Lowcost Holidays’ January campaign to make up for digital marketing decline

Online travel agency Lowcost Holidays will launch a multi-million turn of year on abnd offline advertising campaign on Boxing Day.

Online travel agency Lowcost Holidays will launch a multi-million turn of year on abnd offline advertising campaign on Boxing Day.


The firm says the push, which will feature in the UK and Ireland and Scandinavia, is part of efforts to expand internationally.


Combining television, radio digital and outdoor advertising, the campaign has been created by agency Beta to offset the rising cost and declining efficacy of digital advertising.


Lowcost says it has been inspired by UK consumer research, conducted by nVision for the Future Foundation, that showed almost 60% of British adults claim that they are “unwilling to pay the full price for holidays” and 53% of “like talking about goods we have bought at a good discount.” 


It believes this shift in buyer behaviour will enable Lowcost Holidays with the opportunity to stretch its appeal beyond the discount category to a much broader group of consumers.


Alex Gisbert, chief marketing officer of Lowcost Holidays, said: “There are two key factors driving our strategy. 


“Firstly digital marketing is becoming less cost effective.  We have to spend the same money to drive less volume as a result of the rising cost of generating traffic, so we need to move towards more direct traffic. 


“Secondly as we enter our tenth year, there is a real need for us to invest in our brand in all markets in order to achieve greater reach and consistency, increasing both awareness and consideration of Lowcost Holidays.”


“We thought we were so smart until we met Beta, who made us rethink our strategy. 


“We have been working with them for over two months to really understand who we are and how we communicate with our audience, and as a result, we have committed to our biggest global marketing campaign in our ten year history.”


Lowcost said the creative treatment is “unashamedly premium”, combining some of the best film and stills imagery with high production values. 


Beta’s creative director, Robert Campbell, said: “The ‘lowcost’ adjective in the company’s name has given us the freedom to push the brand into new territories. 


“It is pretty clear that the company offers great value.  Our job is to make sure that, in the minds of consumers, this value applies equally to a luxury break as it does to a family bargain.”


The UK campaign will run throughout the beginning of 2014 and includes spots in major TV programming over the festive period, such as the network premier of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ on ITV, Manchester United’s boxing day clash on Sky Sports, and The Jonathan Ross Show, The Cube, Emmerdale & Downton Abbey.


The voiceover artiste for the TV campaign is actress Natasha McElhone, most recently famous for her role in hit TV drama Californication.