A brand refresh has seen the operator introduce softer colours, new fonts and a cleaner finish as it seeks to change the tone of its communications.
‘We’ve been too price-led in the past,” said Ben Roseveare, head of sales and marketing. “We have these great resorts, great childcare and great tuition yet we’ve been talking about £499 deals.”
Instead, the operator is to focus on its “brand values”, with a new strapline, “With Mark Warner, every moment matters”.
The operator has formalised a “Price Promise”, which means price parity across its trade and direct channels, and has also reviewed commission levels across its trade partners for greater consistency.
A new booking platform from Multicom now allows the operator to sell regional flights alongside its charter packages, for the first time.
“We’ve had our charter flights from Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, but customers in Birmingham, Bristol and Scotland haven’t had that choice,” Roseveare said.
He added that the 2016 summer programme was already selling well, despite the brochure not yet being out, and that average selling price was up by 5%.
“Summer is where we have more bedstock and where we see the real opportunity to grow,” he said.
Cycling is a focus for next year, with Cannondale bicycles at three of Mark Warner’s beach resorts. “With our intensive cycling weeks, run by semi-pro cyclists, we will have the market-leading cycling programme for next year,” Roseveare claimed. Yoga retreat weeks at its Corsican resort are also new, while the European Championship 2016 will be celebrated with football coaching.
Forward bookings for winter 2015-16 have been “a bit ugly”, he admitted with temperatures in Tignes at 14C last week.
But Roseveare said he expected sales to come in as soon as the snow arrived. “Because we hold the charter allocations, we can sell until 3pm on the Saturday before our weekly Sunday flights, which is also a great opportunity for the trade,” he added.
