Name: Carolyn

Bio: Carolyn is an internationally recognised expert in tourism and travel research, having held a wide variety of roles in the industry, including a period heading the research function of the International Air Transport Association. Carolyn is also passionate about her own travel, English literature and speaking Russian.

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Sex still sells (especially in Russia)

August 16th, 2011

Many years ago I attended a presentation by a futurologist. In identifying differences between the generations, he compared the typical first sexual experiences of generations gone by (on their wedding night) to those of Generation Y (under their parents’ roof).

This insight about shifting attitudes toward sex came back to me when I was thinking about the many ways in which emerging markets differ from one another. Generally, the perception is that emerging markets are quite conservative when it comes to sexual imagery.

But the old advertising adage of “sex sells” remains true pretty much anywhere in the world. You just have to get the message right – for both your audience and your brand.

Overtly sexual

In some emerging markets, you can be a lot more direct in your appeal to sex than in many industrialised countries. I remember the market research manager of a Central American airline telling me that the way he got good response rates for his inflight surveys was to have pretty girls in short skirts hand them out.

Depending on whether your internet filters let you, check out Russian airline Avia Nova’s recent commercial. As a female business traveller, I hate the ad. But it knows its target audience (most business travellers in Russia are likely to be men and, shall we say, not necessarily worried about political correctness) and it certainly has a clear message that differentiates the airline from its competitors (albeit one that the crew may not wish to live up to).

There is no more vivid example of the overt approach than using Paris Hilton to sell beer to Brazilians. In this television commercial for Devassa, Hilton cools herself with an ice cold can in full view of a crowded street, and appears to enjoy the experience almost as much as her horde of onlookers.

Marketers in Africa can get away with a surprisingly overt approach to sex as well, providing certain sensitivities towards STIs and the more repressed role of women are observed. This little gem for condom manufacturer Trust went viral a couple of years ago now, with a cheeky but highly sexual approach.

Subtly sexual

In contrast, China is a more traditional culture where talking about sex overtly is usually considered to be in poor taste. But using innuendo and relying on the audience to connect the dots can be a very engaging strategy. McDonald’s, for example, pushed the boundaries with their Feel the Beef campaign, created to introduce their Quarter Pounders to the Chinese palate. And they got away with it.

Knowing how far a brand can go comes down to understanding the unique histories and nuances of a place. At first glance, India might seem like a highly socially conservative market. But India’s tradition of sensuality (think Tantra) means that it is possible to make sexy ads that are culturally referenced and don’t upset the censors.

Many brands in India are testing the waters, including Wild Stone deodorant with its ad featuring a married woman fantasizing about a handsome stranger. While a direct approach to sex may be taboo in India, fantasy and innuendo fit within cultural norms and beliefs.

Another idiosyncrasy to note is that the same rules don’t always apply to ads from other places as they do to ads from the homeland. For instance, an Indian businessman might want to fly with Avia Nova after seeing the Russian airline’s ad, but doesn’t necessarily want an ad for an Indian airline to look like that.

Similarly, tourism ads can’t look like they promote the country as a sex tourism destination. The perception has to be that it’s all about fantasy (even if it isn’t).

So what’s the takeaway? While sex may sell everywhere, it sells differently depending on where you are in the world. But the real story is still “same, same but different,” because the motivation underneath it all remains universal.

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Same, same but different: Understanding emerging markets

May 25th, 2011

Much like “social media” and “content,” “emerging markets” is one of the hottest terms in marketing these days.

But as with any hot topic, there’s a danger that the hype will overshadow important messages about how to connect profitably – and sensitively – with these complex markets. The South Sea and dot-com bubbles are just two historical examples of this; time after time, the unwary get their fingers burned and discourage others from connecting as early as they could.

So what do we mean by “emerging markets”? Too often it seems the term is used as shorthand for China, or China and India. But even beyond the BRIC countries (which include Brazil and Russia), markets in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America represent significant opportunities for developing long-term relationships with travellers.

Together these places contain roughly 60 percent of the world’s population and they’re getting stronger. If anything, their growth relative to developed economies has been accelerated by the global economic slowdown. China is already the world’s second-largest economy and the International Monetary Fund has predicted that the total GDP of emerging and developing economies will equal those of advanced economies by 2013-14.

In other words, the opportunity to find a culture or consumer that is right for your brand has grown exponentially. But that doesn’t mean marketers should blindly jump into the fray.

