Until this year, Thomas Cook’s advertising nothing to get excited about.

In July this year, Albion won the pitch to handle the Thomas Cook Group account’s advertising and product innvoation throughout Europe. Its first job was to reposition the travel company.

Albion has released its first campaign in time for the holidays and it couldn’t be a more radical change from Thomas Cook’s stilted, slice-of-life features stories of the past two years. The Sweet Shop production is a music video style spot about a kid, dancing around a pool in a shark fin floatie. The idea is to encourage people to let their hair down on holiday. The video ends with the tagline, Be Bold.

The full campaign is running in 12 countries across Europe, including the UK. It is made up of four TVCs, which will also run in cinemas during Star Wars: The Force Awakens sessions, radio spots, and national press and outdoor executions.

Campaign credits:

Creative Agency: Albion

Executive creative director: Adam Lawrenson
Creative directors: Debs Gerrard & Kirk Watson
Creative: Hugo Isaacs

Design director : Kirk Watson
Producer : Petrina Kilby
Production assistant : Laura Melville
Business director : Debs Turner
Account director : Thomas Penn
Strategy director : Phil Lewis

Senior strategist : Sarah Cowell Thomas

Photographer: James Bowden

Retouching: Loupe Imaging

Production company: The Sweet Shop

Director: Mark Albiston
Executive Producer: Spencer Dodd
Producer: Kate Taylor
DoP : Justin Brown

Production designer : Birgit Kniep-Gentis

Editor : Billy Mead @ Tenthree
Post production: The Mill
Sound design : Sam Ashwell @ 750mph

Performer : Major Tom