Thomas Cook India has launched a new travel campaign ‘Travel to Know’, intended to break down cultural perceptions and promote the North Eastern India region as a culturally diverse travel destination for Indians.
Unlike the typical travel campaign approach, the travel brand has deliberately steered away from using picturesque imagery. Instead it challenges ethnic stereotypes, questions our need to label places and its communities and implores the audience to travel more and ‘turn what you know around’.
Focusing on North East of India, the two films feature real life young people who speak direct-to-camera, dispelling myths about the region and inviting the audience in, to their part of the world, to discover who they really are.
With racial profiling and cultural discrimination a hot topic globally, the message is relevant for all. Specifically, the subject of bias against the North East region within India, is getting more and more traction across political and social forums across India.
Conceptualised by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi India, the films are produced by Lightbox Films and directed by Rahul Nangia. The campaign will run on TV, Radio and Digital platforms and the focus will be on PR to generate conversations about the subject across social platforms.
Speaking about the campaign, Abraham Alapatt, President & Group Head, Thomas Cook India said, “ Thomas Cook India has always been at the forefront of bringing fresh and exciting new experiences to our customers. However, the North East of India is undiscovered by a large majority. With this campaign our intent is to question the myths about the region and to generate a strong positive interest in the region.”
Speaking about the films, Rahul Nangia, Jt. NCD, Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi said, “The characters in the film were facing the camera for the first time. The idea was to keep the films real and hard-hitting.
The campaign is currently running across TV, radio and digital platforms.