The agency was chosen after a three-way pitch that included Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R. RKCR/Y&R previously created work for Virgin Holidays on a project basis.
Claydon Heeley's initial task is to develop an above-the-line campaign for early next year when the summer holiday bookings market hots up. The agency was selected on the basis of combining brand work with more response-related activity.
RKCR/Y&R was appointed in April to create a television commercial for Virgin Holidays. It developed a fast turnaround campaign to support the Virgin Holidays range that featured a garden gnome and the strapline: "Dream holidays, reality prices."
Virgin Holidays, which offers holidays around the world but specialises in North America and the Caribbean, uses Manning Gottlieb OMD for its media planning and buying. This account is not being reviewed.
Helena Patrinos, the head of marketing at Virgin Holidays, said: "Claydon Heeley came up with a superb twist to the Virgin Holidays brand and offered a flexible solution to a tight, yet demanding, brief. The agency showed that it understood not only our brand values but also our business needs."
"Virgin Holidays is a fantastically strong brand, which is why it's doing so well in a difficult market. We hope to make it even more successful," Nigel Jones, the chief executive of Claydon Heeley, said.
Virgin Holidays achieved a 10 per cent sales uplift on its summer holidays following TV advertising this summer.
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