Thinking about January? Make it count.
Thinking about January? Make it count.
Simon Horton
Art Director
Simon Horton
Art Director
January is the biggest advertising opportunity in the travel calendar, with more people actively deciding where to go on holiday than at any other time of year. But with every travel brand competing for attention, it takes more than familiar promises and picture-perfect beaches to stand out. The brands that win combine clear strategy, thoughtful planning and creative boldness. Here’s how we approach it.
January is the biggest advertising opportunity in the travel calendar, with more people actively deciding where to go on holiday than at any other time of year. But with every travel brand competing for attention, it takes more than familiar promises and picture-perfect beaches to stand out. The brands that win combine clear strategy, thoughtful planning and creative boldness. Here’s how we approach it.
January is the biggest advertising opportunity in the travel calendar, with more people actively deciding where to go on holiday than at any other time of year. But with every travel brand competing for attention, it takes more than familiar promises and picture-perfect beaches to stand out. The brands that win combine clear strategy, thoughtful planning and creative boldness. Here’s how we approach it.
Build an idea that lasts
Be clear about why people should choose you. Give the creative room to develop. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and January can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Be clear about why people should choose you. Give the creative room to develop. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and January can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Be clear about why people should choose you. Give the creative room to develop. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and January can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Plan for the whole season
January is the focal point, but the opportunity stretches from Christmas daydreaming to early January decision-making, with undecided audiences still considering their options in February.
We plan for all three mindsets, giving each execution a clear role while keeping the central idea consistent. Done well, the campaign builds momentum, with fresh reasons to notice the brand, explore the offer and book.
January is the focal point, but the opportunity stretches from Christmas daydreaming to early January decision-making, with undecided audiences still considering their options in February.
We plan for all three mindsets, giving each execution a clear role while keeping the central idea consistent. Done well, the campaign builds momentum, with fresh reasons to notice the brand, explore the offer and book.
January is the focal point, but the opportunity stretches from Christmas daydreaming to early January decision-making, with undecided audiences still considering their options in February.
We plan for all three mindsets, giving each execution a clear role while keeping the central idea consistent. Done well, the campaign builds momentum, with fresh reasons to notice the brand, explore the offer and book.
Decide what you’re competing on
Are you competing on price or building preference? Be clear from the outset, because the answer shapes everything that follows.
If price is your advantage, make it unmistakable. Put the number front and centre and give people a compelling reason to act. If the ambition is to build preference, lead with what makes your brand worth choosing. Resist the urge to crowd a distinctive creative idea with discount messages that weaken it.
Our advice is usually to hold your nerve. Last January, several agents reported average booking values rising by 5-8%.* Price matters, but value is about more than
the lowest number. Give people a reason to want your brand and confidence in what they’re paying for.
Are you competing on price or building preference? Be clear from the outset, because the answer shapes everything that follows.
If price is your advantage, make it unmistakable. Put the number front and centre and give people a compelling reason to act. If the ambition is to build preference, lead with what makes your brand worth choosing. Resist the urge to crowd a distinctive creative idea with discount messages that weaken it.
Our advice is usually to hold your nerve. Last January, several agents reported average booking values rising by 5-8%.* Price matters, but value is about more than
the lowest number. Give people a reason to want your brand and confidence in what they’re paying for.
Are you competing on price or building preference? Be clear from the outset, because the answer shapes everything that follows.
If price is your advantage, make it unmistakable. Put the number front and centre and give people a compelling reason to act. If the ambition is to build preference, lead with what makes your brand worth choosing. Resist the urge to crowd a distinctive creative idea with discount messages that weaken it.
Our advice is usually to hold your nerve. Last January, several agents reported average booking values rising by 5-8%.* Price matters, but value is about more than
the lowest number. Give people a reason to want your brand and confidence in what they’re paying for.
Move from features to feelings
The pool. The sea view. The price. Features help people weigh up a holiday, but the strongest creative goes further: from what a holiday offers to how it feels and what it means.
That might be the freedom to switch off, the excitement of discovering somewhere new or the pleasure of spending proper time together. These stories turn a product into something people want to be part of.
ABTA findings put friends and family as the second-biggest source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. Binet and Field’s analysis of IPA effectiveness entries found that emotional campaigns delivered, on average, 70% more brand effects than rational campaigns.* The creative challenge is to make those emotional benefits tangible, specific and unmistakably yours.
