OUGD503: Collaboration- YCN

We decided together that we would chose a YCN brief because they seemed to appeal to us more in terms of the businesses who have briefs. After looking through a few briefs we eventually agreed to work on the Topdeck Travel brief as this is something we haven't necessarily worked with before in terms of content. 

The brief:

Company Background

Founded in 1973, Topdeck Travel is a tour operator providing trips for 18 to 30 somethings throughout Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. The company started from humble beginnings with a single trip in a repurposed red double-decker bus between London and Morocco, run by a young Australian vet. The trip was advertised in an Earl’s Court pub and the first #topdeckers were born. Today’s coach trips remain true to the values of the original trip: flexible, irreverent, cultural and energetic. 

We’re not a budget operator and nor do we wish to be. We offer great trips which are great value – not just because they are competitively priced but because they’re of such a high standard.

Due to our roots (and marketing efforts), the company has always held a strong position in the Antipodean community in the UK, as well as in Australia and New Zealand as markets in their own right. However, times are changing and one of the key objectives going forward is to establish the Topdeck brand within the UK and European markets where we are in our infancy in terms of recognition.

The Brand

Our core brand values are:

• Adventure

• Inspiration

• Awareness

• Growth

Everything that we do should be true to these values and our communications should seek to enhance them. We’ve recently undergone a style rebrand taking into account the design and tone which seeks to modernise the way we appear to and communicate with our customers. The rebrand is still underway and if you consider our new brochures vs our current website (http://bit.ly/NABrochurevs www.topdeck.travel), you will immediately see the contrast.

Target Audience

Our target market is an increasingly savvy consumer. Our customers won’t tolerate overt or clumsy marketing efforts, and marketing increasingly needs to inspire and qualify rather than sell.

Increasingly sophisticated, our customers’ travel preferences are experiences and the ability to learn and immerse themselves in culture during trips rather than simply looking for a cross-country drinking binge.

Our core customer in Antipodean markets is typically 24 years-old with a 60% skew towards female customers. This group will be educated to degree level, be socially enabled, use the internet heavily and place massive significance on their peer groups when making consumer decisions. We don’t expect this to be very different for the UK market.

Products

We currently offer trips across the following regions/countries: Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, Africa and the Middle East. We also have a range of festival-type products including trips to Oktoberfest, Sziget and La Tomatina.

Our European product is massively successful within the Australian and New Zealand customer base as you might imagine. However, it is likely that this will be different for our UK-based customer. Europe is just a short flight away and the rise of DIY holidays means that for Western Europe at least, we are unlikely to compete.

However, we do operate a number of trips around areas of Eastern Europe which are relatively ‘less-travelled’, such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Russia. These, along with our sailing trips which include options to go to Croatia, Greece and Turkey are European trips which we believe do have a place in the UK market.

Otherwise, we believe our trips in Australia, New Zealand, Africa and North America are all great draws.

Creative Considerations

As savvy consumers in our target market – you may already have foreseen a big challenge: we operate coach-based trips. This type of trip has suffered in the UK market place by unfavourable references to the TV programme of the same name and a historical association with a more mature audience.

But this is not the case. We offer a road trip without the stress but with just as much excitement. We make trips easy by taking away the pain points of finding and arranging multiple accommodations, and planning and booking transport between locations. We make action-packed holidays not only possible, but easy. Once in town, our customers can choose their own path.

In the past, we’ve produced brochures to present in travel agencies – which works well in the Antipodean market. These brochures still form a massive part of our product collateral but in the UK, this doesn’t have the cut through it needs.

The Creative Challenge

What we need from this brief is two-fold.

1. A way to present Topdeck trips to a UK audience which inspires 18 to 30 somethings to consider a type of trip which may not be top-of-mind. Consider how these messages can be delivered – print, online, multimedia, outdoor, experiential – but also be aware of budgets. We’re a heritage brand with modest budgets so we can’t compete with the media spend of other global brands.

2.New mediums and channels to market which can replace brochures as the core method of delivery to our UK audience. Consider the sheer amount of information imparted within a brochure. Do we split this into bite-sized chunks or is there another method we can use to share lots in an interesting way with clear navigation and cut through?

Consider also the tone of voice used within our new brochures where we want to inspire our customers to #livelikealocal and get under the skin of the cities and places they visit rather than following the usual tourist circuit (although we do a bit of that too).

Most of all, think creatively. Nothing is too different – in fact, that’s what we love: left-field but effective.