The Rise and Rise of the Social Dragon

This years’ TDS Asia summit, held two weeks ago in Singapore, was the first to incorporate a conference track dedicated to social media so I thought it would be fitting (and yes, much quicker) to round up the most salient trends and topics of the summit by looking at what caused the greatest flurries of twitter activity that we had displayed throughout the summit.

As a proud adversary of tweeting, trending, retwooting etc, I was nonetheless impressed by the scale and sheer potential of the technology for instantaneous information sharing.  Using our summit #tag and a neat twitter analytics tool called Storify we managed to amass over 1000 tweets from 200+ individuals over the 2 days and from 16 different countries. When you consider the multiplier effect of Twitter big-wigs sharing this info with their thousands of followers, and this being retweeted many times over – The implications from a brand PR perspective can be staggeringly beneficial or damaging in equal measure.

The following are just a small selection of the stats and trends that caused the biggest spikes in twitter activity:

Analyse this! Data acquisition and analysis is crucial in an increasingly promiscuous online world. The brands that intelligently leverage customer data can grow both market share, marketing ROI, customer loyalty and reduce price elasticity

Make data available to everyone in your company- The Priceline Group #tdsasia

Can't wait for airlines to do it! RT @faithyoong: Wyndham's conversions up 30% after integrating TripAdvisor reviews on their site #tdsasia

Geek is good! The big theme from #TDSasia is we need more "geeks who can speak"...understand tech, and communicate it well

Make publishing decisions based on social analytics to stay relevant with your audience. - Barbara Pezzi #TDSasia

Don't measure activities, but results." - Barbara Pezzi #TDSasia

"What is the business problem am I trying to solve? How can social media analytics give me answers to solve it?" - Kelly McGuire #TDSasia

"Number of social conversations about travel is doubling every 6 months." #TDSasia

The beautiful thing about social analytics is that you're working with public data. Huge opportunity for competitive insight. #TDSasia

Focus on integrating your technology platforms to see all data in one place." Prashanth Radhakrishnan, Starwood #TDSasia

Use online customer reviews to understand where your brand sits in the competitive landscape. - Kelly McGuire, SAS Institute #TDSasia

#Travel businesses that will succeed will be the ones that use data the best. - Adrian Currie #TDSasia

Big data is very important. Make sure you filter that and put it into the hands of your employees to make decisions. #TDSasia

Effective use of data requires processes, systems and a culture of using data for decision making. #TDSasia

Beyond Mobile Mania: Have a focused mobile strategy and clear goals!

Wow - 95% of mobile apps do not get opened a second time? #TDSasia #mtravel

"Be crystal clear on what your brand/product stands for." #TDSasia (Also know what you are NOT)

Paypal predicts $7bn worth of mobile payments in 2012 #tdsasia

Google Q1 2012 Singapore & Australia travel queries on tablet three times bigger as queries via mobile phones #tdsasia

 @simpliflying at #tdsasia focus on the business goal, not on the medium. It's not about the fan or the follower.

Focus on and reposition the customer at the heart of everything you do

Consistent theme so far at #TDSasia - create a customer-centric organization. How are you using new technology to do this?

Love this: Webjet brings a life-size cutout of a customer saying "What's in it for me?" to all meetings. #TDSasia

Tips from Lufthansa - be authentic and be where your customers are. Be relevant and build sustainable relationships.

Personalize and Humanize your brand to become more relevant

Understand the "Internet Culture" of your audience to guide #content marketing strategy. - Sam Flemming #TDSasia #smtravel

Lufthansa now among Top 5 airline FB pages, with over 1mn fans. Impressed with @flying_emirates, which is in Top 15 in a month! #TDSasia

"I am Roger Smith" video campaign @RSHotel used as a great example of humanizing your brand by @edwardperry #TDSasia #hotelmarketing

 @HiltonHotels welcome program includes chinese speaking concierge, translated welcome letters, 'local' food #TDSasia #custserv

"When mistakes happen, be human. Relationships matter." - @simpliflying #TDSasia

Social listening and real-time service can resolve issues, keep guests happy and prevent negative online reviews. - @edwardperry #TDSasia

Make publishing decisions based on social analytics to stay relevant with your audience. - Barbara Pezzi #TDSasia

Engage Target and Monetize your consumer when they are in ‘spending mode’

Guests more likely to spend when they're traveling. At the booking stage, they try to save. Implications on mobile strat ...