All of these markets share common characteristics that allow us a “starting point” in dealing with them. But they all have their own unique needs and traits as well. To borrow a well-known emerging markets catchphrase, these places are “same, same… but different!”

Branding lessons from Atticus Finch

Let’s start by looking at one of the common factors. I’ve always loved the book To Kill a Mockingbird and as a researcher I find Atticus’ advice to Scout very inspiring: “You never really understand a person until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

I learned this lesson with regard to emerging markets when I ran a syndicated airline brand study many years ago. We ran it across a number of different markets, but one year at the request of one of our clients we added Pakistan to the study.

In the eyes of most international airlines, Pakistan was considered high volume, but low yield – even for business travel. The Pakistani business class mostly consisted of small traders who flew economy class once or twice a year and bought on price. They weren’t perceived to be very sophisticated in their branding needs and the few ads aimed at them generally consisted of a picture of a plane, with the destination and price in huge type.

But when we looked at the market drivers, price turned out to be number four or five. The factors that really drove decision-making revolved around prestige, service, category leadership and innovation.

Here’s where climbing inside the skin of Pakistan’s business travel community was so important. In a country where GDP per person is US$2,400 per annum and 43 percent of people work in agriculture (according to the CIA World Factbook), a small businessman who runs a garment factory and travels overseas a few times a year (even in economy class) is a very big deal.

He sees himself as entrepreneurial and successful: the Tony Fernandes or Richard Branson of Karachi. And, if he can, he wants to fly with an airline that demonstrates that success to others. 

That’s why the few airlines that put a message out beyond price were able to charge more than their competitors. We’re not talking great multiples, but in an industry with moderate margins and high fixed costs, enough to make a significant difference and (here’s the kicker) with little or no extra cost.


Sleep cheap, shop chic

My Pakistan experience came back to me recently when I read the The Economist’s Christmas feature on the new Chinese travellers. The article identified two characteristics that most emerging markets share and which are very important for those of us in the airline and tourism industries to keep in mind.

First, make sure you understand the cultural value that your brand (and the destinations and experiences it offers) has in the eyes of emerging consumers. The Economist mentions how Chinese travellers like to visit a Cambridge college where a famous Chinese poet studied. Similarly, Indian travellers are often drawn to sites the Mahatma visited. And both Anfield (Liverpool) and Old Trafford (Manchester United) are on the tourist trail for many international soccer fans.

Second, it’s worth remembering that travellers from emerging markets are often still surrounded by daily evidence of what it’s like to not have. As a result, they make different trade-offs around what they spend their holiday money on than developed market travellers, with a higher focus on tangible souvenirs from their trip.

Many adopt a “sleep cheap, shop expensive” approach: They’ll buy that handbag from the original Prada store in Milan but it may mean sleeping in a no-frills hotel to afford it.

The challenge for travel brands is to find ways to cater to this pragmatic mindset – and to retain a deep respect for those customers while they do. This is the lesson my airline clients learned in Pakistan – and it helped them make money in one of the toughest outbound markets in the world.

So when you want to connect with these very different travellers, remember to look under the skin of a world that can appear, on the surface, very same same.

Original version of post published on Sparksheet, a branded media and travel marketing blog.

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*Note: Our definition of emerging markets includes the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Africa, Latin America and the N11 countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam.

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At your service

March 9th, 2011

In our annual dip into the mindset of the domestic tourist, Domesticate, we usually encounter rumblings that service at home leaves a bit to be desired.  It consistently comes from the same groups – older (baby boomers and above), high income earners ($100K+) and states with local resourcing issues (e.g. WA and ACT).

Although this isn’t necessarily a majority view (according to a study with 1,000 Australians, more disagree (36%) than agree (16%) that services standard is better overseas), it really can go to the heart of the deficit in our tourism current account.  The same research revealed that more Aussies would travel at home if service was better (22% agreed they would travel more at home rather than going overseas if service was better).  And just as in Domesticate, the people expressing this view were more likely to be from high yield groups with overseas travel experience – baby boomers and high income earners.

So what kind of service style can we create that will be good for Australia?  How can we give our travellers a memorable Australian experience?  From the work we did evaluating the new position for Brand Australia (TNS was brought on board by Austrade to talk to more than 14,000 people around the world and discover what resonates about Australia), there were several common themes in how Australia is perceived.  Allowing for cultural differences, we found astonishing consistency in what makes people want to engage with Australia – our vibrant personality came through strongly, as did the beauty of our natural assets and the ingenuity and dynamism of our multicultural society.  The fact that we manage to work hard, succeed and make the process fun at the same time, fills people around the world with a desire to share our secret and Australians with pride.

