TRAVEL COMPANION

TitleTRAVEL COMPANION
BrandVISA
Product / ServiceVISA CREDIT CARDS
CategoryB03. Consumer Services
EntrantOMD Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company:OMD Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency:LONELY PLANET Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Media Agency:OMD Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Laura Nice OMD Account Director
Naomi Buck OMD Strategist
Aneeket Dayal OMD Digital Account Director
Jesse Morris Lonely Planet Business Director

Results and Effectiveness

Did we meet the campaign objectives? No, we EXCEEDED THEM!!!!!!!!!! By Campaign end, 83% of our audience were likely to take a Visa Card abroad with them! AND 61% would now use their Visa card OVER cash when abroad! This strategy has been evolving for 2 years and thanks to its BRILLIANT success, it has gone global; Benchmarked within the Visa organisation as a strategic example of excellence, it continues to evolve beyond 2011 and into 2012, now 3 years in the making!

Creative Execution

This wasn’t a one size fits all approach. We needed to create multiple executions, tailored to each stage to address their planning issues; RESEARCH-Overwhelmed with options We assisted and simplified, creating VISA Go for Your Life! A widget aggregating LP content to allow users to find uniquely tailored travel experiences with a few simple clicks! PLANNING-Validating holiday choices Adding credibility to the chaos and enriching their planning outcome, we created a live 6month blog series; an interactive forum for real travellers with real stories and advice. BOOKING-Budgeting and hidden costs To alleviate concern, we provided custom made tools including currency convertors, language translators and ‘do’/don’t’ checklists to aid and assist. PRE-DEPARTURE- Organise, Correlate and Countdown! We excited travellers with customised factsheets, travel and money tips, mobile phrase books and much more. Building on this, together with LP we have created the ultimate Travel App: The Visa City Companion.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

OVER HALF of novice travellers are likely to trust and use cash instead of credit for overseas travel!! A HUGE and historically IRREVERSIBLE problem for Visa. With no remarkable success to date, we faced a daunting challenge; shift current perceptions on credit, increasing likelihood to take Visa over cash when traveling abroad. 78% plan their holiday online; In-depth proprietary research revealed the planning process is just as much of an adventure as the holiday itself but with no one to share it with, it becomes an ISOLATING, OVERWHELMING and TEDIOUS task! We identified 4key stages: Research; Planning; Booking; Pre-Departure. Could Visa play a helping hand??? Yes, with the right partner! Lonely Planet(LP)-the BIGGEST online destination for novice holiday planners gave us critical mass, now to play our part… The Idea; Visa becomes the trusted online TRAVEL COMPANION! The Strategy; Behave as a true Travel Companion; providing additional and indispensible utilities to make the planning process more satisfying.