 @edwardperry suggests hotels could learn from airlines and innovate with "social lounges" to help travelers meet each other #trends

China and its travellers are only going to become more commercially important – Develop a diverse strategy to tap into this huge and growing market

Chinese millionaires are 15 years younger (on average) than their counterparts in the west. #tdsasia #luxury

Your ability to tap in to the China travel market is partially dependent on the receiving destination to market itself #tdsasia

What are you doing to assist Chinese travelers in using your products/coming to your destination?

However don’t discount India:

Over $1B pumped into internet start ups in India last year - English is India's 1st language! - Himanshu Singh

Indian market is V price sensitive and Chinese market is tough to enter without the right JV partner/product flexibility...& vice-versa

Hottest new emerging trends

I learned a new term from Flocations: Flashpacker. Apparently its is a traveler that has the time but a limited budget #tdsasia

RT @simpliflying: Wow! Singapore has the highest % of Smartphones in Asia, at 62%! #tdsasia

Japan- 97% 3G penetration. Not surprised! #tdsasia

According to Google, hotel mobile searches have increased by 3000% from 2010 to 2011 #tdsasia

What's happening today in Japan in terms of mobile is possibly a peep into future for other countries :) #tdsasia

Wow - interesting. RT @msaio: #tdsasia Air Asia gets up to 14% inbound traffic from Facebook in Malaysia - More than from Google! #comscore

For any of you who missed our social media and mobile videographic, you can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stnFeBHfU44

And here is a mash-up of all the conference tweets showing the most salient trends and topics that were ‘trending’: http://www.eyefortravel.com/tds-asia-2012-twitter-highlights

Following Facebook’s relatively disappointing IPO it's worth remembering that globally social media and mobile drive travel sales

It’s that simple, forget PR stunts or the amount of friends your company has, our research (Eyefortravel Marketing Barometer) shows that half the travel industry sees social media providing them with real measured sales.  The same research shows that 27% see mobile growing as a sales channel.  At our recent shows the debate and interest has been around this sweet spot ….where mobile and social combine to give you a real time communication channel you can use to inspire and convert and so produce the cash rewards and market share that your hard pressed company needs. We will have fresh data in July and it will be great to see if this trend continues.

The trouble for Facebook is that unlike Google, who effectively forced us to advertise to build its huge revenues, Facebook delivers an awesome way to communicate for free with our customers and can’t really change that without damaging their core product.  Mobile Social networking which is Facebook’s fastest growing area makes it doubly hard to monetise.

Finally Facebook is not an awesome way for some of the world’s fastest growing and biggest markets.  Asia is a different world, Facebook and Google may be an effective way to communicate with your customers in The USA, Europe, India, Africa and South East Asia but they fall flat on their faces in the world’s fastest growing market - China and the regions 2 heavy weight markets of Korea and Japan; here you need to work with Mixi, Cyworld, Baidu, Renren, Sina, Weibo and others to make an effective social media campaign.  The region also has the highest and lowest 3G and smart phone penetration rates.  China will have a predicted 1 billion mobile web users but in Vietnam it is a different story. How you create and drive your social media and mobile channel in such different markets will be key to your market share and future success.

If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for Social Media and Mobile in Asia, we have a show where Facebook, Renren and a whole heap of innovators will be debating the future of this fascinating trend in Hong Kong this November 20-21. http://events.eyefortravel.com/social-media-and-mobile-asia/index.php

By Tim Gunstone

The 12 Things US Revenue Managers Are Talking About Right Now

We’ve just concluded our research to prepare for TDS North America, and these are the top discussions we’ve been having with our huge network of revenue managers. Do you agree, or have we overlooked anything?

1. Getting your ancillary strategy spot on. Anyone who thinks this topic doesn’t belong (in part) to revenue managers is wrong. Revenue managers across the world are working hard to use the data available to them in house to truly revenue manage ancillary services, and are preparing to use that data to forecast future ancillary spend.

2. On the flipside- how to increase revenue by rate alone. Competition never decreases, so 2012 is the year to balance competitive advantage and real profit increase, without damaging the consumer conception of your brand.

3. A rocky economy. How do you forecast for an uncertain year, particularly in Europe?

4. Hotels! Group pricing and meeting space optimisation. It’s not there yet (I know, I’m an events organiser). We’ll be watching closely what happens in Vegas over the next 12 months for tips and tricks on this at our next revenue management conference.

5. Better segmentation. Why, oh why, is this woeful subject back in our minds? Revenue managers are telling me their segmentation strategy hasn’t been looked at or redeveloped in months/years. So which segments have the greatest demand and potential now (not two years ago?)

6. No Budging on the Budget. budget restrictions and cutbacks mean working out a better way to revenue manage. Options for this and why they might or might not work for you (including clustering).

