Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Joins William Shatner and a New Cast of Sidekicks for Priceline TV and Online Ad Campaign

NORWALK, Conn., Feb. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- When it comes to TV and online advertising, priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) isn't messing with a winning formula.  Today, Priceline announced that, for the fifth straight year, it is bringing back its award-winning Priceline Negotiator advertising campaign with brand-new spots that began airing recently on national broadcast and cable outlets.  William Shatner is returning in his familiar role as The Priceline Negotiator and, this time, he'll be joined by some new sidekicks, including fellow Negotiator Naomi Pryce and the NBA's all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a cameo role.

The campaign was created by Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) , priceline.com's San Francisco-based advertising agency.  This also is BSSP's fifth consecutive campaign for priceline.com.  No financial details of the campaign were released.  To watch and download the video spots, click here http://pcln.com/tv.

The new campaign takes place in the inner sanctum of Priceline's CIA-like "Department of Negotiation", where Shatner, Naomi Pryce and Big Deal show how Priceline gets its Name Your Own Price® hotel rooms at discounts of up to 60% off published rates.  "We're especially pleased to have William Shatner back in his 13th year as Priceline's celebrity spokesman," said Priceline's Chief Marketing Officer Brett Keller.  "Over the years, William Shatner and Priceline have forged what we believe to be one of the longest-running and most successful relationships between a celebrity and a brand in the history of advertising."

TV buffs know William Shatner for his work in series like $#*! My Dad Says, Raw Nerve, Boston Legal and, of course, Star Trek.  In the Priceline spots, he plays The Priceline Negotiator – a shrewd, hard-bargaining professional negotiator who will stop at nothing to obtain the best travel deals and maximum savings for Priceline customers.

"By building a cast of amusing and memorable characters like No Fee, Big Deal, Naomi Pryce and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and assembling them around The Priceline Negotiator, we've been able to not only successfully extend the Negotiator campaign, but further embed Priceline's one-of-a-kind brand and, of course, the Priceline Ne-go-ti-a-tor jingle 'sting' in American pop culture," said Mike Shine, BSSP's co-Creative Director.  "We believe this is one of those rare instances where a continuous campaign theme actually has been able to build on a product's brand awareness over a period of several years, which is why we elected to come back to The Negotiator in 2011."

About The Priceline Group of Companies

The Priceline Group of Companies (Nasdaq: PCLN) is a leader in global online hotel reservations, with approximately 61 million room nights booked in 2009.  The Group is composed of four primary brands – Booking.com, priceline.com, Agoda.com and TravelJigsaw.  The Priceline Group provides online travel services in 38 languages in 100 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Based in Amsterdam, Booking.com is a leading international online hotel reservation service operating in 92 countries in 38 languages.  Booking.com offers its customers access to over 105,000 participating hotels worldwide.

In the U.S., priceline.com gives leisure travelers multiple ways to save on their airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, vacation packages and cruises. In addition to getting compelling published prices, travelers can take advantage of priceline.com's famous Name Your Own Price® service, which can deliver the lowest prices available.  Priceline.com also operates the following travel websites: Travelweb.com, Lowestfare.com, RentalCars.com and BreezeNet.com.

Singapore-based Agoda.com is an Asian online hotel reservation service that offers hotel rooms around the world and is available in 32 languages.  With headquarters in Manchester, UK, TravelJigsaw is a multinational car hire service, offering its reservation services in more than 4,000 locations in 80 countries.  Customer support is provided in 20 languages.

SOURCE Priceline.com