«Organization»
ILTM Cannes 2012
Bright Young Things
Simon Mayle, Founder of Bright Young Things Workshop, launched the first annual gathering of the minds
during ILTM in Cannes in December 2011. Bringing together three topics with many burning questions,
seven “bright young things” and a group of hand selected travel experts, the interactive panels explored
innovation, diving deep into- what worked, what didn’t and why.
Moderator + Author | Michaela S. Guzy
Editor | Ella Keeven
Michaela S. Guzy| michaelaguzy@gmail.com
ILTM | Bright Young Things
Table of Contents
Panelists
2
About the Author
2
Introduction
2
Tackling the Burning Questions
4
Discussion One: DEVELOPING A DEFINED BRAND PERSONALITY AND DELIVERING ON THE PROMISE
4-5
Key Takeaways
Supporting Research
Discussion Two: CAPTURING AND RETAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DISCERNING TRAVELERS
6-7
Key Takeaways
Supporting Research
Discussion Three: Q&A-ASK THE EXPERTS: DESTINATION MANAGEMENT, HOTELS, & SOCIAL MEDIA
8-9
Key Takeaways
Supporting Research
Additional Reading
10
NOTE: This document refers to “travel advisors” or “planners” which can be used interchangeably with “travel agents”.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Panelists
Rob Cheng, VP/Marketing, Peninsula Hotel Group
Julia Perowne, Founder & Managing Director, Perowne Charles Communication
Shelby Donely, President & Owner, Camelback Odyssey Travel
Carolyn Turnbull, Director of Global Sales, Aman Resorts
Mario Jobbe, COO & Co-Founder, Brand Karma
Aaron Kaupp, General Manager, Armani Hotel Milan
Ian McKinnon, Director of European Sales and Destination Management of Abercrombie & Kent
About the Author
Michaela Guzy consults for a number of travel and luxury companies, founded OhThePeopleYouMeet.coma travel blog, launched a travel video series called Michaela’s Map which have run on Peter Greenberg
Worldwide, SmartFlyer, TripFilms, OvationTravel and OTPYM. She also contributes to Johnny Jet, Virtuoso
Life and Everett Potter.
Up until February 2012, Michaela served as Vice President, overseeing the travel and development of new
initiatives for all American Express Publishing brands – Travel+Leisure, Food&Wine, Executive Travel,
Departures and Black Ink. Michaela was awarded the “American Express Pubby Award for Business
Innovation” for the successful launch of Vacationist; a member only flash sales site jointly created by
Travel+Leisure and Luxury Link.
This is the second year Michaela has moderated and written a white paper for the Bright Young Things
Workshop at ILTM Cannes.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Introduction
The new generation of luxury travelers expect you to reward loyalty, collaborate with like-minded lifestyle
brands, engage socially, and theme experiences. Here we look at how cross- brand alliances, retaining
loyalty, high tech engagement, plus tailored experiences, lead to capturing market-share among the new
generation of luxury travelers.
It’s not just the travel industry that is having challenges engaging these enlightened consumers. To illustrate
consumer behavior in another luxury category, Piaget, a renowned watchmaker and jeweler by Richemont,
have a well-designed and regularly updated blog. But there is a lack of feedback or shares on their
Facebook or Twitter feeds. According to HubSpot’s “Website Grader,” while Piaget has a website that
earned 88 of 100 points, the areas of improvement noted were all about the need to include social media
marketing techniques:
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Get more people to tweet your content by making it more remarkable and/or making it
easier to share.
Add social sharing buttons to your website.
Tweet more frequently.
Piaget’s numbers show that their posts are only being “shared” on Facebook by 25 people or less, and
sometimes not at all. And forget Twitter…no one is using their blog combined with Twitter updates.
In fact, on Piaget’s grading sheet, it was commented: “You're not getting much action on the social sharing
scene – nobody's retweeting your posts! Double check that you have social sharing buttons on your site,
and work on writing remarkable content that people want to share.”
In reference to their Facebook use: “Your blog posts are being shared on Facebook 10 times on average.”
