Fiesta Holidays
“When you pick it up, grains of sand practically fall from the pages.”

Case History
Hired as strategic marketing specialists, we were credited with helping turn an unprofitable company into one highly attractive to buyers in less than two years.

Our first step: To find out why people and agents weren’t using their service. Short answer: Services and spots weren’t quite up to snuff.

Working with Fiesta, we went from island to island (and no, a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean isn’t as much fun as you’d think when you’re in a suit – small sigh of regret :-) ) taking notes and working out new agreements.

Next step: Get the travel agents on side. Fiesta addressed their own problem areas and, with our input, new services and benefits were added for various levels of the travel industry.

We recommended, organized and help run a special event to let agents learn the new lay of the land. We laid out the scavenger hunt rally that got the participants up to the resort where the briefing was being held; we even dressed up as Big Bird as part of the overall “Gonna Really Fly” theme. Follow-up communications and trade advertising was deliberately provocative. The copy addressed the agents’ concerns and portrayed Fiesta as someone who could help.

Last but not least: The consumer. The image we portrayed in the brochures and advertising was very different from the low price flogging of flights that characterized the times (and Fiesta’s earlier approach). Fiesta was shown to offer somewhat upscale holidays, with everyday prices - and the story was told in down-to-earth fashion. The destinations were given their due, and then some. Our reasoning: Convince the would-be-traveller the place is perfect, and choosing Fiesta becomes a very easy and short “next step”.

In the words of our client, the campaign was “a huge success”. The destinations and hotels ate it up, too (which was good for negotiations the next year). To our minds though, the nicest compliment came from the head of the Bermuda Tourist Authority. The closing line from his letter read, “when you pick it up, grains of sand practically fall from the pages”.