SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES CASE HISTORIES RESEARCH FOR

SUCCESSFUL MARKETING STRATEGIES CASE HISTORIES © RESEARCH FOR TRAVEL BARBADOS, SEPTEMBER 2006

The £ 99 Offer

A PANEL ADVERT ON THE HOME PAGE OF YAHOO UK Offering 5000 seats on BA Flights, anywhere in the world for just £ 99

RESULTS 5000 seats sold within 3 hours BA also sold 25, 000 Special Offers and 35, 000 Standard Fares Also collected over 100, 000 e-mail addresses

RESULTS Cost to BA Nil

Airfare Sales (184) · North America · Europe · International · Net. Fares Vacation Specials (551) · Florida · Hawaii · Las Vegas · More U. S. & Canada · Caribbean · Mexico · Europe · The Americas · Asia & South Pacific · Sports & Adventure · Ski Vacations · Luxury · Romance · More. . . Lodging Specials (264) · Las Vegas · Orlando · New York City · Washington, D. C. · California · Florida · Hawaii · More U. S. Cities · International · Resorts & Spas Car Rental Specials (39) · North America · International Cruise Sales (214) · Caribbean · Bahamas & Bermuda · Europe · Alaska · Mexico & Panama Canal · Exotic · More. . .

Florida from 20+ Cities (Roundtrip) American Airlines $98 & up Atlantis, Paradise Island $129 Bahamas "Atlantis" w/Upgrade, over 50% OFF Virgin Vacations $699 Paris over New Year's: 6 Nights & Air Royal Caribbean $189 Bahamas 4 -Night Cruise Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) $199 Scandinavia from 4 Cities (each way) $59 & up Fall Sale to 20+ Cities, incl. Mexico & Hawaii smar. Tours $849 Beijing & Shanghai Combo Package w/Air Expedia. com $104 Albuquerque 4 Diamond Hotel (Regularly $200) ATA Airlines United Airlines $49 & up Nationwide Sale between 50+ Cities (each way)

E-MAIL CAPTURE Travellers have to subscribe to the weekly newsletter to access Special Offers 10 million e-mails acquired to date 5 separate e-mails sent to 10 million people each week

LATEST RESULTS • Revenue of $17. 4 million, up 42% year-over-year • Operating profit of $7. 0 million, up 86% year-over-year • Net income of $3. 9 million, $0. 23 earnings per share

BOOKING OF LONG HAUL TRAVEL

OBJECTIVES TO DETERMINE HOW TRAVELLERS WILL PURCHASE LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS IN THE FUTURE

Booking Methods - All Respondents

Satisfaction With Booking Methods

The Market is Moving Towards Online The Majority of Shop Customers Can Be Persuaded To Book Online

Future Booking Methods

The Shop Plays a Minor Role in Decision-Making n 15% aware of Travelbag via the shop n 34% buy via the shop n This will decrease over time n More customers will book online n You can persuade them to book online

Implications of Closing The Shops n A Potential 34% Loss of Customers – even higher loss of sales and margins n However 50 -77% can be persuaded to not book in shop n The net loss can be reduced to 8 -17% of total customer base

You Can Limit The Loss! n You know these customers n They like Travelbag n You are in contact with them n You know what will persuade them to book online n Effective marketing will limit the loss

RESULTS n Shops Closed n Annual savings of £ 5 million n Only 7% customers lost

RESULTS n New Marketing Initiative n CDs, Website, E-mails

FEMALE TRAVELLERS What Opportunity Do They Offer The Travel Trade?

FEMALE TRAVELLERS Survey conducted among Female Travellers in Europe and US

RESULTS Formal Policies for Females Introduced By Hertz, BA, Ritz Carlton, BAA etc

Pay Per Click To Sell Weekend Breaks

The Approach Brand led key phrases to fulfil a retention role Generic key phrases – to grow brand product awareness Product led key phrases – to promote specific product awareness and drive customer acquisition

RESULTS An increase in number 1 positions on search engines from 0 to 33 was achieved within 3 months An increase in Top 10 positions from 0 to 119 was achieved after campaign initiation Volume of positions has been maintained Top Google positions for keyphrases including “City Breaks" and “Weekend Breaks"

The Results Over 150, 000 clicks delivered Over 1, 200 orders received Investment £ 27, 000 Sales Income £ 287, 000

HOW THE UK TRAVEL INDUSTRY CAN ATTRACT MORE ONLINE CUSTOMERS A PR SURVEY

RESEARCH APPROACH The questionnaire was e-mailed to 12, 120 people and a total of 2, 022 completed responses were obtained.

RESULTS SURVEY COST £ 1100 PR RELEASE SENT ONLINE TO 700 JOURNALS FREE COPY OF REPORT SENT TO MAJOR TRAVEL FIRMS 6 ARTICLES 8 NEW CLIENTS ATTRACTED £ 220, 000 IN REVENUE

AFFILIATE MARKETING Aimed At 400 websites to sell long haul travel

COMMISSIONS Average of 4% per website Average booking = £ 2700

RESULTS BOOKINGS = £ 740, 0000 COMMISSIONS TO AFFILATES = £ 43, 000

THE TRAVEL TRADE IS CHANGING • Travel Agents • Online Booking

THE TRAVEL TRADE IS CHANGING • Online Travel Agents - Expedia, Travelocity, lastminute • Direct Booking

THE TRAVEL TRADE IS CHANGING • New Market Entrants Supermarkets Credit Card Companies Mobile Phone Operators Banks Insurance Companies

DIOCH YN FAWR