Food for thought:
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Blog posts that were shared on Twitter and Facebook got
links than those not shared on social media at all.
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Blog posts shared on Twitter get
social media at all.
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U.S. Internet users spend
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149% more inbound
113% more inbound links than those not shared on
3X more time on blogs and social networks than on email.
Companies that use Twitter average 2x, more leads per month than those that do not.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Tackling the Burning Questions
We posed three relevant and hot topics to the panelists to gather their thoughts and feedback. Below you
will find key findings from the discussion, via audience members, followed by research supporting aspects of
the conversation.
Discussion One: DEVELOPING A DEFINED BRAND PERSONALITY AND DELIVERING ON THE PROMISE
Rob Cheng, VP/Marketing, Peninsula Hotel Group,
Julia Perowne, Founder & Managing Director, Perowne Charles Communication
Travel advisors and suppliers share the importance of understanding a brand, engaging customers and
recent trends effecting industry marketing. What does your brand stand for? How is it different? Why should
your customers care? And how are you delivering on the promise?
Key Audience Takeaways
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It is important to know your DNA and understand that your brand can't be everything to everyone.
Stay true to what you know best, but appeal to your upcoming audience.
No matter how you go about defining your brand personality, you must tell a story.
The general perception of travel communications = "culture of blandness", meaning that industry
communications, public relations and marketing are not typically very sophisticated or creative. What
can be done to improve this?
Key messages should remain consistent in order to maintain brand personality.
Partnerships with non-travel brands allow industries to cross promote to a new audience of
like-minded customers.
How do we serve the new generation of do-it-yourselfers? Social media is a key factor in capturing
this audience.
But, the right mixture of man and machine is important. Your brand’s trust cannot be replaced by a
computer. Social media and word-of-mouth compliment one another.
Luxury brands are not about special offers. It is about how to sell an experience. To that end, social
media for luxury brands is used to create content and curate an experience. It allows companies to
stay in touch with clients throughout the travel planning process and is a way for brands to attract
new clients.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
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Most travel advisors in the room don't report converting new business/clients from social media.
Rather they use it as a communication tool with current customer base.
1 Billion people have Facebook accounts. Most hotel, cruise and airline brands do as well, but
whether Facebook is driving bookings remains questionable.
While one message can cross geographic boundaries, but brands with bilingual Facebook postings
registered interaction rates 45% higher than those just in English. L2ThinkTank.com
Supporting Research
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75% of consumers are likely to buy from a travel brand that defines its values through social media.
Consumers who connect with a brand via social media spend 20%-40% more money than those
who don't. Young, affluent consumers care more about a brand's narrative than its price tags.
Source: Abrams Research, Social Media Guide, Luxury 2012-13.
CASE STUDY: The Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts- When Americans talk about hotels on
social media, 30% of the conversations center on customer service. The corporate Twitter
account regularly interacts with customers, regardless of their experience at the hotel, while
the individual Four Seasons properties, each equipped with their own account, act as a
combination of front desk and concierge service for anybody who has questions about the
hotel/destination. Over 55% of all Facebook users will read about experiences their friends
have had with a brand. That’s why the Four Seasons makes a huge effort to be engaging
on Facebook, pushing awareness of what’s happening at their properties using both
organic and paid strategies. Four Seasons understand the value: almost half (48%) of
Facebook users become fans of pages because their friends are. Case study by Abrams
Research.
Lead strategist and M.D. at Abrams Research, Keith Gormley, explains that the key for luxury brands
to build connections with consumers through social is by communicating their company stories. And
brands that aren't as successful on social media tend to be the ones that are focusing on selling
products rather than telling stories and engaging fans.
Partnerships also serve as an important tool to grow and drive brands, and reach a different market.
Research by Gregory Pollack of PBM Marketing Solutions reports “when looking for the right
marketing partnership, we need to make sure to align with another brand that delivered similar
attributes and quality, while providing incremental marketing exposure in an alternative channel of
distribution—and at the same time, create a synergy and balance in a relationship between two very
different brands.”