7. The changing role of the revenue manager. a nostalgic look back, and a prospective foot forward to what the role really means, and how you need to react to keep moving upwards.

8. All the single ladies. Revenue managing an individual property- either within a chain or as an independent. Revenue managing with a distressed budget and dealing with a non RM focused CEO.

9. How do customer reviews impact price? Data scoring your reviews against your room or package rate.

10. All that glitters isn’t gold. Marketers, show us the true value of social media, mobile and website re-design- how can they actually make money, and what’s the honest ROI?

11. Mobile & money. Is it acceptable to have different pricing tiers depending on the platform the customer is using (ie, desktop, ipad or mobile) and is this even legal?

12. Distressed inventory- how are models like HotelTonight going to change the pricing model we have with third parties?

Have a different opinion? Tweet to me at @rosieakenhead or find me on linkedin and drop me a message, I’d love to hear your feedback.

Rosie Akenhead
Director of Events and Industry Analysis
EyeforTravel, London, UK
Direct Line: 0044 207 375 7229 (UK)
US Toll Free: 800 814 3459 ext. 7229

Pinterest – Your Chance to Reach the Chief Vacation Planning Officer

I have to say that when I first heard of Pinterest I was very sceptical (but then again I am about most new social sites and often I’m proved wrong!).   There had been so much hype around the site that I didn’t just want to jump onto the next social media bandwagon. 

I had questions - surely, in the long term the site would reach saturation with millions and millions of pictures overwhelming users?  Why is it worthy of Techcrunch's best new start-up title?  Why would the site be useful to travel brands?

Having since experimented with the site and listened to some insightful presentations at EyeforTravel’s Social Media Strategies for Travel conference in San Francisco last week, I’m a convert!

What sets Pinterest apart from other social media channels?

•          It has the potential to skip the search stage – yes, you read that correctly – users can potentially start the search process on Pinterest and skip the search giant Google!
•          According to Mashable.com users spend more time on the site (15.8 mins) than Facebook and Twitter (and roughly the same amount of time as on YouTube)
•         Referral traffic from Pinterest is significant (3.6% versus 0.2% from Google+ and Linkedin)
•          There are no boring status updates that no one cares about
•         The site’s dominant demographic is female (68.2%) with a high average annual income ($100,000)
•          The site reveals unique insights into users aspirations – whereas most social media sites reveal where a user has been or has booked to go, Pinterest helps reveal a consumer’s aspiration

What does this mean for your travel brand?

Philip Grote, Director, Client Service - Marketing Solutions, comScore made a great point at the conference last week – Pinterest is your chance to reach the Chief Vacation Planning Officer ie. aspirational, affluent, females.  

Like it or not, in most households it the female who wears the trousers when it comes to holiday planning and decision-making!   The fact that 68.2% of Pinterest’s audience is female and a high proportion of them have high incomes, is a very attractive proposition for many travel brands.

The opportunity to target travellers according to their aspirations is also quite unique.  Regular keyword searches don’t reveal customers’ ideals and aspirations.   Pinterest provides the opportunity for travel brands to tap the ‘dreaming stage’ of the holiday planning process and turn dreams into a reality for the consumer.

Pinterest also reveals a customer’s interests – art, design, food, favourite destinations – as social data becomes more and more important, this information will be invaluable to travel brands.

Top tips to get started

•          Request an invite to join Pinterest – they will usually get back to you fairly swiftly following your request·         
• Depending on what your company does and your target audience, create titled Pinboards and pin images and videos of your travel brands destinations, your hotel’s design features, the food available at the destination etc.
•          Follow those within your brand’s spheres of interest eg. If you are a hotel that exudes design prowess follow those interested in design and start to re-pin their images and comment on them
•          Ensure your website is ‘pin’ friendly – can users visiting your site easily pin images from it?  The great thing about working in travel is that you will no doubt have some great images to share
•          Experiment and have fun!

Lastly, I’ve used Pinterest to collect together a few social media infographics from across the web that you might be interested in.  You can follow me (search ‘Gina Baillie’ under people – there’s only 1 of me!).  

Happy Pinning!

Announcing the Winners of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards

After a tense 2.5 month nomination and voting process, the day finally arrived for the final of EyeforTravel’s Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards which was held in San Francisco last Monday.  

The day kicked off with a true Californian wake-up call in the form of an earthquake before the start of EyeforTravel’s Social Media & Mobile Strategies for Travel conference at which the awards were hosted.

