Viator.com appoints The Works to develop new digital campaign creative for the U.S. market

Independent Sydney agency The Works has been appointed by tour and activity booking website Viator.com to develop campaign creative for a major digital marketing push starting in the US.

The agency is working on creative strategy and production for the targeted online campaign that will appear on US-based websites including Trip Advisor, About.com, NYTimes.com and Yahoo! Travel. The campaign may be rolled out to other international markets including Canada and Australia at a later date.

The Works has partnered with UK-based independent ad serving and tracking company Flashtalking to develop a multi-variant ad testing campaign to demonstrate which online ads are the most effective.

It won the account following a competitive pitch and draws on its digital and direct expertise with brands including Woolworths Everyday Rewards.

Viator was founded in Sydney in 1995 and is now headquartered in San Francisco with a regional office in Sydney, as well as Las Vegas and London. The site allows customers access to more than 15,000 hand-picked tours, attractions and activities in1000 destinations in more than 150 countries.

All of the experiences available to buy online are provided by local tour operators that have been vetted for quality, value and service and are supported by more than 350,000 unbiased reviews and photos.

Says Kelly Gillease, VP marketing at Viator.com: “We’re excited to partner with The Works to develop highly personalized creative and leverage the Flashtalking technology to effectively deliver the most relevant and useful content to our customers.”

Says Douglas Nicol, creative partner and director at The Works: “Viator.com has ambitious plans to raise its profile in key international markets and we’re delighted to be working with them.

“The first campaign puts into practice what many in marketing have been talking about by using data to more efficiently target customers and avoid wastage. We’re blending ad testing and optimization with strong creative ideas to deliver tailored messages to Viator’s potential customers.”

The Viator win comes after The Works was appointed by longstanding client Jim Beam in January this year to manage global duties for bourbon brand alongside StrawberryFrog in the US and Germany’s Jung von Matt.