EXAMPLE: Partnership created with Volvo and LEGOLAND California-- LEGOLAND was
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able to reach consumers in the automotive channel, including dealers and auto shows,
nationwide. In turn, Volvo was able to reach customers in the family theme park channel,
thus further defined the company as an automotive leader in safety and quality. Source:
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Gregory Pollack of PBM Marketing Solutions.
“I've found that many brands try to be cool in social when really, what fans and prospective
fans want, is honesty, help, feedback, and important information about the brand.”
Noah Kerner, CEO-CoFounder of Noise New York.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Discussion Two: CAPTURING AND RETAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF DISCERNING TRAVELERS
Shelby Donely, President & Owner, Camelback Odyssey Travel,
Carolyn Turnbull, Director of Global Sales, Aman Resorts
How do you stay in front of, engage and win the loyalty of the next generation of travelers? Advisors and
suppliers discuss how to communicate, how often, and ultimately drive the consumer to book.
Key Audience Takeaways
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Your content (website, blog, social media, print communication, or viral video) is king. It is the first
point of inspiration in the consumer travel decision-making funnel.
Advisors should communicate with their clients throughout the whole travel process-- create
excitement with unexpected things to do post-booking and pre-departure. Keep excitement up via
social channels so clients are able to share their experiences with their friends before, during and
after their trip. Clients will become your best third party sales people through word of mouth/social
channels.
Personal relationships between the travel planner and employees on property (especially the General
Manager) will result in the strongest ROI in the eyes of a client in reference to the planner's perceived
value.
Create "un-googleable" experiences that demonstrate the value of an advisor by providing an
experience a tech savvy consumer find on the internet.
Customer relationship management: know your customers’ preferences and how and when they like
to be spoken to.
Don't be a victim of time- stay in touch. Be in touch in advance to tailor their experience and check
in and see how the trip is going.
Look at hotel model- they know everything (good & bad) that happens to a guest while on property-preferences in advance, and the hotel follows up with surveys regarding the guest’s experience post
visit.
Client may need a travel planner for a complicated itinerary or destination, but make consumers
realize your value in the equation so they enlist an advisor to plan the smaller trips in between too.
Lead times continue to decrease due to the volume of inventory/deals on the internet.
Suppliers/DMCs/Tour Operators should be as efficient as possible when getting back to travel
advisors with quotes and travel details.
Social media doesn't click to book; rather it drives booking through traditional channels. How do you
use this to your advantage?
Facebook & Twitter aren’t used in China. Rather, Weibo, China’s most popular micro-blogging web
site is used to engage travelers. A participant, a Chinese tour operator, communicates with 20,000
members every month via social media. Affluent Chinese travelers are 11 years younger and
extremely lifestyle conscious.
Advisors drive more volume than a solo consumer booking direct, which is how they are able to
negotiate best available rates (BAR) and amenity packages for their clients with suppliers. OTA’s
command a high commission, but currently drive the highest volume for most travel suppliers.
Offer something new that clients haven't heard of. What's behind the closed door for the consumer?
Surprise & delight.
Personalize.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Supporting Research
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61% of U.S Internet users are researching travel online prior to booking. Content on a brand’s site
could tip the scale in its favor over a third-party OTA. Brands that invest in content curation register
longer average user time on site and more return visitors. For example, data suggests that brands
recruiting local staff to provide tips can increase user time on site by 16%. Users on brand sites with
curated itineraries spend 12% more time browsing. Source: L2 Think Tank Digital IQ Study 2012- Hotels.
Just 40% of hotel sites feature social media sharing, 27% online chat and 17% user reviews—
forfeiting billions in value to middlemen like trip advisor. Source: 2011report by eMarketer- how travel brands
manage their online reputation.
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Branded sites are primary revenue generators. We must look at how the internet and social media
are driving bookings. Mintel reports that, in 2000, the internet accounted for 1% of bookings, a
decade later, digital bookings breached 50%. The cost of each booking on a hotel brands site is
$2-6 USD vs. and OTA at $40-60 USD. OTAs cost hoteliers $2.5 billion USD in 2010.
