Differentiation_20in_20online

About Global Documents

Global Documents provides you with documents from around the globe on a variety of topics for your enjoyment.

Global Documents utilizes edocr for all its document needs due to edocr's wonderful content features. Thousands of professionals and businesses around the globe publish marketing, sales, operations, customer service and financial documents making it easier for prospects and customers to find content.

customer brand differentiator travel loyalty Product lastminute

Differentiation in online travel
Ian McCaig
CEO - lastminute.com 
June 2006
New challenges in online travel
¾ Supplier direct became reality
¾ Tour ops and Airlines expanding online functionality/features to
encourage customer transition to online channels
¾ LCCs successfully cross-selling
¾ Increased pressure on customer acquisition costs – strong brand 
resonance/heritage and customer loyalty are core advantages 
¾ Metasearch becoming usable – driving commoditisation (but at a 
cost in high marketing spend).
Differentiating through Brand
¾ Position ourselves as giving our customers the inside track to 
smarter travel and leisure solutions (without paying more for them)
¾ Brand tone and personality is a key differentiator – continue to evolve 
and develop proposition to grow loyalty for existing customers but 
also engage new customers in a way that’s meaningful
¾ Strive for innovative and eye catching creative executions: cut 
through and differentiation
¾ Contextual and topical activity - push the brand in surprising and new 
places - take risks and stretch the boundaries
¾ For lastminute.com, score against our brand values and maxims list 
all the time – it’s smart, it challenges you and delivers unique value
Differentiating through Product
¾ Fundamental customer choice advantage – 17K suppliers for 
lastminute.com
¾ Scale drives exclusivity, delivers customers: virtuous circle
¾ Retailing mindset: anticipation of desires and speed of reaction to 
consumer behaviour
¾ Rich user experience: getting to filtered results faster, 
relevant/targeted merchandising and continuous customer usability 
tracking
¾ Non-travel products – lifestyle partner which helps you to get the 
most out of your life
View of the future
¾ Rich content
– User-generated content
– High quality, searchable details on products, made available via
multiple media (wireless, idtv, mobile)
¾ Customer empowerment
– Review content increase leads to increased reliability
– Social networking drives opinion-forming
¾ CRM
– Loyalty - travel and lifestyle breadth promotes loyalty in multiple 
combinations of products
– Help customers to get smarter
– Trust as lifestyle expert and encourage visits every day (and 
repeat purchases)
lastminuteliving.com