Espresso Thinking Series: Travel & Hospitality
Early this year, I received an email from DH at The Disruption Consultancy (a brand consultancy that's part of the TBWA network) asking for 45-minute to chat about travel industry trends over coffee. They were working on the positioning and branding an integrated resort in Singapore and needed some industry context/background info. Because I was still in Vancouver, DH, her colleague BF and I didn't actually meet up until more than a month later.
We met one February afternoon at Caffe Vergnano. We had a very interesting chat about what luxury travellers want and what they might want next, where they get their information and how they make their travel choices. It wasn't immediately relevant to their project, which was more mid-market, but our discussion focused on the shifting landscape within the travel industry. Where traditionally travel agents held much more sway on travellers' choice of destination, today that influence is shifting to hotels & resorts themselves (which are doing a much better job communicating directly and building relationships with guests), new media (blogs, travel community sites, even photo-sharing sites, hotel marketing and booking sites) and new services (concierge services and travel planners such as ourselves). Today's travellers are more sophisticated, demanding, fickle and with very different needs from previous generations' travellers (wifi, phone chargers, iPod docks are just a few of the new things we expect hotels to have in addition to 24-hour room service, pool, spa, gym and remembering the type of pillow we like to sleep on).
Fast forward four months later, TDC has launched a cute concept to share ideas, build networks and of course aid in their business development: Espresso Thinking Series. Over espresso and breakfast at Caffe Habitu, they present tidbits from their research as well as case studies demonstrating how they apply their findings to create innovative branding solutions and initiatives for their clients. I was surprised and grateful to DH for mentioning Little Cream Book as an example of new influencers of travellers in their presentation.
I found the presentation interesting. Here were just a few notes I jotted down:
1. ZMET -- one of the research techniques mentioned. ZMET stands for Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique and delves into how consumers' subconscious reacts to brands and how it affects their purchasing decisions.
2. Bin-sights -- another one of their research techniques. It's very hands-on and involves going through people's rubbish. One very interesting and relevant insight gleaned from going through a guestroom rubbish from a particular hotel client was the prevalance of medications, prescription or over-the-counter. We live the espresso lifestyle, and the fast-paced life of living out of hotel rooms, running for the next plane and eating processed airline food takes a toll on our systems. It's hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle on-the-road (I would know. I've just manged to get through an 11-day detox that would be utterly unmanageable if I were travelling.). So 24-hour room service menus should include options for people on alkaline or low-sodium/sugar/carb diets or perhaps the minibar could include energising or detoxing tonics. In addition to free transfers or room upgrades, hotel might offer loyal guests health/wellness-boosting services or products. This, of course, has implications beyond hotels as seen rise in popularity of spas, yoga retreats, detox holidays and medical tourism. Even airlines have to contend with the health issue of deep-vein thrombosis.
3. What a brand needs to be -- There was a slide with a bunch of words describing what a strong brand needs to be, such as "innovative". As I was looking at this slide, I realised one very important word was missing -- inspiring. All the great brands, and by great, I mean brands that we decide to buy not out of a rational decision-making process (i.e. good value for money, best-in-class etc.), but out of love. And love for a brand (think Apple or Amex or Obama) is created when the brand inspires. It inspires people to see more, do more, be more, risk more, hope more, believe more, love more, which of course, leads people to talk about, buy and consume more.
Which is why I love travel and helping others embark on their own personal journeys; because each journey holds the promise of rebirth and rejuvenation. It's a chance to see, experience or get to know something or someone for the very first time...perhaps all over again. In so doing, we rediscover who we really are and discover who we can become.
The next Espresso Thinking Series will focus on financial services.
We met one February afternoon at Caffe Vergnano. We had a very interesting chat about what luxury travellers want and what they might want next, where they get their information and how they make their travel choices. It wasn't immediately relevant to their project, which was more mid-market, but our discussion focused on the shifting landscape within the travel industry. Where traditionally travel agents held much more sway on travellers' choice of destination, today that influence is shifting to hotels & resorts themselves (which are doing a much better job communicating directly and building relationships with guests), new media (blogs, travel community sites, even photo-sharing sites, hotel marketing and booking sites) and new services (concierge services and travel planners such as ourselves). Today's travellers are more sophisticated, demanding, fickle and with very different needs from previous generations' travellers (wifi, phone chargers, iPod docks are just a few of the new things we expect hotels to have in addition to 24-hour room service, pool, spa, gym and remembering the type of pillow we like to sleep on).
Fast forward four months later, TDC has launched a cute concept to share ideas, build networks and of course aid in their business development: Espresso Thinking Series. Over espresso and breakfast at Caffe Habitu, they present tidbits from their research as well as case studies demonstrating how they apply their findings to create innovative branding solutions and initiatives for their clients. I was surprised and grateful to DH for mentioning Little Cream Book as an example of new influencers of travellers in their presentation.
I found the presentation interesting. Here were just a few notes I jotted down:
1. ZMET -- one of the research techniques mentioned. ZMET stands for Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique and delves into how consumers' subconscious reacts to brands and how it affects their purchasing decisions.
2. Bin-sights -- another one of their research techniques. It's very hands-on and involves going through people's rubbish. One very interesting and relevant insight gleaned from going through a guestroom rubbish from a particular hotel client was the prevalance of medications, prescription or over-the-counter. We live the espresso lifestyle, and the fast-paced life of living out of hotel rooms, running for the next plane and eating processed airline food takes a toll on our systems. It's hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle on-the-road (I would know. I've just manged to get through an 11-day detox that would be utterly unmanageable if I were travelling.). So 24-hour room service menus should include options for people on alkaline or low-sodium/sugar/carb diets or perhaps the minibar could include energising or detoxing tonics. In addition to free transfers or room upgrades, hotel might offer loyal guests health/wellness-boosting services or products. This, of course, has implications beyond hotels as seen rise in popularity of spas, yoga retreats, detox holidays and medical tourism. Even airlines have to contend with the health issue of deep-vein thrombosis.
3. What a brand needs to be -- There was a slide with a bunch of words describing what a strong brand needs to be, such as "innovative". As I was looking at this slide, I realised one very important word was missing -- inspiring. All the great brands, and by great, I mean brands that we decide to buy not out of a rational decision-making process (i.e. good value for money, best-in-class etc.), but out of love. And love for a brand (think Apple or Amex or Obama) is created when the brand inspires. It inspires people to see more, do more, be more, risk more, hope more, believe more, love more, which of course, leads people to talk about, buy and consume more.
Which is why I love travel and helping others embark on their own personal journeys; because each journey holds the promise of rebirth and rejuvenation. It's a chance to see, experience or get to know something or someone for the very first time...perhaps all over again. In so doing, we rediscover who we really are and discover who we can become.
The next Espresso Thinking Series will focus on financial services.
posted by 10000miles at 10:42
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