In this generation of travelers, email remains the top choice for marketing communications across
age groups. Only 60% of hotel brands sent automated welcome emails. Only 56% engaged in email
marketing communication during their data collection period. While 63% of smartphone users check
their personal email via mobile daily, just half of received emails were optimized for mobile viewing.
Hoteliers, second to last across multiple industries in email frequency rate, send an average of 0.23
emails per week, a fraction of the number sent by brands in other sectors. Source: L2 Think Tank Digital IQ
Study 2012- Hotels.
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92% of consumers around the world say they trust earned media, such as word-of-mouth and
recommendations from friends and family, above all other forms of advertising, a 2012 Nielson
Global Trust in Advertising reports. The study showed companies are increasing their activity on
social networking sites, in part due to the high level of trust consumers place in friends’
recommendations and online opinions.!
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“We’ve moved past the point of solely acquiring fans and followers. Brands need to pay
close attention to engagement and conversation across their social networks….
Compelling content will allow people to spend more time on your hotel’s site if you give
them something beyond the booking interface.”
Michael Lazerow, CEO of Buddy Media
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Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Discussion Three: Q&A-ASK THE EXPERTS: DESTINATION MANAGEMENT, HOTELS, & SOCIAL MEDIA
Mario Jobbe, COO & Co-Founder, Brand Karma, Aaron Kaupp, General Manager, Armani Hotel Milan,
Ian McKinnon, Director of European Sales and Destination Management of Abercrombie & Kent
Audience members had a lively Q&A with experts the hospitality, travel and social media industries.
Below are trends and key themes discussed.
Key Audience Takeaways
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Response time between DMC's and advisors needs to be tighter to account for different time zones
and client's increased expectations.
The guide makes or breaks the experience. How do DMC's determine which guide will be the best
fit for an advisor's clients? Which guide will be good on the fly in order to best personalize the
experience.
Get the right service at the right price. Advisors would love to see DMC's act more like a local host
and be flexible with booked itineraries. Meet their clients when they first arrive. Find out what the
clients are most excited to experience, and maybe itinerary items they have questions about/less
enthusiasm for. Advisors and their clients must understand that the price could change if the client
alters items on the itinerary especially last minute -- usually things won't be cancelable and adding
extras to the itinerary could mean extra costs and people's time (DMC's, the guides and drivers).
Advisors aren't "offer companies". Market the service, travel expertise and value that an advisor
provides. What makes you travel agency unique?
Quality over quantity in terms of outreach, especially in luxury-- this applies to all forms of
communication from calls to emails.
Social media has become a timely way to get more personal with current clients and their networks.
Social media will not solve every marketing problem-- "It's one tool in the marketer’s toolbox”.
Luxury brands must identify who their best customers are, and send relevant messaging that speaks
to them in the media channels they already participate in. The "friends" and connections of a brand’s
most valuable customers are often like-minded consumers with similar preferences. Social
networking sites, most notably Facebook, offer powerful ways to target the friends of your fans and
customers.
A customer liking your page or following you on Facebook is the permission to market to a customer
about your brand. Treat that permission respectfully- you are in a dialogue with your fans, so don’t
spam their Facebook newsfeeds with offers all the time. Instead, communication should be
balanced and interesting.
Facebook ads are a relatively low-cost and targeted way to reach real prospects.
Brand offers just pushed on social media to an untargeted audience are a waste. Offers should be
targeted and accompanied by content to help sell a destination, cruise or property.
Facebook is best used when there is a clear objective. Brands with the best success have invested
$5-10k USD on targeting people's past behavior that qualifies them as a real prospect.
Louis Vuitton has over a million followers on Facebook. Why are they so successful? How do they
use this information?
Contests & sweepstakes can be effective, but you have to set your objective-- what's the end goal?
What do you hope to achieve? How do you engage the consumer? How do you acquire new
users?
Bigger hotel brands are making their sites stickier by allowing customers to post reviews directly to
the brand.com site, rather than on an external web site like TripAdvisor.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
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Will Facebook replace websites? Likely not for major brands, but possibly for some smaller
independent hotels.