As a culture that values opportunity and the ‘fair go’ we are never going to deliver the same service style as many Asian countries (who are often considered the ‘service leaders’).  Our interactions will always be ‘peer to peer’ but that doesn’t have to mean (as it can sometimes seem when it goes wrong) inattentive, uninterested or over-familiar.  Instead, it can and should be spontaneous, genuine and pro-active.  Time and again in the research for Brand Australia, we heard how Australians in sectors as diverse as events and architecture, focus on adding value, not doing it by the book, but finding ingenious ways to deliver more.  In practice, this is a service style that shows spontaneity and displays genuine thought for the customer’s needs.  A surprise, to demonstrate our personality, or the thoughtful gesture of finding culturally appropriate food for a visitor from China or India, is an example of how this could be put into practice.

This is the spirit we should be writing into our service manuals and capturing in our training.  And the great thing about this service style is that it can be very inclusive (also another very Australian value) because it is about attitude. We can train the new migrants, overseas students and backpackers who form a large part of our service interaction with this spirit.

This is the style that will work for Australia. It’s the style that can help keep our travellers here by reminding them of what makes us special, but it is also exactly what our overseas visitors want to experience.

The 2011 findings from TNS’ Domesticate study will be launched to the industry and the press on March 17 in Pyrmont, Sydney.

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Understanding digital consumers

March 9th, 2011

As someone who has spent a lifetime researching the aviation industry, I’m often asked what my favourite airline is. 

It’s quite flattering to think this would influence other people’s views. But I’ll usually turn the question around to find out what’s important to the person asking the question. Because we’re all looking for different things when it comes to air travel. Some prefer the full-service treatment, while others are just happy to get from A to B for as little as possible.

The same is true when airlines are trying to connect back the other way, especially in the digital environment. Different consumers have different needs, preferences and quirks. Online is essentially a permission medium – the customer will only build relationships with brands that play it their way. So some kind of aggregation is helpful for brands to understand their customers.

Digital types

TNS’ recent Digital Life study, conducted in 47 countries around the globe, uncovered six different types of digital consumers. Here in Australia, with our high Internet penetration and diverse online population, four of the six segments emerged as dominant:

1. Functionals access the Internet to perform tasks such as e-mailing, reading news, checking weather and personal banking. Functionals are less interested in social networking and are not driven by the need to express themselves.
2. Networkers access the Internet to build and maintain relationships, mostly via social networking sites, and predominantly as a way to keep in touch rather than as a means of self-expression.
3. Knowledge Seekers access the Internet to gain knowledge and information and to educate themselves about the world.
4. Influencers access the Internet for almost all parts of their lives. They are heavily involved in social networking, blogging, mobile Internet and online shopping. Influencers like to share opinions and will contribute to blogs and other channels that rely on user-generated content.

The predominance of these different types of Internet users varies greatly across different markets with different cultures and varying levels of Internet diffusion:



*Developed Asia includes Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.

Rules of engagement

So how do airline marketers know if they have permission to engage? Taking my home market of Australia as an example, we’ve outlined the degree of openness to brand communications via different channels for each of these digital segments.

When targeting Functionals (our largest group – got to love that Aussie pragmatism!), an airline has several options but would be best to communicate through general browsing and shopping channels. In particular, the need is to try to attract the attention of those who are actively in the purchase-cycle mode with facts and proof points.

On the other hand, airlines might want to focus on branded communications when targeting Influencers, a group that is nearly as large and obviously key in generating excitement around a brand. Like Functionals, Influencers like to hear from (new) brands when they are in planning mode, but here the focus is on more emotive or intriguing messages.



Not every consumer wants to interact with brands in the same way. "Tune out” represents respondents who “don’t even notice” branded communications.

Airline horses for digital courses

Smart brands might want to find out which type of digital consumer their customers are. We asked our six segments of Australians where their loyalties lie when taking to the sky. Like any other mix of humans, our different digital segments favoured different airlines:

• Networkers – the group that values keeping in touch with friends and family on a regular basis – are big on JetStar, one of the two true low-cost carriers in Australia.
• Functionals – the segment more likely to be made up of older, more conservative people – are really Qantas’ heartland.
• The sought-after Influencer group is a battleground between Qantas and Australia’s domestic Virgin brand, Virgin Blue.

