NEWTON, Mass., July 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- TripAdvisor^®, the world's largest travel site, today announced the appointment of Anne Bologna to the position of vice president, brand strategy. In the new global role, Bologna will lead TripAdvisor's brand vision efforts along with television and offline advertising and will report to the chief marketing officer, Barbara Messing.

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Bologna was previously the managing director at MDC Partners in New York City, where she was responsible for a portfolio of companies that included advertising, branding and research agencies. Bologna has marketing experience working on some the world's top brands, including Starbucks, Virgin, Pepsi, Amazon Kindle and Citibank.

"Anne brings a passion for brand building and remarkable breadth of marketing experience to TripAdvisor and we're thrilled to have her on board," said Messing. "We look forward to seeing her creativity in action to engage and inspire our community as well as deliver new audiences to our site."

Prior to joining MDC, Bologna was a founding partner and CEO of independent advertising agency Toy. One of the agency's most celebrated campaigns, "Elf Yourself" for OfficeMax, achieved unique notoriety when it spread virally to reach 200 million people in less than six weeks.  Before founding Toy, Anne spent much of her 25 years in the advertising business at Fallon, including serving as the president of their New York office.

Anne has been featured in Fast Company, co-hosted "Ad Fight," a reality show pilot for NBC's Oxygen Network, and in 2008, was named a "Woman to Watch" by Advertising Age. She is a guest lecturer at Columbia University and one of a group of industry leaders who co-authored the book, "The 22 Immutable Laws of Advertising and How to Break Them." In 2009, Anne received the "Changing the Game Award" — an honor given by Adweek and Advertising Women of New York to honor women who've reinvented their businesses to meet today's challenges.

"I'm thrilled to join TripAdvisor at this dynamic time," said Bologna. "TripAdvisor is an extraordinary brand that's uniquely powered its community of millions that continue to provide the lifeblood of the site. It's a rare opportunity to be a part of a company as they embark on this important next stage."

Bologna will be based in TripAdvisor's headquarters in Newton, Massachusetts. For more information on TripAdvisor, visit www.tripadvisor.com  

About TripAdvisor  
TripAdvisor^® is the world's largest travel site*, enabling travelers to plan and have the perfect trip. TripAdvisor offers trusted advice from real travelers and a wide variety of travel choices and planning features with seamless links to booking tools. TRIPADVISOR branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors**, and over 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. The sites operate in 30 countries worldwide, including China under daodao.com. TripAdvisor also includes TripAdvisor for Business, a dedicated division that provides the tourism industry access to millions of monthly TripAdvisor visitors.

TripAdvisor, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) manages and operates websites under 20 other travel media brands: www.airfarewatchdog.com, www.bookingbuddy.com, www.cruisecritic.com, www.everytrail.com, www.familyvacationcritic.com, www.flipkey.com, www.holidaylettings.co.uk, www.holidaywatchdog.com, www.independenttraveler.com, www.jetsetter.com, www.niumba.com, www.onetime.com, www.seatguru.com, www.sniqueaway.com, www.smartertravel.com, www.tingo.com, www.travelpod.com, www.virtualtourist.com, www.whereivebeen.com, and www.kuxun.cn. 

*Source: comScore Media Metrix for TripAdvisor Sites, worldwide, April 2013

**Source: Google Analytics, worldwide data, May 2013

©2013 TripAdvisor, Inc. All rights reserved. 

SOURCE TripAdvisor