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Travelocity and McKinney + Silver Launch Roaming Gnome Ad Campaign; Roaming
Gnome Enjoys Crackin' Good Time With Savvy Travelocity Travelers
SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Geared toward today's savvy travelers,
Travelocity, the most popular travel site on the Web, and its advertising
agency, McKinney + Silver of Raleigh, N.C., today launched the multi-dimensional
"Roaming Gnome" advertising campaign.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040105/DAM004 )
Pilfered by some Travelocity(R) travelers, THE ROAMING GNOME(SM), the two- foot
original character with a red hat, will be featured in a series of
advertisements in media outlets including DIRECTV, cable television, national
and local radio, and national and local print spots.
The campaign's initial budget is approximately $80 million.
"We believe that the best trips start at Travelocity, and we want to share our
excitement with other travelers," said Susan McLaughlin, vice president of
marketing for Travelocity. "With The Roaming Gnome as the central figure of
this campaign, we are highlighting Travelocity's no-surprise philosophy when it
comes to the entire travel shopping experience, while also allowing consumers to
witness the wonder of all the fantastic places he sees, all made possible
through Travelocity."
In the ads, The Roaming Gnome writes to his owner Bill, telling of his
experiences while traveling, including cliff diving in Mexico, skiing the winter
slopes, enjoying a stinky wedge of cheese in Quebec and flying -- complete with
eye covers. All of the ads include the tagline, "Book with Travelocity: Don't
Forget your Hat(SM)." The line signifies how Travelocity takes care of all the
customer's needs.
"The Roaming Gnome is a character that we believe consumers will come to love
and embrace," said David Baldwin, executive creative director for McKinney +
Silver. "He is a lens that allows travelers to share in his enthusiasm of
seeing all of these magnificent places for the first time, and he is a great
medium for sharing Travelocity travel stories."
The ad launch follows a three-week pre-publicity campaign, during which the
gnome's fictional owner, Bill, searched for his gnome online, in cinema ads,
posters and the classifieds. Interested searchers visited Bill's site at
http://www.whereismygnome.com/ and thousands more called in to report sightings
as well. A television spot teasing the campaign that featured a news reporter
interviewing several people on the lookout for The Roaming Gnome ran on Jan. 1
during the 2004 Rose Bowl.
The rotund, three-dimensional character, who hails from Great Britain and sports
a pointy red hat, blue coat, and distinctive long, white beard, represents the
spirit of Travelocity travelers with his adventurous, enthusiastic and
fun-loving nature.
A longtime tradition in Europe and the United Kingdom, gnome "kidnappings" have
been a source of amusement for those who "nick" the small, garden creatures for
travels throughout the world, photograph the gnomes and mail the photos with
"ransom" notes back to their owners.
About Travelocity
Travelocity, a Sabre Holdings(TM) company, pioneered the online travel space and
continues to be the most popular travel service on the Web, giving consumers
access to hundreds of airlines, thousands of hotels and cruise, last-minute and
vacations packages, and best-in-class car rental companies, all backed by 1,000
customer service representatives staffed to provide 24- hour assistance. With
41 million members, Travelocity is the sixth largest travel agency in the United
States. It has been recognized worldwide for its leadership in the online
travel space, and it operates or powers Web sites in five languages across four
continents. Additional information about Travelocity can be found on the Web at
http://www.travelocity.com/ .
Sabre Holdings Corporation (NYSE:TSG) is a world leader in travel commerce,
retailing travel products and providing distribution and technology solutions
for the travel industry. More information about Sabre Holdings is available at
http://www.sabre-holdings.com/ .
About McKinney + Silver
Founded in 1969, McKinney + Silver is a creatively renowned advertising agency
whose clients, in addition to Travelocity, include Audi of America, the Ad
Council, Fieldcrest Cannon, First Citizens Bank, Full Frame Documentary Film
Festival, Lands' End, the NASDAQ Stock Market, XO Communications and the Fuqua
School of Business at Duke University. Headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., McKinney
is an independent operating unit of Havas, a NASDAQ-listed firm that is one of
the world's largest communications companies. In addition to advertising,
McKinney + Silver offers brand identity and graphic design services through
mckinney. design. More information is available at
http://www.mckinney-silver.com/ .
Contact:
Judy Haveson ( )
(212) 554-7425
Mary Kate Smither ( )
(972) 488-4790
VOLLMER
MCKINNEY + SILVER Contact:
Janet Northen ( )
(919) 821-6461
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040105/DAM004
http://photoarchive.ap.org/
DATASOURCE: Travelocity
CONTACT: Judy Haveson, +1-212-554-7425, or , or Mary
Kate Smither, +1-972-488-4790, or , both of VOLLMER,
for Travelocity; or Janet Northen of McKinney + Silver, +1-919-821-6461, or
Web site: http://www.travelocity.com/
http://www.whereismygnome.com/