Knowing this, the weight each airline would put on any one of these segments needs to be different. For example, the barriers to persuading a Functional (and therefore the cost) would be higher for Virgin than for Qantas.

Tone of voice and exact mix of communications will also need to be nuanced differently because what appeals to Influencers about Virgin Blue will be different than what this group finds appealing about Qantas. As a hypothesis, the former might win hearts with its quirkiness and personality, while the latter might earn points with its status, leadership and scale.

It really is horses for courses when you talk to online consumers.

Oh, and for those of you who are still wondering what my favourite airline is – it’s Ariana Afghan Airlines. Doesn’t that prove the point?

Original version of post published on Sparksheet, a branded media and travel marketing blog.



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Location, travel and trust

November 16th, 2010

Last time, we talked about trust in cyberspace. It’s a theme that came through strongly in the Economist’s take on location-based services and a challenge to those seeking to engage with consumers in transit.

If anything, trust is even more important when you are on the go: trust that no one can see where you are unless you want them to, trust that you aren’t revealing your whereabouts to burglars. The question on every marketer’s lips is, does the average consumer have enough trust in social networks and brands to reveal his (or perhaps even more importantly her) location?

Work we’ve done in Australia suggests that there is some way to go before location-based services definitively break out of the “geek ghetto” to fulfil their brilliant potential. The majority of consumers express strong fears that knowledge of their location could be used to their detriment.

Around 80 percent were fearful of being tracked or stalked or burgled if the wrong person knew they were out of the house. For some (such as users of the iPhone app Loopt that allows friends to track each other 24/7) the notion of being tracked is not a deterrent, while for others it is downright creepy.

But the apprehensive are open to being persuaded. Based on the study, 41% of Australians believe the potential benefits of location-based technology outweigh the risks, while only 13% believe the risks outweigh the benefits. To address people’s emotions, services need to have in place clear and well-communicated safeguards that reassure consumers the technology is safe.

But if these services are to really take off, they also have to address a more rational question: “What’s in it for me?”

In this sense, location-aware is where online retail was 10 years ago. Consumers were reluctant to buy online until retailers lured them in with discounts, greater choice and a reassurance of security.

And just like then, some categories are better placed to lead the way than others. Some services, like gay dating app Grindr, appeal to people’s emotions, while others make the cost of disclosure seem so small it doesn’t count (which Ryanair did with online booking via its famous £1 fare). Urbanspoon is a leader here – the cost of revealing location is small but the payoff is a handy app that helps you find a spot to eat nearby.

Travel brands have the advantage of the “What’s in it for me?” factor: Public transport information and travel aids are much-desired location-based services.

In Melbourne, tramTRACKER not only allows commuters to find the nearest tram stop based on location, but lets you know exactly how far away your next ride is. Similarly, Lonely Planet has done a nice job of incorporating their guidebooks into apps that feed off current location.

Location can be leveraged into revenue as well. Indeed, special offers are the most effective way of accessing consumers’ location information; half would divulge their location for an immediate benefit, according to the study.

But marketers beware: Offers and advertising are not the same thing. Three-quarters of Australians will reject brands that send them ads without an explicit benefit. Consumers consider their mobiles a part of their personal space and if you’re stepping into it, you’d better make sure they get something out of it.

The benefits of all this for travel brands are twofold. Operators at the originating destination (think travel agents) can use location to engage potential customers, while businesses at the destination can use it to stimulate sales (by sending out a special offer to turn around a slow day, for example).

The key to cracking the location code is leading with the benefit and using that to start the conversation. Again, we saw that with the Internet 10 years ago. But it’s actually been true of almost all technology through the ages. The technology changes but the battle to win the trust of those 50,000-year-old bits of technology known as hearts and minds still has some common features.

Original version of post published on Sparksheet, a branded media and travel marketing blog.

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Why trust matters online

September 30th, 2010

There’s a very famous ad by McGraw-Hill that’s been running since 1958 and was still being used as late as 2007.

The message of this ad came back to me very strongly when revisiting some of the research we’ve done on localizing digital strategies. It got me thinking about trust, and how important brand is to success in the online world.

We’d seen evidence from Europe about the impact of both the global financial crisis and the Ash Cloud on digital travel behaviour, which seemed to indicate a shift back to bricks-and-mortar agents. To understand this, we asked Australians about their use of cyberspace in planning and booking travel.

