Travel Bureau

The challenge

Travel Bureau is an independent travel agency in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, with two divisions.

Leisure Travel was established in 1961 and needed to interpret its traditional values to reach the next generation of luxury travel clients. It had strong brand loyalty and an established, mature clientele. These were highly valued clients who had travelled with the company for many years, and it was essential to include them in the journey forward. At the same time, the agency needed to attract new clients at every stage of the family lifecycle, from weddings and honeymoons onwards.

Corporate Travel Management Services was established in the 1980s. The team enjoyed long-standing relationships and extensive knowledge of corporate travel management, but wanted to bring the service to new audiences and diversify its customer base in size, sector and geography.

What we did

For Leisure Travel, we:

• turned Travel Bureau's brand values of quality, luxury and exceptional personal service into a clear set of customer-facing messages
• brought the team's extensive expertise and knowledge to the fore
• promoted Travel Bureau across a range of media, including high-quality travel supplements with leading lifestyle magazines
• updated the web presence and brought social media into the mix
• ran customer events with some of the leading brands in independent travel
• managed marketing across web, print and promotions, e-communications, database segmentation and targeting, newsletters and e-blasts

The aim was to establish the brand as the leading independent travel agency in North East England.

For Corporate Travel, we:

• clarified the selling messages through a customer satisfaction survey of all corporate contacts, establishing their values, priorities and role in the booking cycle
• segmented and targeted key messages to key audience sectors
• ran database marketing: e-communications, regular newsletters and e-blasts
• completely overhauled the corporate website
• produced a range of print to support business development and help clinch the deal
• ran a press and media campaign to celebrate Travel Bureau's 50th anniversary

Working together

This was a long-term project from 2009 to 2011, much of it delivered on site. The Leisure Travel work alone ran for 20 months. Working inside the business gave us a deep understanding of the brand, the company culture and its values, and let us shine a spotlight on a unique, independent travel agent and its team.

The quantitative market research was done in partnership with Travelscape. The website was developed by Consult and Design, and graphic design was by Wonder Stuff Studio.