NEWS tried-and-tested and the not so good, says marketing expert Steve Dunne SPECIAL REPORT l’s TV ads rate? ‘TRA VEL WORTH


TALKING ABOUT’ KUONI


Kuoni was back on TV for the first time in four years with an advert with a powerful tagline, “Travel Worth Talking About”. With the objective of broadening


the brand’s appeal to families and travellers who wouldn’t normally consider Kuoni for a holiday, the visuals run the viewer through a variety of travel scenes, from safari wildlife to stunning Far East landscapes, and from underwater swimming in crystal-clear exotic seas to fine dining and city skylines. The female voiceover is


full of compelling lines such as “The world is out there, waiting” and “Your holiday, your way, planned and perfected by us”. It is a polished and well-produced


advert that signs off with the image of a Kuoni shop and the news that the “Kuoni sale is now on” – both nice touches from a marketing viewpoint.


4/5


‘CHANGE THE W


A Y YOU SEE


THE WORLD’ HX


The sign-off line in this year’s TV advert from HX – the new name for Hurtigruten Expeditions – challenges the viewer to “Change The Way You See The World”. That theme runs throughout


the short advert as Dame Joanna Lumley’s sultry voice poses a series of questions, set against striking visuals, that challenge the viewer’s thinking by showing an alternative to the obvious answer the viewer will have in their mind. “What if you could go paddling in


zero degrees?” she asks before we cut to a couple in a tandem canoe passing an iceberg. And, after painting an inspiring


vision for the viewer, both in words and pictures, Dame Joanna’s voice poses a final call-to-action question for the viewer: “What if the flights to get you there were free?” A time limit on that offer


(March 31) subtly creates a sense of urgency for the viewer, which one imagines would inspire them to look for more information. It’s a very polished


3/5 effort from HX.


‘NOBODY OFFERS YOU MORE’ HAYS TRAVEL


Of all the key ingredients for a great advertisement, messaging that resonates with your target audience is without doubt the top one, and on that score Hays’ latest TV offering hits all the right notes. The advert shows standard clips of swimming pools, beaches, iconic


landmarks and cruise ships, interspersed with real-life team members extolling the virtues of booking with the agency. The messaging is strong and will clearly resonate with the target audience. “With interest-free flexible payment plans, we’re making holidays affordable,”


says one Hays team member to camera, while another says: “We’re there when you need us.” All the while, messages appear about low deposits and 450 branches nationwide, underpinning a theme of reassurance. However, using staff for a TV advert


is always a risk. It offers credibility and authenticity, but staff are rarely professional actors. That, added to the basic editing of clips, gives the whole thing a 1980s feel, which could play well with some viewers but turn off others. For that reason, the ad doesn’t score as highly as it might have.


3/5


‘A SUPERMARKET TRAVELSUPERMARKET


. FOR TRA VEL.’


You could be excused for thinking that producing a travel TV advert without any scenes of beaches, infinity pools, global landmarks or beautifully prepared foods would be a bit of a non-starter, but TravelSupermarket’s offering challenges the common advertising view that a travel brand has to include travel visuals. Instead, TravelSupermarket’s advert features a group of passengers on a bus with one passenger remarking “Why is finding a holiday so hard?” and the other passengers introducing her to TravelSupermarket and answering her questions. Like many travel TV adverts this year, it features a famous face – Barry from


EastEnders – but strangely seems to underuse him with no witty or insightful comment other than how the brand allows you to “compare thousands of holidays from loads of companies”. Is it an eye-catching advert? The


answer is sadly no. Is it memorable? No. Does it describe what the brand does? Yes. But would it inspire me to book a holiday? I doubt it.


2/5 travelweekly.co.uk 4 JANUARY 2024 13


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