Thomas Cook:::Gloating holiday widget

Using direct online sales channels had proved successful at driving up sales for Thomas Cook's flight portal flythomascook.com (FTC), but the approach hadn’t impacted on brand awareness or lead to a more meaningful relationship with consumers.

Users tended to only come into contact with FTC at the point sale. FTC decided to capitalise on what it termed as ‘holiday gloating’ – the phenomenon of building up to a holiday, bragging about when you’re going, where you’re going and what you’ll do when you’re there.

Targeting the social networking-savvy 18-34 age group, FTC created the Holiday Widget. The widget could be downloaded to the user's social networking profile and personalised with all of their essential ‘gloating’ information such as the destination and the weather conditions. What’s more, when the user was actually on holiday, they could upload comments and photos from their phone or PC – perfect for creating ‘holiday envy’.

Released in September, FTC achieved 13,800 widget downloads in its first 6 weeks; it was Facebook’s second most downloaded application in October. It also drove additional traffic to FTC’s website that resulted in an 8% year on year increase. All the costs of the campaign were covered by week 1

BRAND:Thomas Cook

BRAND OWNER:Arcandor

CATEGORY:Travel/Airlines

REGION:UK

DATE:Sep 2008

MEDIA AGENCY:Arena BLM

MEDIA CHANNEL

Mysterious bug invasion

Spanish travel and leisure site Atrapalo.com (meaning “catch it”) offers a range of products including restaurant discounts, theatre tickets, flights, hotels, tours and car rentals. It had a strong track record of effective marketing campaigns, and its challenge for 2008 was to generate awareness and buzz, engage with tech-savvy consumers and drive traffic to Atrapalo.com.
Atrapalo’s solution was “The Invasion”. The internet was invaded by strange, red bulbous creatures which looked similar to leeches. The innovative new ad format appeared to be “stuck” on websites outside of conventional banner space and did not disappear when users navigated to another page. People didn’t know what they were, who was behind them or even if they were dangerous their computer. The worms were spread throughout the most popular sites and blogs, including realistic photographic “evidence” portraying the creatures. As soon as a person was brave enough to “touch” one of the creatures with their cursor, a jar appeared, giving the user the opportunity to catch and save it. Meanwhile warning banners were spread throughout the web and this was supported by outdoor and radio activity which looked like public health announcements. The message was sent out that the creatures could come out of your computer and invade your house. Jars with models of the creatures were placed on the shelves of electrical goods chain, FNAC. The next phase saw the introduction of the exterminators (Los Atrapadores), with the leak of a video on YouTube and the launch of a site www.losatrapadores.com. Finally it was revealed that Atrapalo was behind the invasion and that users could catch the creatures to win prizes including holidays to Australia and South Africa.
As a result, brand awareness increased by 61% and there were 1million captured worms, with some users catching more than 400. Atrapalo received 60,000 new registered users.

BRAND:Atrapalo

BRAND OWNER:Atrapalo.com

CATEGORY:Travel/Airlines

REGION:Spain

DATE:May 2008 - Jun 2008

MEDIA AGENCY:Havas

MEDIA CHANNEL

The Holy [thing]

Holiday Inn :::Stay smart, presidential style

BRAND OWNER :InterContinental Hotels Group
CATEGORY :Travel/Airlines
REGION :USA
DATE :Feb 2008 - Apr 2008


The Holiday Inn Express frequent business traveller spends a lot of time on the road and they know what they like: practical amenities, without all kinds of extra fluff (and cost).
This is the premise for Holiday Inn Express’ “Stay Smart” brand promise: you’ll feel smarter for having stayed with HI Express instead of “fancier” full service hotels.
Holiday Inn capitalised on the unprecedented level of media interest in the 2008 US Presidential race by creating a media conversation around the Holiday Inn Express brand positioning.
In the midst of the most expensive campaign in history, the Stay Smart, America website exposed how fiscally responsible- and irresponsible- the Presidential candidates were.
The success of the website hinged on a risky but hugely successful communications strategy that relied solely on PR to push the website and its message. No paid media was purchased, online or offline, to tout Stay Smart America. This was an unconventional strategy that paid off huge for the brand.
Leveraging the candidate’s public FEC filings, the website analysed and published the candidate’s campaign lodging expenditures and determined how much they would have saved if they stayed with Holiday Inn Express.
The story was first offered up to respected journalist and blogger Chris Elliott of The New York Times for inclusion on his blog. Once Elliott ran the exclusive, the release was then strategically distributed right before Super to the Top 100 daily newspapers, national television and relevant Web sites, blogs, social networks and message boards.
In the first 2 weeks the website generated over 85m media impressions and secured online and offline, national and international coverage on Fox News, CBS, The London Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Times, and USA Today, among dozens of political and news blogs. The Stay Smart, America website, developed for $100K, set off a storm of press activity that returned over $2.5MM+ in free media coverage.

