Comments on: We’ve got to do more with less

By: Travel industry ad spending moving online « Adventure Business

Travel industry ad spending moving online « Adventure Business — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:39:49 +0000

[...] you’re interested in learning more about marketing travel during a recession there is a great article and subsequent discussion on the Tracking Tourism Blog that is very [...]

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:22:35 +0000

Interesting points made in both replies…

I’ll take Tyson’s first: I think your phrase, “It is the marketers job to inform customers of that value” is deceptively simple and hides the enormity of the challenge!

I think one of those challenges (and opportunity) will come in being clever with that data – the world and his wife have access to advanced web analytics tools at the moment but it will require exceptional people or processes to make that data work harder than their competitors.

Vicky: I would agree that the offline aspect of travel buying is still important. I often think of it in terms of, “well, the buyer must have got the idea to visit X destination from somewhere!” and I suspect that original idea might still come from mainly offline influences. In addition, as we’ve discussed before, there are simply destinations and segments where offline probably works better – ‘unusual’ destinations and business travel being possible cases in point. As to measuring that…well, I think it can be done but it’s going to be complicated…

By: Vicky

Vicky — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 05:00:57 +0000

Thanks Tyson – I think that you are right that online is going to prove its mettle in this recession. Not least because its highly measurable. When every thing has to justfy how it is contributing to revenues or reducing cost, online of course is at an advantage. The interesting question is in such an integrated multi-level field as travel, is there a danger we under-estimate the role of off-line because its harder to measure? Our visitors receive a mass of influencing factors- genuinely exploring ROI is very hard.

I think you are right in focussing on value deliverables.

Thanks for you input!

Vicky

By: Tyson

Tyson — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:50:18 +0000

Great post. I think you make a valid point – in a recession it is extremely important to focus on the customer experience. The travel industry is going to have excess supply, and in order to stay competitive companies need to find ways to offer greater value to their customers (either through competitive pricing or differentiated product). It is the marketers job to inform customers of that value.

I think this recession is going to be a boon for the online advertising industry. As you mentioned, analytics is key in maximizing marketing investment, and no offline marketing channels provide the level of analytics available for online marketing channels.