If you want customers to allow you to communicate with them via social media, you need to
offer/feature more meaningful content: conversations, reviews, or 3-5 year trip plans that can inspire
future vacations. Demonstrate you understand the type of traveler they are.
Supporting Research
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In late 2012, Louis Vuitton personalized Facebook marketing through notifications. The notification
started with the user’s first name followed by a message that linked to the campaign app where a
full commercial and behind-the-scenes video is available. Yuli Ziv, founder/CEO of Style Coalition,
New York says, “As luxury brands focus more efforts on creating aspirational video content, the
competition for viewers’ attention becomes stronger.” Louis Vuitton also grabbed the attention of
Facebook users through a sponsored post that drew them to the app at the time of its launch. This
was the start of a multichannel brand awareness campaign. They create conversation with their
most passionate customers and build loyalty and relationships
o CASE STUDY: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts launched an integrated campaign “The
Spark,” targeting couples all around the world this fall, and creating personalized
experiences. It features a new content microsite, a Facebook application, Twitter and
Instagram campaigns, Pinterest boards, email drops, and dedicated PPC and Facebook
engagement advertising buys. It’s personalized in that the microsite provides an interactive
quiz to help couples find their perfect romantic destination as well as fun content such as a
guide to aphrodisiacs around the world, conversation starters, and a live Instagram feed
showcasing user generated imagery around romance. (Source: L2)
In a 2012 study by L2 Thinktank, an estimated 30% of U.S. social media conversations about hotels
focus on customer service. Of 216 global and property Twitter accounts, 77% respond to customer
service inquiries. Fewer than half of 253 Facebook pages actively respond to customer service
concerns and inquiries, while nearly three-quarters ran active promotions on their pages during the
study period.
“All successful social media initiatives start with the question, ‘what are we trying to
achieve?’ Only when that’s answered, can a luxury travel brand come up with social media
tactics that will drive sales, awareness, guest satisfaction, loyalty, or thought-leadership.”
Mario Jobbe, COO & Co-Founder, Brand Karma.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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ILTM | Bright Young Things
Additional Reading
Fast Company Design | Five Companies that Masters Social Medias Branding Potential
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663494/ideo-five-companies-that-mastered-social-medias-branding-potential
L2: A Think Tank for Digital Innovation | Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts Launch Cross Channel Romance Campaign
http://www.l2thinktank.com/four-seasons-hotels-and-resorts-launch-cross-channel-romance-campaign/2012/
PR Week | Luxury Brands Need to Wake Up to Social Media
http://www.prweekus.com/luxury-brands-need-to-wake-up-to-social-media/article/l18dGJ%2f5uiY%3d/t/
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business | The Power of Partnership Brand Marketing
http://classic.marshall.usc.edu/assets/002/5154.pdf
L2 Think Tank for Digital Innovation | Digital IQ Index: Hotels
http://www.l2thinktank.com/research/hotels-2012/
Nielsen | Global Consumers Trust in Earned Advertising Report
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/press-room/2012/nielsen-global-consumers-trust-in-earned-advertisinggrows.html
Luxury Daily | Louis Vuitton Personalizes Facebook Marketing through Notifications
http://www.luxurydaily.com/louis-vuitton-personalizes-facebook-marketing-through-notifications/
Luxury Daily | Louis Vuitton Reaches the Masses Through First TV Commercial
http://www.luxurydaily.com/louis-vuitton-reaches-the-masses-through-first-tv-commercial/!
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Business Insider | Five Tips on Optimizing Likeability on your Facebook Business Page
http://www.businessinsider.com/five-tips-on-optimizing-likeability-on-your-facebook-business-page-2012-6
Editor Bio
Ella Keeven is a freelance writer, editor and marketing consultant with experience creating marketing
collateral, social media plans, and print and web content across a range of industries. She serves a Deputy
Editor of OhThePeopleYouMeet.com, a travel blog, and served as Production and Writing Associate for the
Michaela's Map, a travel video series in Peru. She spent the last five years as Marketing Director at a global
design workplace consultancy, serving Fortune 500 clients.
Moderator + Author: Michaela S. Guzy | January 2013
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