TripAdvisor launches $1.5 million creative ad challenge

TripAdvisor is challenging travel brands and advertising agencies to design a creative ad campaign that will run on TripAdvisor, reaching millions of travellers. The total prize fund is USD $1.5 million, with the winning entry on the TripAdvisor India site receiving USD $1,00,000 in equivalent CPM advertising media value. The winning campaigns will run on TripAdvisor between August and October 2012.

Martin Verdon-Roe, vice president, display sales EMEA for TripAdvisor said, “The 2012 Creative Challenge gives travel brands the freedom to develop an engaging media campaign that tells a story and shows what their brand really stands for, rather than just focusing on the more traditional ROI price point creative that is so common online. Following the success of our last challenge which was hosted in U.K last year, this year, it’s even bigger and provides multiple opportunities for travel brands to win specific market campaigns.”

“We hope to see some really exciting new entries in 2012 that can take advantage of our new and larger advertising formats. This is a truly unique opportunity for a brand to have a substantial campaign which can reach and impact a huge audience of potential travellers that are looking for inspiration while planning their next holiday or trip,” continued Verdon-Roe.

This year the challenge has been expanded to include 11 markets across Europe and APAC. From the European market UK, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain and Turkey are part of the challenge while in APAC, India, Australia, Singapore, China and Japan are included.

“For us, a market is an IP set of users. For example a winning entry for the India market does not mean that the advertiser has to come from the India, the advertiser can be from another region that wants to market to the India population on TripAdvisor. Therefore, all travel brands and advertising agencies from the respective countries are entitled to participate in the challenge,” the company clarified in a statement issued to the press.

The campaigns will be judged by a panel of TripAdvisor sales and marketing experts, as well as representatives from India’s leading industry body, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI). The last date for submissions is 31 May 2012.