-Business.

     

    Abraham Alapatt

    Abraham Alapat, Chief Innovation Officer and Marketing Head, said, “We at Thomas Cook are delighted to announce L&K Saatchi & Saatchi as our new creative agency partner. As India’s leading integrated travel services provider and the most respected brand in travel – we at Thomas Cook (India) Ltd., have embarked on an ambitious programme of total transformation – of existing businesses as well as pioneering some very exciting innovative new ventures. And as part of this larger exercise, we identified (post evaluating several creative agencies as part of a pitch process) L&K as the kind of young, open, proactive and nimble agency partner we need.”

     

    L & K Saatchi & Saatchi will look to support Thomas Cook in its ambitious plans for the coming years in reshaping the way travel is being sold.

     

  • iProspect Communicate2 is assigned the 360-degree digital marketing mandate for Thomas Cook India

    Thomas Cook gets Communicate2 for digital mktng

    Aegis Media’s iProspect Communicate2 has bagged the digital marketing mandate of travel major Thomas Cook. The agency’s Mumbai office will handle the business and will be responsible for managing the entire range of digital marketing activities spanning across performance marketing in terms of SEO, SEM and Social Media. iProspect Communicate 2 was selected after a multi-agency that spanned over two months.

     

    “At Thomas Cook India, our overarching digital strategy is to position our full service travel portal  thomascook.in as India’s first, effective “click-brick hybrid” to serve effectively the “pure click” younger generation customer at one end, the “pure brick” less Internet savvy customer at the other end – and most importantly, the very large spectrum of segments between these two extremes that in reality, is where the real opportunity lies!” said Amit Madhan – Chief Operating Officer – IT & E-Services, Thomas Cook (India) Ltd.

     

    Commenting on the win, Vivek Bhargava, MD, iProspectCommunicate2, says, “This is a great win for us. I believe it is not about digital marketing anymore, digital is the age we are living in. Today digital can be leveraged to gain a competitive advantage in the market, iProspect Communicate 2 looks to fill the vacuum of a premium performance product in the Indian Digital Space”.

     

  • I like the strategy. But the commercials try hard to be funny; they are executed quite shoddily and end up becoming a bit irritating.

    Debrief: Thomas Cook: Forced humour

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    ‘Travel Smooth’ is Thomas Cook’s latest punch line. And the promise in their new campaign is that they will ensure we don’t face embarrassing situations when we travel abroad. That Thomas Cook is an expert travel agent and we can feel safe when we do business with them.

     

    I watched three ads; each caters to a specific traveller’s need. One involves a conservative desi family booked into a very shady hotel, courtesy an unreliable agent. Likewise, other ads deal with problems on foreign currency and sight-seeing. It’s a negative campaign, an attempt to get a positive spin-off by rubbishing the competition.

     

    I like the strategy. Rather than use the tried and tested route of boasting about Thomas Cook’s great work, better to make fun of the rivals. This ensures refreshing advertising, so that’s fine. However, in the execution of that intent, the advertiser loses the way.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAhfCt4GKdM[/youtube]
    [youtube width=”400″ height=”200″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp1kql2V9ZY[/youtube]

    The commercials try hard to be funny; they are executed quite shoddily and end up becoming a bit irritating. While the hotel one is marginally better, the currency and the bus tour ads leave you totally cold.

     

    Maybe the writers of this campaign haven’t travelled much. I can put out a laundry list of hilarious events that unfold because of poor planning. Enjoy an international holiday, guys. And then come back and write the storyboards.

     

    Rating: (On a scale of 1 to 5): 2. Good strategy not backed by creative.