My name is Dirje van Laar and I am from Amsterdam, where I live with my boyfriend and two sons (ages 4 and 6).
What energizes you, privately and professionally?
I have always worked in the hotel/tourism industry because of my great love for food and travel. In my spare time, I look for newly opened restaurants as much as possible to taste what they have on the menu. In the past I have traveled a lot, often to faraway destinations, and I hope to be able to share this with my family in the future. I love to discover something new every time I travel; new people, new cultures, food that we don't know in the Netherlands. The same applies to work; I get energy from a dynamic environment where something new happens every day and from working with passionate people.
Where did you work before you started as a brand manager at dé VakantieDiscounter?
Before joining dé VakantieDiscounter, I worked at amsterdam&partners. This is the city marketing organization of Amsterdam. There I was responsible for various online and offline marketing campaigns aimed at (international) visitors. Before that, I held various marketing positions in 4- and 5-star hotels in Amsterdam.
What agencies do you work with?
We partner with STROOM for media strategy and media buying, and have INDIE as our advertising agency. They developed the creative concept, as we will use it again now. This concept was previously used in 2020. Social media, content, email marketing and performance marketing we do all in house: we have our own team of specialists in these fields. So we do continuous research on what works in the market and how to improve it.
If you had to describe your work at dé VakantieDiscounter in three words, which would they be?
Dynamic, fun, challenging.
Can you tell a little more about your campaign?
After two years of corona, it is time to be visible on and offline again and to show that we as the HolidayDiscounter offer incredibly, beautiful and affordable travel. We have chosen to use the TV campaign, created together with advertising agency INDIE, once again. As every year, we set ourselves apart from the calibrated "happy people on the beach" campaigns of others: humor is in our company's DNA. The radio commercials are new and here too the familiar humor returns, they will certainly stand out when you are in the car listening to the radio.
What is the growth path for dé VakantieDiscounter, where do you want to be in 2 months?
At the moment dé VakantieDiscounter is doing incredibly well, we can speak of a record year so far and the potential in the travel market is still there. In addition to the fact that we want to grow within the Netherlands and introduce more people to our large selection at an attractive price, we also want to expand internationally. The first steps have been taken to this end. Also offering our own travel product is something we want to develop even further. So many great plans!