The pool. The sea view. The price. Features help people weigh up a holiday, but the strongest creative goes further: from what a holiday offers to how it feels and what it means.
That might be the freedom to switch off, the excitement of discovering somewhere new or the pleasure of spending proper time together. These stories turn a product into something people want to be part of.
ABTA findings put friends and family as the second-biggest source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. Binet and Field’s analysis of IPA effectiveness entries found that emotional campaigns delivered, on average, 70% more brand effects than rational campaigns.* The creative challenge is to make those emotional benefits tangible, specific and unmistakably yours.
The pool. The sea view. The price. Features help people weigh up a holiday, but the strongest creative goes further: from what a holiday offers to how it feels and what it means.
That might be the freedom to switch off, the excitement of discovering somewhere new or the pleasure of spending proper time together. These stories turn a product into something people want to be part of.
ABTA findings put friends and family as the second-biggest source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. Binet and Field’s analysis of IPA effectiveness entries found that emotional campaigns delivered, on average, 70% more brand effects than rational campaigns.* The creative challenge is to make those emotional benefits tangible, specific and unmistakably yours.
Make the first second count
Every travel brand is chasing attention in January. Very few have long to earn it.
Havas and Lumen’s study of 9,089 campaigns, mostly in the UK, found that the average display ad attracts less than a second of attention, with meaningful brand lift emerging at around 2.5 seconds of cumulative attention across exposures.*
We design for that first glance: one strong image, one clear line and a distinctive brand identity. Every exposure should build recognition, even when attention is brief.
Then we give people a reason to stay. Dentsu’s findings suggest that ads people choose to watch can outperform those they cannot skip.* The next few seconds need to reward attention with a story, a surprise or something worth seeing.
And every execution has to work on the smallest screen, with legible type, early branding and a clear call-to-action.
Every travel brand is chasing attention in January. Very few have long to earn it.
Havas and Lumen’s study of 9,089 campaigns, mostly in the UK, found that the average display ad attracts less than a second of attention, with meaningful brand lift emerging at around 2.5 seconds of cumulative attention across exposures.*
We design for that first glance: one strong image, one clear line and a distinctive brand identity. Every exposure should build recognition, even when attention is brief.
Then we give people a reason to stay. Dentsu’s findings suggest that ads people choose to watch can outperform those they cannot skip.* The next few seconds need to reward attention with a story, a surprise or something worth seeing.
And every execution has to work on the smallest screen, with legible type, early branding and a clear call-to-action.
Every travel brand is chasing attention in January. Very few have long to earn it.
Havas and Lumen’s study of 9,089 campaigns, mostly in the UK, found that the average display ad attracts less than a second of attention, with meaningful brand lift emerging at around 2.5 seconds of cumulative attention across exposures.*
We design for that first glance: one strong image, one clear line and a distinctive brand identity. Every exposure should build recognition, even when attention is brief.
Then we give people a reason to stay. Dentsu’s findings suggest that ads people choose to watch can outperform those they cannot skip.* The next few seconds need to reward attention with a story, a surprise or something worth seeing.
And every execution has to work on the smallest screen, with legible type, early branding and a clear call-to-action.
Build an idea that lasts
Start early. Be clear about why people should choose you. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and the New Year can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Start early. Be clear about why people should choose you. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and the New Year can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Start early. Be clear about why people should choose you. Build an idea with enough depth to sustain the season and enough flexibility to work across formats.
Get those foundations right, and the New Year can do more than deliver a booking peak. It can strengthen the preference that keeps people coming back throughout the year.
Make more of January
Whether you need a sharper strategy, a bolder creative idea or a fresh pair of eyes, we can help you make more of travel’s biggest booking season. Let’s talk.
REFERENCES
1 Travel Weekly, Booking values up in early peaks as later upturn in sales predicted, January 2026. Source for agents reporting a 5 to 8% rise in average booking values. travelweekly.co.uk/news/booking-values-up-in-early-peaks-as-later-upturn-in-sales-predicted
2 ABTA, Holiday Habits 2025/26, from a nationally representative survey of 2,001 UK adults. Friends and family were the second most common source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. abta.com/industry-zone/reports-and-publications/abta-holiday-habits-reports
3 Les Binet and Peter Field, IPA, The Long and the Short of It, analysis of IPA effectiveness award entries. Source for emotional campaigns averaging 1.7 brand effects against 1.0 for rational campaigns. ipa.co.uk
4 Havas Media Network, with Lumen Research and Brand Metrics, Attention white paper, 2025, covering 9,089 campaigns, mostly UK. Source for the average display ad earnings under a second of attention and for around 2.5 seconds of aggregate attention as a threshold for brand lift. Display advertising only. havasmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/lumen-brand-metrics-havas-attentionwhitepaper.pdf
5 Dentsu, with Kantar and Lumen Research, The Brand Reset. Source: Ads viewers choose to keep watching, including skippable formats, outperform those they cannot skip. dentsu.com/news-releases/dentsu-study-reveals-that-underinvestment-in-video-for-brand-building-creates-huge-opportunity-gap
Whether you need a sharper strategy, a bolder creative idea or a fresh pair of eyes, we can help you make more of travel’s biggest booking season. Let’s talk.