Singapore Tourism Board :::MAD in Singapore

BRAND OWNER :Singapore Tourism Board
CATEGORY:Travel/Airlines
REGION:India
DATE:Feb 2008 - Jul 2008


In India, Singapore was not on the radar as a holiday destination for the entire family. Singapore Tourism Board's challenge was to reposition the way Singapore was perceived - from being a business destination to a family destination.

Singapore Tourism Board realised that the best way to influence India's holidaying habits, was to make Singapore a cool destination for children.
So Singapore Tourism Board partnered with POGO's (a top rated India Kids' Network) program MAD (Music, Art & Dance) and its popular anchor Rob, to take the show on location in Singapore in the summer of 2008.

After fervent negotiations MAD - the highest rated show in the key Sunday morning time period - was rebranded MAD in Singapore. "MAD in Singapore" kicked off in February with a competition - on-air and on-line - that would give the lucky winners the chance to travel to Singapore with Rob on POGO's 2008 "Summer Special".

Six half hour episodes were created, following the kids' adventure-laced journeys. Each show promoted a different aspect of the island city. The episodes aired every Sunday morning throughout May-June, with midweek repeats.

The programme reached 1.3 million children on average each episode. Research following the campaign revealed that 1 in 3 families were pestered by their child to take the family to Singapore.

Actual travel to Singapore converted to an overall 9% year over year increase versus the previous summer.

Amtrak:::Less hassle with Amtrak

BRAND OWNER:Amtrak
CATEGORY :Travel/Airlines
REGION :USA
DATE :2008

Unlike Europe and Asia, Rail travel in the US is not a dominant mode of transportation. In fact, over 98% of all US consumers are aware of national railway company Amtrak, but only 4% choose rail on any given year. Amtrak needed to change perceptions and get people to travel by rail instead of car or plane.

The rise in fuel prices in 2008 and subsequent financial toll it took on airlines and car travel created a perfect environment for Amtrak to change perceptions, targeting consumers at frustrating moments in their travels.

Amtrak targeted passengers at airports in the terminals, the baggage claim areas and the highway just outside the airports as well as taxi tops.

Amtrak could not purchase signage inside the gate area, so it ambushed it by gaining exclusive access through log-in wi-fi screens at regional airports and in CNN’s airport feed in 40+ airports to keep Amtrak in mind when passengers were delayed.

Amtrak also targeted petrol stations along the east coast of the USA, with a geo-targeted media buy in more than 1,500 gas stations – all two miles from the interstate, or 5 miles from an Amtrak station.

While consumers shelled out $4 a gallon for gas, they were reminded of Amtrak by ads on gas toppers and nozzle pumps.

Amtrak also sponsored local TV and radio live-read of traffic and weather report as well as search. As a result the number of people riding the train rose by 11.1%, with revenues rising by 14.2%. 27% of first time customers stated they would not have taken Amtrak had they not seen or heard the advertising.

Finally online bookings saw a 300% increase while cost per click decreased almost 50% and cost per booking dropped 88%

“content is king”: how brands can best leverage content without the need to force-feed brand messages.

Branded content is made up of ideas that bring entertainment value to brands and that integrate brands into entertainment. This could be in the form of a TV programme, community events, film or video – any content, provided it links important passions to brands with a strategic reason.
Branded content is a by-product of a changing media landscape. Fragmentation and consumer empowerment in a world of personalised media platforms mean that consumers can choose if they want to engage with brands or not at the touch of a button.

Sophisticated content strategies enable brands to reach people without shoving brand messages down their throats. By facilitating new entertainment experiences, brands gain fame and goodwill. The more value created for the consumer, the more value is created for businesses.

It differs from sponsorship because it is not simply adding a brand’s logo to an already existing event or entertainment property. Branded content involves coming up with the creative ideas together with the brand and producers.

There are many pitfalls with branded content - Not only can it be prohibitively expensive, but it raises issues of intellectual property and can often require brands to relinquish editorial control: a prospect too terrifying for many to swallow.


Great content will draw an audience to unexpected platforms
Purina (FREE)
A cat-food manufacturer shows that gaming isn’t only for teenage boys, with an online gaming channel targeting cat owners.





Save huge production costs with live experiences
Huggies
Huggies changes Colombians' perceptions of the brand as an expensive "gringo" brand through a link up and live tour with a local comedy troupe





Ensure value for consumers and brand with truly relevant content
Dove
Dove finds a perfect content fit to take its 'Real Beauty' message to China with TV show Ugly Betty.