After a morning of insightful social media and mobile presentations, followed by a hearty lunch, the following 10 finalists, spanning 3 categories took to the stage –

Best Mobile App

Best Western 2 Go

TripAdvisor

Orbitz Worldwide

Worldmate

Best Mobile Website

Best Western 2 Go

Marina Bay Sands

Hotwire

Best Mobile Strategy

CarTrawler

InterContinental Hotel Group

TripAdvisor

In an animated 1.5 hour session, each presented a 5 minute pitch to our esteemed panel of judges. 

The winners were then announced at the evening networking drinks party as: -

·         Best Mobile Travel App – WorldMate

·         Best Mobile Website – Hotwire

·         Best Mobile Strategy - InterContinental Hotel Group

Congratulations to the winners!  All in all it was a very interesting process, highlighting the great work that many travel brands are carrying out in the mobile space.  Stay tuned for more interviews with the winners on www.eyefortravel.com

You can read more about each of them here -

http://www.eyefortravel.com/mobile-and-technology/ihg-worldmate-and-hotwire-bag-top-honours

Finalists of Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards Announced

The online voting period for EyeforTravel's Mobile Innovation in Travel Awards has now closed and the finalists have been decided by the industry.
I'm excited to announce the 10 lucky finalists who will be presenting their pitches at the awards on March 5th.

Best Mobile App

• Best Western 2 Go
• TripAdvisor
• Orbitz Worldwide
• Worldmate

Best Mobile Website

• Best Western 2 Go
• Marina Bay Sands
• Hotwire

Best Mobile Strategy

• CarTrawler
• InterContinental Hotel Group
• TripAdvisor

They will have the chance to present their pitch to the following judges 

• Michael Becker, North America, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association
• Tim Gunstone, MD, EyeforTravel Ltd
• Ricky Heath,Travel & Transportation, AT&T      
• Glenn Gruber, AVP, Market Development, Travel Technologies, Ness Technologies

The awards will take place as part of EyeforTravel's Mobile Strategies for Travel conference, March 5-6, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco.

The program line-up can be found here - http://events.eyefortravel.com/mobile/conference-agenda.php

There are limited places still available at the event.  Email gina@eyefortravel.com for more details.

Nothing says "I Love You" more than a 2 for 1 Groupon Deal

By Dr Rosie "Roses are Red" Akenhead

Today I read an article on www.nooga.com which makes a mildly bland statement: “non-traditional marketing campaigns engage consumers.” It then goes on to show a marketing campaign on one of the most traditional marketing days of the calendar year: Valentine’s Day. Call me a cynic- but I find it increasingly hard, especially in the travel industry, to see innovation in marketing around this time of year. For me, Valentine’s marketing is predictable across most retail and online industries- an awful lot of red, even more love hearts and a whole lot of 241 Pizza Expresses. Joy.

The travel industry always hits a mini peak around February 14^th. Weekends away, spas, theatre, dinner, flights to city destinations: all these travel picks are winners in the Valentine money spinning roulette. Lastminute.com’s second highest search term this week is for “valentine’s hotel”. Despite the population’s obliviousness to correct grammar, it would seem that it is not so much the destination, nor the price, but it is “the valentine” aspect which is the most essential part of the search. This is interesting because it gives travel marketers a new opportunity to exploit the changing market. Historically, Valentine’s marketing was all about upselling luxury: champagne, the Eiffel tower, and definitely Ladurée macaroons. In 2012, we see the deal phenomenon stand proud with Groupon offering up a “valentine’s shop”, this year with deals you couldn’t even shake a stick at, they’re that cheap. Deals which are fantastic, but not that romantic (definitely not if you know it was bought on Groupon, right?) Similarly, Hotels.com is straight on the bandwagon for Valentine’s marketing and the key theme all-round is DEALS. Cheap, save 50%, get XYZ free…

So, to conclude: the Valentine market is changing rapidly: it is about absolutely everything. It’s about deals, it’s about luxury, it’s about swagger, it’s about timeless classics, it’s about, “take your Mum instead,” or, “a weekend away with the girls.” However, most importantly, it’s about making sure you do something, anything, right or wrong, cheap or expensive, for Valentine’s Day, because it’s Valentine’s.

As a test, we’ve decided to run our own Valentine’s competition, where, if you register on Feb 14^th for TDS Europe 2012, 1 person in every 10 registrations we receive will get their pass COMPLETELY FREE!

It’s nothing to do with hearts, you will not see any red coloured twinkling birds on our website, and we promise no pictures of couples canoodling in a Jacuzzi in Dubai. What you will get, is 90 speakers, 36 conference sessions, and a couple of fab networking parties, and possibly your pass for free!

Buy your pass here https://secure.firstconf.com/travel/travel-distribution-summit-europe-2012/register.asp and if you tweet, use both hashtags #tdseurope #b2bvalentines