Cheap and convenient

The explosion of the Internet as a travel-planning tool has been driven by very functional things. As you might expect, cost is the initial factor encouraging consumers to try out the Web. If a customer is sacrificing in-person service and helping a travel company keep its overhead low, they expect brands to pass on those savings – and can get mad if they don’t.

Convenience is also a driver of Internet use. The Web is open 24 hours a day and can be a big timesaver for busy professionals and families. That has advantages in allowing marketers to target a defined market.

Bricks-and-mortar agents are fighting back

It turns out that despite their willingness to use the Web to plan and book travel, only 30 percent of Australians feel confident that digital sources are more reliable than offline sources, and even fewer think they offer better service.

Travellers continue to seek out face-to-face interactions for longer, more complicated and higher value trips, which they still do not feel comfortable booking online.

In Australia, travel agents are currently preparing a campaign to underline the value of a real-life agent. So focusing on the Web’s functional advantages alone might not be enough to drive the next wave of growth.

Trust agents

What will drive the next growth spurt for digital travel is brand, and the most valuable attribute for any brand is trust. In theory, the Internet creates an open playing field where all brands are equal, but in practice consumers search harder for brands they can trust not to disappear into cyberspace.

In our study, we asked consumers what travel companies came to mind as leaders in the digital space. Agents with bricks-and-mortar beginnings or strong offline brands were as likely to be named as operators who began their lives online.

Three Australian brands, Flight Centre, Webjet and Wotif, even trumped digital titans like Expedia and Travelocity. While Webjet aggressively promotes its brand offline, Wotif emphasizes its call-centre service as a reassurance factor. The other online travel brands that received top-of-mind mentions made up a very long tail.

Back to the future

The low share of mind experienced by most travel brands matters because customers won’t send their credit card details into cyberspace unless they trust the party at the other end.

Which brings me back to McGraw-Hill Man. The reason for his longevity is that the ad’s copy is as prescient as ever. Turn those statements into questions and ask yourself how many of your potential customers could answer them about your online business. If they can’t, why would they share sensitive information with you or put their precious holiday in your hands? Why not go back to the emboldened travel agent around the corner?

At the end of the day, it’s not about digital marketing. It’s about effective marketing in the digital age – and these issues from 1958 are still part of that. Trust and brand equity will drive business more, not less, in this new era.




As originally published on Sparksheet.

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The trip you forgot you took

September 21st, 2010

How to get more Australians travelling at home more often remains a hot topic for the domestic tourism market.  It’s a passion of mine and the reason we set up our Domesticate research.  In spite of apparently long periods of stasis or decline, we continue to believe passionately in the opportunities in the domestic market.  The interesting thing is that some of them are right under our noses.  We all know they’re there, but it’s almost as if they’re hidden in plain sight.

One of them is visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel.  VFR tends to be a bit the poor relation compared to the holiday or ‘pure’ leisure trip. It is often assumed that it is a ‘given’ – the destination is chosen for you by where your rellies live and you have to go because of them.  Oh and while you are there, you will be sat at home drinking cups of tea on the sofa. The most economic benefit towns can expect to derive in this scenario is the extra supplies at the supermarket and the bottle shop – plus a tank of petrol on the way out of town.

But let’s unpick this a little – through a mixture of numbers, what we hear in focus groups and even our own personal experiences.  Firstly, whilst there are a certain minimum number of trips to visit immediate family – that number isn’t fixed.  In the most recent two rounds of Domesticate, we heard that having more things to do in an area definitely increased the potential for either more frequent or longer trips.  This is particularly important for families – where the need to placate kids used to their ‘resorts at home’ is a major factor in meaning you can visit your loved ones more often.

When we ask Australians about their domestic travel, we find that they often forget to tell us about their VFR trips until we probe really hard. It really is the holiday that you forgot you took.

But according to our research, 64% of Australians have taken an overnight VFR trip in the past 12 months.  They don’t all stay with those they’re visiting – many choose to stay in a hotel rather than crash at a loved one’s.  Freedom, privacy and independence become infinitely more important when one is considering staying with the in-laws!  And while they’re there they inject money into local businesses.  The top five activities on VFR trips and proportion of travellers who engage in them are:

1. Eat out at a restaurant or café (68%)
2. Explore or visit the surrounding area (59%)
3. Bought something in the town they visited (59%)
4. Enjoyed some of the local activities (49%)
5. Visited a free attraction (where we know they usually end up buying snacks and souvenirs) (44%)

So there is just as much money to be made from VFR travellers as non-VFR.  Creating compelling experiences can impact expenditure – especially if you can encourage the locals to tag along with their visitors. The GFC reminded Australians what is really important in their lives. As a result ‘doing things as a family’ or with your friends (for tribal Gen Yers) has become an important motivator for leisure time. Seventy-eight percent of Australians told us they have hosted visiting friends and family from elsewhere in Australia on at least a day trip in the past two years.  Of these, 53% accompanied visiting friends and relatives.

