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One brand strategy “would not work”, says Thomas Cook boss
The introduction of a mass-market Thomas Cook brand is not a “halfway house” that will eventually see the JMC name disappear completely, the company’s UK product director Simon Robinson (pictured) has told TravelMole.
He said: “It is not a halfway house. If we had wanted to we could have gone all the way. But one brand doesn’t stretch across all those segments. We need to target them differently.”
Mr Robinson denied that the JMC brand has been “a failure” and also said reports that it had cost Thomas Cook £200million to introduce in September 1999 were inaccurate. He said: “I think people have been putting numbers together and then sensationalising them.” A spokesman added that a more “realistic” figure would be “a couple of million”.
Mr Robinson stressed that JMC would continue to play an important role – although only for the families and young adults market. He said: “Research has clearly shown that after two and a half years JMC is appealing to a certain element but not stretching across all elements. As a brand it will still play an integral role going forward. It has not been a failure.”
And he added that it had been agents who had asked Thomas Cook to resurrect the budget Sunset brand, which he said was particularly strong in the north of England and Scotland. He added: “No-one likes to go backwards but there is a huge demand for that product.”
Commenting on the announcement that Thomas Cook is also to launch a direct sell operation, Mr Robinson said: “The direct market is one we cannot ignore. We are in catch up mode.”
However, according to Mr Robinson the company’s internet sales continue to be “very small”. He said: “We have plenty of lookers but the number of bookers is almost insignificant. People browse but then call because they need to fell someone is at the end of the phone.” However he said he believed this would change as technology improved.
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