STA Travel launches iPhone ad campaign

London, 4 November 2009 – STA Travel, the global travel specialist for students and young people, is turning to mobile advertising to promote flights to its key global destinations. Working with AdMob, the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile advertising platform, STA Travel has rolled out an iPhone focused advertising campaign to engage its target…

Following successful test campaigns in July and August this year, resulting in more than 1,000 calls to its contact centre, STA Travel has deployed a combination of CPC text and tile ads across AdMob’s network of mobile websites and iPhone applications. The ads publicise flights to New York, Bangkok, Sydney, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Auckland and the click-to-call function directs consumers straight through to a dedicated contact centre number so that they can easily book flights. Currently focused on UK consumers, STA Travel may extend the mobile advertising campaign to other territories in the future, including South Africa and the Nordics.

STA Travel has 30 years experience advising young people on holidays and adventures abroad and earlier this year the company underwent a multi-million pound re-brand in which digital communication played a key role. To continue attracting its core market of students and expand its appeal to graduates and young professionals, STA Travel’s redesigned website includes a wealth of interactive features and social networking tools, such as travel blogs and podcasts. Mobile advertising presented the company with another digital channel through which it could communicate with its target demographic.

“We’ve always been at the forefront of trying new technology as our customers and prospective clients are digitally-savvy travellers who use tools such as blogs, Facebook and Twitter on a daily basis,” said Celia Pronto, Marketing Director at STA Travel. “Our newsletter, CRM emails and website are fantastic tools for keeping people informed of our latest offers, but the iPhone offers a tangible call to action and the ideal opportunity to drive consumers directly through to our contact centre.”

“We live in a digital age and people are increasingly demanding instant access to information and simplicity when it comes to purchasing products and services,” said Thomas Schulz, Managing Director at AdMob, EMEA. “STA Travel’s click-to-call iPhone advertising campaign enables the company to capture the attention of an on-the-go demographic and makes it as easy as possible for them to talk to the right people at the right time about their flights.”

STA Travel was recently awarded the Travolution “Best Use of Social Media” award.