We’ve also found over the years that this market has a potent source of influence – both for good and evil. Domesticate 2009 showed that the views of locals at the destination were very important in shaping views of whether to visit.  If we can engage our local communities to promote the benefits (and see their home in a positive light), this can be a key and highly credible marketing connection for us.  We know the influence of word of mouth is stronger when it comes from a trusted source, such as friends or family.



Of course, many in the industry are targeting these travellers already, and sources like TA’s There’s Nothing Like Australia map can be a great source to raise awareness of things to see and do on home soil.  But we could be strengthening that by using our secret weapon – the trusted advisor – to greater effect.  Targeting locals with ideas on how to entertain visitors and making it easy to share these ideas would be a welcome aid to those hosting VFR travellers.  Residents in regional communities in particular may need help in coming up with ideas – or even realising what they can do to help.  By all accounts, this strategy has the ability to increase stay and local spend, as visitors explore the destination.  One great example we found is Alaska’s Friends of Seymour Club.

VFR is a hidden string in the domestic market’s bow.  We can turn these forgotten trips into an opportunity to get more Australians travelling domestically.

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Groovin the Moo, Splendour, Peats Ridge…

September 13th, 2010

What can events-based tourism learn from music festivals?

Events are opportunities for the tourism sector that are not currently being harnessed to their full potential. As a nation, we are avid festival-goers and sport fanatics. Two in five (39%) Australians attend at least one event annually and the majority of attendees travel and stay specifically for the event.

-85% of intrastate event attendees travelled and stayed specifically for the event
-80% of interstate event attendees travelled and stayed specifically for the event
-47% of international event attendees travelled and stayed specifically for the event

But not only do events capture the imagination of a large section of the market, they are high yield also. Events such as themed festivals, film/theatre festivals and even food and wine festivals, attract their own audiences and, with some lessons from the thriving music festival market, could capitalise on the lucrative opportunity on offer.

Events are lucrative for both the organiser and the destination, due to the flow on effect to local operators.  Festival attendees frequently plan extra days either side of the event to make the most of the destination. They become locals for the weekend, engaging in the local nightlife, eating out at popular spots, resting and exploring.

The Byron Bay Bluesfest attracts 70% of their attendees from greater than 50kms away and in 2006 the Woodford Folk Festival attracted 130,000 attendees injecting 6 million into Queensland’s local economy.  Peats Ridge Festival, Sunset Sounds, Splendour in the Grass and Groovin the Moo are other music festivals that capture the attention of their target markets and indeed a cult following.  Splendour in the Grass, for example, is sold out months in advance – despite its premium price tag it is a ‘must do’ for its fan base.  So how can other events-based campaigns emulate the success of these examples and increase numbers and yield?

Music festivals capitalise on their core target market – single income no kids (SINKs) and double income no kids (DINKs) – by encapsulating the emotive needs of this predominantly younger group – carefree, proactive, individualistic and idealistic.  They do this so effectively they have become part of this generation’s culture.  With their high disposable incomes and footloose and fancy free lifestyles, SINKs and DINKs are a lucrative market to target.  They are highly engaged in travel for events – 40% travel to attend music festivals, sporting and other events.

“I love taking the time off and going to music festivals. I spent a week this year in Brisbane going to Sunset Sounds and I’m heading down to Canberra for Groovin the Moo for the weekend.”

-Music Festival Attendee, Female

SINKs and DINKs are entrenched in the music festival segment, but recent research we conducted revealed that they’re also open to art or culture, food and wine, and special interest (e.g. car or boat) events.  To optimise events-based tourism, events need to create the emotive appeal with the same degree of success music festivals have been able to, to develop the cult following amongst their own target markets, and also widen their attendee base to other lucrative segments.  SINKs and DINKs have indicated they are open to broadening their festival horizons.

