Brand USA and Thomas Cook Extend Partnership Agreement for the Fourth Time to Promote Travel to the USA
Launch of virtual “Coast to Coast” cycle ride will benefit the Thomas Cook Children's Charity
Brand USA and Thomas Cook Media & Partnerships extended their partnership for a fourth time, completing the agreement with another significant multi-million dollar investment.
The partnership renewal follows a very successful joint venture between Brand USA and Thomas Cook that combined data-focused marketing with product development to drive exceptional awareness and sales growth of the USA as a destination. The joint platforms enable Brand USA partners to reach millions of consumers across 17 European markets who are "live" in the market for a vacation, putting U.S. destination content and advertising in front of those potential customers.
According to Thomas Cook, over the past three years, the Thomas Cook/Brand USA partnership has driven a projected 431,883 incremental U.S. passengers from European source markets and generated annual airport partnership growth of 400 percent to the whole of the USA.
"The USA continues to grow in importance for us as a destination and we are delighted to have extended our partnership with Brand USA for a fourth time," said Stuart Adamson, head of Thomas Cook Media & Partnerships. "We are confident that our ongoing collaboration will allow us to continue driving interest, awareness and sales of the USA while enabling us to promote our new and existing airline routes from the UK and Germany to the USA."
In addition, Brand USA and Thomas Cook launched a new, multi-channel marketing platform, USA Everywhere, which will run across 16 major source markets in Europe and China through the end of this month to raise awareness of and inspire travel to the USA. The campaign combined multi-channel promotion with first-party data to target the customer at the right time in order to drive sales of the USA. Utilizing cutting-edge marketing, the platform will enable Brand USA partners to reach millions of consumers across the 16 European markets who are “live” in the market for scheduling a vacation.
In addition, Brand USA promoted the USA as a key destination to Thomas Cook staff by sponsoring the Thomas Cook virtual bike ride from New York City, New York to Los Angeles, California to benefit the Thomas Cook Children's Charity.
Having taken place on March 23, the “Coast to Coast” cycle ride started with UK Managing Director Chris Mottershead and “'virtually” reached Los Angeles around 3:30 PM on March 24.
The journey's 3,030 miles covered on stationary bikes in prominent locations at Thomas Cook’s head offices in the UK, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, and China. Distances accumulated across the office with all participants linked via web cam. Cyclists were shown destination footage, facts and key highlights as they ride through the respective states.
The Thomas Cook Children’s Charity was set up in 2009 to improve the lives of children both in the UK and overseas. All Thomas Cook employees from regional offices were invited to participate and donate ￡5 for a 15-minute stationary cycling slot.