Thursday, 26th March, 2009
It’s not about me, it’s about you. - 26th March, 2009
What business are you in?

Knowing what business you are in gives you clarity of purpose. This, in turn, gives you focus and an enhanced ability to understand and meet customer expectations. But surely we all know what business we’re in, right?
Well, think about Domino’s Pizza for a moment. Domino’s are not in the catering business, they’re in delivery. Fast, fresh, reliable delivery. Customer’s don’t call them for a slice of authentic Italy – they want big, hot pizza and they want it now.
Likewise, people don’t buy a drill because they want a drill – they want a hole. More important still, they want a hole to make a shelf to put their son’s first football trophy on.
In the same way, people don’t visit a destination because they want a tourism experience – they want any number of things, from privacy, to exhilaration, to a convenient place to break a journey – to complete brain-switch off in the sunshine.
No, what business are you REALLY in?
A simple answer to that might be “the one you’re customers think you’re in.” What is the fix you deliver to their problem?
That might initially sound a little too simple and prescriptive – after all, it seems to suggest that you can only ever be defined by what your customers think you do now and that any strategies or messaging to alter this are doomed to failure.
So it’s probably more constructive to start to answer that question by thinking in terms of: “It’s not about me, it’s about you.”
Those of you that have an awareness of strategic marketing might recognise this in terms of ‘features and benefits’.
In other words, it’s not about whether you have, for example, 30 museums and 100 five star hotels, rather, in this example, it’s about cultural enrichment and pampering. It’s not about a list of products and services, it’s about what these mean to your visitor.
Let me explain what prompted these musings….
The first recent occasion was at a conference in Glasgow launching the Scottish customer feedback initiative. As well as discussing feedback, there were also destination presentation highlighting approaches that could be take in marketing an area . I was comparing my notes taken during presentations by Santiago de Compostela and Prince Edward Island and realised that very different approaches were being taken in how they were portrayed.
Santiago de Compostela seemed to concentrate on its features to define itself of the destination whereas PEI explained how they had done research among their visitors and had then defined itself based on the benefits it had found within this research.
Undoubtedly both approaches work – visitor numbers had risen in both location. But I had a niggling sense that Santiago de Compostela could have gone a step further as they seemed to lack a distinctive narrative or personality (although Santiago de Compostela would undoubtedly argue that it does indeed have a personality – that it’s a culturally vibrant place to visit). However, While they could come across as being a place with ‘lots of things to do’, they could be just be one culturally rich European location among many.
On the other hand, PEI’s research suggested that it’s visitors thought of it as ‘a gentle island’ and to me this seems a more meaningful and human differentiator.
Or, to put it another way, one was about the products and the other was about the customer.
But in this example, I’m still not sure whether one was was superior to another. From a personal perspective Santiago de Compostela sounds more interesting (I prefer cultural tourism to relaxation) but I’m not sure that I would choose it above many other culturally rich places.
Destinations everywhere – but how many really stand out?
While there is ambiguity in the examples above there was less experienced walking round the exhibition halls at ITB in Berlin. The choice of destinations could be not so much mind-blowing as mind-numbing.
The trouble was that I often struggled to think of a reason why Destination X was better than Destination Y. Golden Beaches? Check. Local Cuisine? Check. Authentic experiences? Check. Compelling reason to visit above competitor destination? Not sure…
“We are in the happiness business”
So, to return to the conference in Glasgow where the last session was delivered by Gregg Patterson who runs the The Beach Club in Santa Monica.
For me, the key sentence Gregg used in his session was “we are in the happiness business.” Others might have said, “we operate a high-value members-only hospitality facility” or “The X Group run mid-market hotels aimed at the leisure market.” And they would be right – while also missing the point of why they exist, as they would be defining themselves from a product, not a customer perspective.
They would be emphasising their features, not their benefits.
Yet it is this recognition of the benefits from a customer perspective that allows a “different” approach taken. One that more intelligently communicates with customers, connects with them emotionally and identifies how best to deliver to them at a product level.
It enables you to develop strategically and tactically. In the case of PEI, the local DMO has been liaising with the local authorities to develop facilities that help deliver on the promise of being ‘a gentle island.’
At a tactical level, it has shown The Beach Club how important the ‘dignity’ of customers is. This might sound like a rather odd or old fashioned term but it means recognising the visitor as a person, not as another number.
So how do you start to understand what business you are in?
For me, the starting point would be some form of qualitative research to determine what the area/attraction actually means to your customers. What is their emotional connection? What is the narrative behind their visit?
And there are many ways to pick up this information. For example, there is user generated content online. What are people saying about you and how are they saying it? What images are they posting, how are they branding you?
Also, what terms are people using to find you online? What kind of sites things are they looking at as well as your own?
And there is always the more traditional research method of destination audits, street research and focus groups which can also really help to drill down and identify what it is that really makes your destination memorable (or infamous!).
Ultimately, whichever research methods you choose – the challenge is to see yourself as others do. And to react to those perceptions, even if they differ from your own.
Posted by Stephen (26/03/09)



