Develop ideas in conjunction with media owners
Meat and Livestock Australia
Meat and Livestock Australia became part of the non-commercial airtime of the Australian tennis open with live branded content.







Engage consumers across multiple platforms
Cornetto
Cornetto reaches Chinese consumers with an online karaoke competition linked with a TV show and point of sale activity













Unify fragmented audiences with tailored media favourites
Halifax
Halifax International drives business among the disparate ex-pat community in a competitive market








Be creative with distribution channels
Cheetos
Cheetos engages with 18-35 year olds with the first ever web series distributed on Facebook.















Reap the brand rewards from funding funky technologies
Fanta
Fanta creates a series of mobile applications including an augmented reality tennis game to engage with teens.










Provide tools that travel across the net
STA
STA Travel maximises its brand message via a range of Travel Tool widgets that can be embedded in users' social network profiles.

Loyalty program: Not Just Short-Term Behavior but Long-Term Relationship Management

The pressure to deliver growth has increased as the technology revolution has enabled marketers to link programs to real-time profit generation. As a result, CMOs are often forced to shift resources toward programs that deliver identifiable, immediate revenue. One of the core tools used:Loyalty program

Certainly, these programs may drive short-term results. But if not designed correctly, they can actually undermine the long-term health of the brand.

Loyalty programs are mainly psychological in nature, with little true interaction between the brand and the consumer. Still, they can go a long way toward making relationships concrete, as there is a back and forth between the consumer and the brand.

The typical loyalty program enables consumers to earn points that can be redeemed for rewards. When consumers' purchases are motivated by such promotions, we term that "behavioral loyalty." A form of loyalty exists because the consumer engages in repeat purchasing, but it's not clear whether it's because of the incentive or because they are really loyal to the brand.

Loyalty programs can shift what may have been a warm, emotional relationship into a cold, contractual relationship where consumers feel they are "owed" rewards.

A more valuable kind of loyalty

There does exist a more valuable type of loyalty: attitudinal loyalty, defined as when the customer has a strong emotional connection to and preference for the brand. Behavioral loyalty might be described as consumers doing what you want them to do, while attitudinal loyalty involves consumers believing what you want them to.
While attitudinal loyalty is a driver of behavioral loyalty, the converse may not be true. As a result, loyalty programs that provide only economic benefits may be appropriate in some instances but may actually conflict with brand-building efforts that ultimately attempt to create attitudinal loyalty.

This type of conflict can be seen in the airline industry's marketing efforts. Airlines have used slogans such as "Fly the friendly skies" and "Something special in the air" that try to establish the brands as friendly or luxurious. In contrast, the airline loyalty programs require that customers fly a great deal to get access to the improved, "friendlier" or more "special" service levels.
The airlines are left with two segments of customers. The first is those who feel they have "earned" and are therefore "owed" enhanced service, and although they demonstrate repeat buying behaviors, they're unlikely to have a true emotional attachment to the carrier and in the long run may easily move to a competitive brand. The second segment is those who have not "earned" anything, and are treated as second-class customers, so they are likely have neither behavioral nor attitudinal loyalty.

So what does it all mean? When designing a loyalty program, marketers need to move beyond focusing on just purchasing behavior and look at the impact of the program on overall brand health. While rewarding the right behaviors can lead to short-term revenue growth, designing loyalty programs so they also strengthen the brand perception can help lead to long-term brand equity.

Beyond the next purchase cycle
If every element of a loyalty program goes through a filter that evaluates it from the perspective of whether it will strengthen the consumer-brand relationship, the result will be a revenue-enhancing program that lasts longer than the next purchase cycle.
If an airline stands for superior care of the customer, can the loyalty program be designed to reward spending but also take care of the consumer and strengthen the brand? One answer might be to use a combination of fixed and flexible rewards. For example, the airline can keep the points-based program but also add customer benefits that are not explicitly mentioned. Unexpected rewards can have significant value as consumers view them as gestures on the part of the brand rather than payments that are owed.

Rewarding the right behavior means developing a structure that encourages the customer to shop more and spend more. This is obvious, and most programs are designed to effectively incent this in the short term. However, it's equally important to look at behavior on the margin and ensure that you don't accidentally "punish" a loyal customer.
In the current economy, with consumer spending down, it's very possible that many customers will not maintain the status they had in a specific program but will maintain or even grow their share of wallet with a specific retailer.
Most programs would punish those consumers for not maintaining their dollar spending even though they had maintained their share of wallet spending. Design for the best-case scenario, but make sure to design for alternative scenarios as well.

As stewards of not just the loyalty program but of the entire brand's health, CMOs have to rethink the design of these programs. Inciting short-term behavior is table stakes. The bigger challenge is moving beyond short-term efforts to design on-brand programs that can last beyond the immediate pressure. It may be a little harder to do, but it's the right thing to do.