Music festivals have also introduced packages to help stimulate travel to their events.  Packages allow for the ease of organising travel and give travellers a total known cost for the trip, which festival-goers appreciate.  They also allow organisers to widen their net and target those that are keen to travel interstate.  But a criticism that keeps coming through about packages is they can be too rigid.  Catering for target groups by packaging trips into flexible, tailorable deals, within an achievable budget, will play to the consumer need presently in this market. For SINKs and DINKs, lower priced packages and greater flexibility to only pay for what they want is desired:




“I think there’s probably a huge scope for partnerships between festivals, airlines and accommodation providers – as these packages exist now, and they are too often targeted towards the most extravagant travellers.”

-Sport Event Attendee, Male

Overall, it’s worth remembering that, for most event attendees, it should be the event that is the hero, not the accommodation or flights.  They are prepared to pay top dollar for good bands, but resent being ‘ripped off’ for the other elements because of this.

Flexibility, at the last minute, is also important.  This is what music festivals offer to their younger customer base who favour spontaneity in preference to planning in advance.  We know that event attendees are pre-disposed to spending extra time at the destination, so why not offer them the opportunity to add on as they go?  The flexibility to add on days either side of the event has great appeal, as does extras such as discounted tickets to local attractions, meals or alcohol, transportation to and from the event and so on.  We have the ability to communicate flexibility offers on the run with little cost nowadays, thanks to digital marketing and social media.

The success of music festivals illustrates the interest Australians have in travelling both interstate and intrastate for events. These events are a great string to the domestic market’s bow and can be used as an attraction to get people back into the habit of travelling at home.  The travel industry has the opportunity to cater to the consumer need we’re seeing in the events market. By providing tailored, emotive and affordable offers, events-based tourism can help persuade Australians to inject their money into the domestic market rather than jetting off to Asia.

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Keeping up with the prosumer

August 26th, 2010

The term “prosumer” is widely used in marketing discussions these days, but no one knows what to make of it.

Yet another portmanteau, prosumer is a combination of the words “professional” and “consumer.” In essence, a prosumer is someone who is especially proactive on the path to purchase, searching for information, engaging in conversations with brands, pressuring for the best deal and writing his or her own reviews.

In the travel industry we see many consumers taking on these characteristics, theoretically creating a legion of engaged, informed customers. But is this always a good thing for travel brands? The answer isn’t as obvious as you’d think.


Consumers are becoming professional, if not predatory, shoppers. In Asia, we know that up to 95% of Internet users research products and that airlines and hotels are two of their favourite categories to find online.

The Web has opened up a wealth of information and comparison tools to travellers. Sites like FareCompare.com enable consumers to see airfares stacked against each other; Farecast.live.com actually allows them to predict whether that fare will go up or down!

If your brand is strong in the prosumer space, all this will drive engagement in mutually beneficial ways. In Australia, we’ve seen online shopping for designer brands take off as they exploit differences in cost and exchange rates to expand markets.

Witchery, (a local brand) and Topshop (a U.K. brand that now ships to Australia) have seen huge sales growth in this market. This is all built and based on their compelling brand identities (check out Witchery’s beautiful branded music video or Topshop’s colourful blog), as much as price. Of course, engagement drives returns: In an online retail environment these are the stocks that get the best ratings.

But the travel industry has relatively few brands strong enough to do this, or committed enough to engage. Our customers mostly engage with travel categories – flights, hotels, rental cars –not with our brands. As a result, eager consumers are directed to places ­that support a commoditization of the product – think online travel agents like Expedia and aggregators like Kayak.




The global financial crisis only exacerbated this trend. The cycle of endless discounting made prosumers acutely aware of how important they are to businesses, and of the bargaining power that comes with this.

As a result, we have created a consumer mindset of “show me your loyalty and I will show you the money… just don’t expect my loyalty in return.” Prosumers expect to see brands recognizing and rewarding their patronage.

Upfront gestures of goodwill (such as a complimentary drink on arrival) are preferred, but consumers are prepared to haggle. More and more, the most travel companies can expect their brand equity to deliver is the phone call to negotiate.

To prosper in this dog-eat-dog world of prosumerism, we need to tailor offers more effectively, not give the product away. We need to make sure we link those offers specifically to our brands and the values we want to promote. We also need to look at how other categories leverage prosumerism to greater effect.

I’m trying to think of travel brands that have consistently delivered this level of engagement in a way that would stand comparison with brands like Nike, Apple or even Topshop. But I’m really struggling. Can someone out there help us find those beacons the rest of the industry can follow?

Original version of post published on Sparksheet, a branded media and travel marketing blog.