REFERENCES
1 Travel Weekly, Booking values up in early peaks as later upturn in sales predicted, January 2026. Source for agents reporting a 5 to 8% rise in average booking values. travelweekly.co.uk/news/booking-values-up-in-early-peaks-as-later-upturn-in-sales-predicted
2 ABTA, Holiday Habits 2025/26, from a nationally representative survey of 2,001 UK adults. Friends and family were the second most common source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. abta.com/industry-zone/reports-and-publications/abta-holiday-habits-reports
3 Les Binet and Peter Field, IPA, The Long and the Short of It, analysis of IPA effectiveness award entries. Source for emotional campaigns averaging 1.7 brand effects against 1.0 for rational campaigns. ipa.co.uk
4 Havas Media Network, with Lumen Research and Brand Metrics, Attention white paper, 2025, covering 9,089 campaigns, mostly UK. Source for the average display ad earnings under a second of attention and for around 2.5 seconds of aggregate attention as a threshold for brand lift. Display advertising only. havasmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/lumen-brand-metrics-havas-attentionwhitepaper.pdf
5 Dentsu, with Kantar and Lumen Research, The Brand Reset. Source: Ads viewers choose to keep watching, including skippable formats, outperform those they cannot skip. dentsu.com/news-releases/dentsu-study-reveals-that-underinvestment-in-video-for-brand-building-creates-huge-opportunity-gap
Whether you need a sharper strategy, a bolder creative idea or a fresh pair of eyes, we can help you make more of travel’s biggest booking season. Let’s talk.
REFERENCES
1 Travel Weekly, Booking values up in early peaks as later upturn in sales predicted, January 2026. Source for agents reporting a 5 to 8% rise in average booking values. travelweekly.co.uk/news/booking-values-up-in-early-peaks-as-later-upturn-in-sales-predicted
2 ABTA, Holiday Habits 2025/26, from a nationally representative survey of 2,001 UK adults. Friends and family were the second most common source of holiday inspiration, at 41%. abta.com/industry-zone/reports-and-publications/abta-holiday-habits-reports
3 Les Binet and Peter Field, IPA, The Long and the Short of It, analysis of IPA effectiveness award entries. Source for emotional campaigns averaging 1.7 brand effects against 1.0 for rational campaigns. ipa.co.uk
4 Havas Media Network, with Lumen Research and Brand Metrics, Attention white paper, 2025, covering 9,089 campaigns, mostly UK. Source for the average display ad earnings under a second of attention and for around 2.5 seconds of aggregate attention as a threshold for brand lift. Display advertising only. havasmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/lumen-brand-metrics-havas-attentionwhitepaper.pdf
5 Dentsu, with Kantar and Lumen Research, The Brand Reset. Source: Ads viewers choose to keep watching, including skippable formats, outperform those they cannot skip. dentsu.com/news-releases/dentsu-study-reveals-that-underinvestment-in-video-for-brand-building-creates-huge-opportunity-gap
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To learn more about what we can offer and how we can work together, we’d love to hear from you.
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Assume nothing.
Discuss your next project with us...
To learn more about what we can offer and how we can work together, we’d love to hear from you.
London
Accord Marketing,
1 Waterhouse Square, London EC1N 2ST.
South-West
The Node, 1 Enterprise Road,
Roundswell, Barnstaple,
Devon EX31 3YB.
All enquiries
020 7271 2481
Discuss your next project with us...
To learn more about what we can offer and how we can work together, we’d love to hear from you.
London
Accord Marketing,
1 Waterhouse Square, London EC1N 2ST
South-West
The Node, 1 Enterprise Road,
Roundswell Barnstaple,
Devon EX31 3YB
All enquiries
020 7271 2481