Lufthansa Italia winging it?

By Barry Silverstein

March 16, 2009 issue

There is an air war brewing that is changing the way European airlines operate. Driven by a sputtering economy, airlines in Europe are gradually departing from the one government/one airline model. They are increasingly looking to cross-country mergers, sometimes involving private investors, as a means of survival.

Alitalia is a case in point. The Italian government-owned airline filed for bankruptcy last August, and a group of private Italian investors stepped in. Then, in January 2009, Air France-KLM (itself a merged airline) bought a stake in Alitalia. That action precipitated the creation of another airline’s new brand: German carrier Lufthansa quickly launched a separate operation, christening it Lufthansa Italia.
Lufthansa had an interest in buying a stake in Alitalia but lost out to Air France-KLM. Rather than cede the lucrative Italian routes, Lufthansa took a calculated risk and created its own new brand. It’s the first time Lufthansa has established a carrier outside its home market of Germany.
Granted, Lufthansa is an established worldwide brand. Known for its German punctuality and efficiency, Lufthansa has fared better than most European airlines. Still, the question is, will Lufthansa be able to bring the same magic to Lufthansa Italia?
Lufthansa Italia may have taken off suddenly, but Lufthansa has already shown commitment to the integrity of the new brand. Lufthansa has set up the airline as a separate subsidiary based in Milan, Italy. The airline adorned two Airbus jets with the new airline’s name and designated the planes “Milano” and “Varese” after two Italian cities. Previously, Lufthansa had named its planes only after German cities. Lufthansa Italia started operations in early February 2009, flying out of Malpensa (Milan) Airport to Paris, France, and Barcelona, Spain. More aircraft were scheduled to be added in March, and routes to Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Lisbon, London and Madrid were scheduled to be online by the end of March.
Lufthansa says it will imbue the new Lufthansa Italia with “reliability and high quality blended with Italian flair.” The airline says it has developed “special Italian-style in-flight services” for Lufthansa Italia (although it doesn’t specify what they are). The planes are configured to seat 138 passengers in business and economy class. Lufthansa’s operations at Malpensa Airport will be upgraded to include dedicated check-in counters, more quick check-in terminals, refurbished gate and baggage reclaim areas, and a new and improved Lufthansa lounge.
Also in February, Lufthansa Cargo announced the launch of freighter services between Milan and New York and Chicago, taking advantage of Alitalia’s failed cargo operations. Lufthansa said it will use the freight capacity of its Lufthansa Italia jets to increase the company’s Italian cargo business.
There was another motivation to starting Lufthansa Italia. Lufthansa Executive Vice President Karl Ulrich Garnadt told ATWOnline.com that the airline will seek an Italian Air Operators Certificate so that it can gain the right to fly to Eastern Europe and other non–European Union destinations.
For the present, at least, Lufthansa Italia will need to operate primarily as a budget airline. That’s because there is heavy competition for the Malpensa routes. But according to Der Spiegel, competition could also benefit Lufthansa Italia: “… there's a good chance Lufthansa will obtain flight rights on the lucrative route between Milan and Rome for the first time. Until now, the lucrative route has been largely reserved for Alitalia and Air One, but after their merger there is significant probability that the European Commission will require that the route be opened up to other competitors” (January 13, 2009).
Upstart airline brands have succeeded in Europe before. Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic famously came on the scene in 1984 to challenge British Airways’ monopoly. The two airlines have been fierce rivals ever since. Ryanair, arguably Europe’s most successful low-fare airline, began flying between Ireland and London in 1985. By 2006, Ryanair had carried a record 42.5 million passengers, and became the world’s first airline to carry more than four million international passengers in one month. Today Ryanair owns 30 percent of Aer Lingus, Ireland’s national airline and Ryanair’s former archrival.
Lufthansa Italia may have a different kind of challenge ahead, however. Alitalia is still a formidable brand. It has been in existence since 1946, and it has carried the colors of the Italian flag in its logo, a stylized capital A, since 1969. Italian air travelers could well remain committed to a brand that has been closely tied to their homeland for more than sixty years.
On the other hand, Alitalia has endured union strikes, poor service, management problems and a recent bankruptcy. With private investors and Air France as part owner, Alitalia is moving further away from, not closer to, its Italian roots. That presents a market opportunity for Lufthansa’s new venture. If Lufthansa Italia can show it is well run, competitive and respectful of Italian culture, this upstart airline could quickly make gains with Italian travelers. They will likely pick superior economical service over loyalty to a former national airline that is in serious need of a makeover. This is the new global economy, after all.





Barry Silverstein is a freelance writer/marketing consultant and co-author of the McGraw-Hill book, The Breakaway Brand.