Travel site TripAdvisor is challenging travel brands and advertising agencies to design a creative ad campaign that will run on TripAdvisor. The total prize fund is USD $1.5 million, with the winning entry on the TripAdvisor UK site receiving USD $300k in equivalent CPM advertising media value.

The 2012 TripAdvisor Creative Ad Challenge claims to provide the industry with an opportunity to showcase their creativity and talent through online ad display and the chance to impact a global audience of travellers. Advertisers can communicate with an engaged and relevant audience, maximising their brand impact and media budgets.

Martin Verdon-Roe, VP Display Sales EMEAA for TripAdvisor explains, “The 2012 Creative Challenge gives travel brands the freedom to develop an engaging media campaign that tells a story and shows what their brand really stands for, rather than just focusing the on the more traditional ROI price point creative that is so common online. Following the success of our last challenge, this year it’s even bigger and provides multiple opportunities for travel brands to win specific market campaigns.”

The 2010 TripAdvisor Creative Ad Challenge was won by British Airways, with the airline’s concept involving an interactive game, inspired by the well-known The Price Is Right game show format. Over 12.5m ad impressions were served over the campaign period and the interaction rate on the banner exceeded 1.65% on all three formats used. The secondary result of the creative also helped BA generate over £1.5m of tracked bookings.

“We hope to see some really exciting new entries in 2012 that can take advantage of our new and larger advertising formats. This is a truly unique opportunity for a brand to have a substantial campaign which can reach and impact a huge audience of potential travellers that are looking for inspiration while planning their next holiday or trip,” continued Verdon-Roe.

The prize fund totals $1.5m in media value and has been split to allow multiple market winners or two larger pan-regional winners. The winning campaigns will reach millions of travellers and will receive the following equivalent values of CPM advertising on TripAdvisor.

All entries must be submitted by May 31st 2012 - the winning campaigns will run on TripAdvisor between August and October 2012. The campaigns will be judged by a panel of TripAdvisor sales and marketing experts, as well as representatives of CIMTIG.