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The Six Stages of Travel: Content Marketing in a Mobile World

June 10th, 2010



From iPhone apps and audio guides to e-mail and Blackberry Messenger, mobile technology has changed the way travellers interact with the world. TNS’ Carolyn Childs explains how travel marketers can play a key role throughout their customer’s journey.

The smartphone is changing the way we travel. Since 2000, a shortage of meaningful content, issues with handset functionality and high usage charges have stymied the long-awaited “Year of the Mobile.” With these barriers lowering, the smartphone age is upon us and it has big implications for travel marketers.

We know the consumer in transit is always switched on and hungry for useful, compelling content. But how Transumers connect with that content changes throughout their trip.

Below are some ideas for how brands can use mobile technology to engage customers at each stage of the journey cycle. Some of these examples are already out there – that’s because they work. Of course, we also invite readers to suggest their own ideas.

Stage 1. DREAMING: Tempt me

In the dreaming stage potential travellers are open to a broad range of information, including deals and offers, but focussed on the destination. Mobile applications should ignite interest, fuel desire and raise awareness of a place or offer.

E-mail newsletters and Twitter feeds are made for mobile. Both can provide regular interaction with a destination through special offers, updates and images. Both can inspire your customer to move straight to booking, bypassing the planning stage.

Of course, mobile applications are also great platforms for deeper engagement. Apps can deliver holiday ideas, destination tours, street level maps and so on. A great example is Tourism Queensland’s iPhone app which offers maps and information on Queensland’s top 10 destinations.

Stage 2. PLANNING: Give it to me straight

Travellers need information during the planning stage. Content should be detailed and comparison tools are key.

World Nomads has a bunch of helpful apps that provide detailed information on destinations around the world. Webjet’s iPhone app helps simplify the price comparison process.

Dates are usually the first step in the decision process, but dangling special offers in front of the consumer via Twitter and e-mail newsletters can encourage people to plan their holidays around a deal.

Stage 3. BOOKING: Make it quick and easy

Mobile provides an opportunity for the industry to exercise greater influence over the booking process, by encouraging spontaneous bookings through special offers. Flights are usually booked first, while accommodations fall into place later as other good deals arise.

The booking stage is a great opportunity for upselling and upgrades. After a customer has booked, brands can share related offers via text message, confirmation e-mails or apps. For example, the Hertz rental car iPhone app could be targeted at travellers who’ve just booked their flight or hotel.

Stage 4. ANTICIPATING: Excite me

The anticipation stage is characterized by excitement, preparation and anxiety. It generates a need for detailed information and a wealth of opportunities to upsell. The mobile medium can be used to keep the excitement alive through sensory pictures and videos. Thomson mails the customer a video of their destination on booking that they can show to friends.

Mobile apps can also be built around destination-specific suggestions or information such as amenities, events, weather or exchange rates. User-generated review sites like TripAdvisor are ground zero at this stage of the journey.

Stage 5. EN ROUTE: Hold me close

Mobile is a fantastic platform for streamlining routine travel chores and keeping the traveller on track with updates and alerts.

Providing customers with airport directions, transfer information or taxi coupons is an excellent way of ensuring a stress-free arrival.

TripCase, for example, is an iPhone app that aggregates information about airport shops, gates and parking, and allows travel managers to track employee whereabouts.

Stage 6. DESTINATION: Knock me off my feet

The destination stage is the heart of the journey cycle. Location-based services and user-review apps are both made-for-mobile opportunities to improve customer experience and engagement.

Leading hotel chains, such as Omni, Hilton and InterContinental, are using mobile technology to streamline check-in. Initiatives include apps that give guests the ability to select a specific room; radio-frequency-identification key cards distributed to loyalty program members; and kiosks that spit out room keys.

Plans change. Travellers are increasingly using their mobile phones to adapt their itineraries. Lonely Planet’s iPhone app offers location-aware guides linked to Google maps – great if you turn up on New Year’s Day to find that the hotel you hadn’t bothered to book is closed for renovation (happened to me in Argentina a few years back).

The tramTRACKER iPhone app in Melbourne can feed real-time timetable updates to you. So if you suddenly score tickets to a big game on Viator, you can work out how to get there for the opening kick.

The final step in the destination stage is closing the circle to the next trip. Equip customers with reasons to stay engaged with your brand. Invite them back and keep them updated with regular interaction through newsletters and social media channels to build on the relationship and reward loyalty.

That’s the thing about the journey cycle. As soon as we get home, the dreaming begins…




Original version of post published on Sparksheet, a branded media and travel marketing blog.



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