Travelodge puts £26m into campaign lauding quality and service improvements to business travellers
In its biggest advertising spend to date, Travelodge has put £26m into refreshing its popular puppet-fronted ads with a new marketing push taking aim at business travellers to shout about improvements to its quality and service.
‘That’s Travelodgical’ rolled out last year on the back of a £100m moderisation programme which boosted brand recognition in the UK by 90 per cent, the company claimed in its half-year results.
Karen Broughton, Travelodge marketing director, is hoping the increased investment for the latest push will underpin similar growth in the business.
“The Travelodgicals have received a phenomenal reaction from the public and are playing a key part to help deliver our strategy to become Britain’s favourite hotel for value,” she said.
“The aim of our new fully integrated campaign is to communicate that we have raised the quality and service levels across our UK hotels.
"New Travelodge represents what today’s savvy hotel customers want, which is a great quality room at a good price– making it ’The ‘Travelodgical’ choice for customers.”
The campaign – created by CHI&Partners - features a character from the previous advert, the businessman Alex, and introduces a new character, Kate, a businesswoman, who appear with their human counterparts.
The singing puppets are seen getting out of bed before having breakfast in an updated Travelodge restaurant and then checking out of the hotel to go to a meeting.
It plays out to a new musical theatre-style song to communicate the overarching message that UK Travelodge hotels have changed for the better.
The campaign will roll out across TV screens on 21 February with support from commercial radio, digital, press and outdoor advertising until the end of 2016.
The work will support Travelodge's ambitious plans to open 19 new UK hotels in 2016 with an investment value of £140m. New locations include further hotels in London and in key business locations across the UK regions; as well as further expansion in the fastest growing locations for leisure travel.