Travel Trends - hotels.com, My Vegas

Hotels.com New Logo - hotels.com, the low price travel search engine from expedia inc., is trading in its bellman logo for something a bit more refined. As reported by several blogs, including HotelChatter, Trademork.com and Logo Design Works (all of which contain some interesting observations), as well as verified by your author via CNN last night (they had a new commercial), it would appear that the logo on the right will slowly become the new logo for the company. Although, during the TV spot, the new logo was orange, not black.
http://www.hotelchatter.com/

My Vegas - Is the social-networking band-wagon full yet? Apparently not...the latest entry to the race for your free time is Las Vegas. According to Brandweek, the LVVCA is launching a new 'My Vegas' section on visitlasvegas.com. The site, according to the article (the new social-networking piece was not live as of this article) contains your typical social-networking features...profile page, upload photos, talk to friends, etc...and encourages you to use a 'Vegas' persona (read, fake) when signing up (because no one lies about themselves on MySpace right now).

While I am sure the site and execution will be very good, I wonder how many people will create another social networking profile for My Vegas. Personally, I think an embeddable 'My Vegas' application...that let's you create a 'Vegas' persona...for Facebook or MySpace would be a better marketing opportunity in this situation. Rather than putting it behind a wall.
http://www.brandweek.com/

Dealing with Ad Immunity

While News Corp. is thrilled about its social network's ad-revenue growth, Google and many marketers are frustrated about click-through rates. There was a time when Mark Seremet considered MySpace one of the best things to happen to his business. Seremet, then-CEO of customized clothing company Spreadshirt, saw sales jump sixfold in late 2005 and early 2006 after he ran ads on the popular social networks MySpace and Facebook. "Somebody would get the shirt, then tell a friend," Seremet says. "It was really an amazing change for the business." >>Full Story

Thoughts// Another good article on the subject of advertising on social networks, even thought it is a little short on solid numbers. According to Mr. Seremet, Spreadshirt was experiencing around a 1% CTR (click-thru rate) in 2006, but that dropped to .10% in 2007. Those numbers should hardly come as a surprise. MySpace was still relatively 'new' in 2006, so a lot of users were still open and interested in advertising.

The article goes onto say that 'only a fraction of 1% of the people who see the ads click on them.' And that many advertisers are not seeing a good ROI when advertising on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

Of course, this lends some truth to the argument that Mo and I have been making about advertising on social networks...people are on these sites to meet, talk, reconnect with friends, family and co-workers, not browse ads for the latest widget, car or other 'you need this' product. True, some advertisers are probably doing very well on MySpace, but unless you are in the business of creating custom MySpace skins and layouts, there might be a better buy for your campaign.

Case in point (from the article):

"There's too much [advertising] when you sign on," says John Sigona, a 32-year-old MySpace user who likes the site, though he ignores the ads. "They don't interest me."

Exactly.

Why Facebook Will and Will Not Work For the Travel Industry - Part 1

Over the last few weeks I have been involved in several conversations about facebook and how marketers, specifically destination marketing organizations, can tap into this seemingly endless pot of consumer gold. First, during the Benson workshop which was part of my 'How to Create an Interactive Marketing Plan' series offered by the Arizona Office of Tourism. (Which, by the way, was a great experience) Then again by Mo, who had been approached by someone who was using facebook as a marketing tool, but going about it in the wrong way. Or at least we thought so.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with facebook or MySpace, read our 'Word of the Week' post on facebook.

Thoughts// What a perfect subject as we head into 2008, because there was no bigger buzz or buzzword than 'facebook' in 2007. It was everywhere, growing at an astronomical rate, and everyone, including your grandmother seemed to be on facebook. And in came the marketers. If there are 60 million people in one spot online, you can be sure that we marketers are going to figure out a way to get in front of them. Which starts our conversation, how should you use facebook as a marketing tool?

Basically, there are two options...(1) buy traditional banner (display) ads or some form of sponsorship on facebook or (2) set up a profile or group for your product and be 'friends' with everyone. Let's talk about option #2, the method that everyone seems to be trying.

Anyone and any organization can set up a profile on facebook for free. Which is exactly the problem. Just because it is free and available does not mean you have to use it. Here is the first question to ask yourself before setting up a facebook page: Are people passionate about my product?

All of you saying, 'yes, of course.' Sorry, afraid not. Let's look at some brands/things people are passionate about:

Passionate:
Diet Coke
Southwest Airlines
Disney
Key West
Starbucks
Movies / Actors
Music / Bands
Greenpeace
Politics

Not Passionate:
AT&T
Best Buy
Minute Maid
General Mills
Duracell
Hoover
Most States
Most Cities

You get the idea.

Of course, these are very general statements...there are some people out there who are very, very passionate about Minute Maid Orange Juice. However, when you look at a product like Diet Coke, which people are practically addicted to, you can begin to see a difference in 'passion.'

For example, if you go onto facebook and search for Diet Coke, there are currently 500+ groups who are 'addicted' (in some form or another) to Diet Coke. On the first results page alone there are 10,393 members in 10 groups. 10,000 people who have proclaimed openly they like and want Diet Coke! Compare that to Best Buy, which lists one group...Best Buy Employees...with 2,774. Not a surprise, why would I want to be friends with a giant concrete and steel box (store)?

Same rule applies for Southwest, Disney and Key West. People, and you know some of these people, love these companies/brands. They have whole walls or even rooms filled with Mickey Mouse, little airplanes or conch shells that say 'life's a beach' on them.

Now you could create a new group for these people to join, but if they are already part of another group, why would they want to join your corporate-controlled, PC, don't use any bad words group? Most marketers would probably be more successful in marketing their products to this group of passionate people via traditional ads. Or perhaps giving the members exclusive downloads, wallpapers, etc.

As Mo mentioned while we were speaking about this subject, why would we (as consumers) want to use facebook or MySpace to network directly with brands? Most of us are on these social networking sites to connect with friends or family. Rather than be friends with my Toyota.

While there are some positive results from this type of advertising, unfortunately a lot of brands are trying to force their marketing efforts into the facebook model with limited success (see our post and thoughts on the Sprite Sips facebook effort).

As I have said repeatedly, this theory does not apply to all brands across the board. Each marketing situtation needs to be evaluated separately. However, in the case of social networking sites such as facebook, you need to start the evaluation by determining how many of those 60 million users would be passionate about your brand.

If the answer is not many, you should probably look towards another marketing opportunity.

In part 2 of this post, how the travel industry could use social networking sites as an effective marketing tool.

Will Human Laziness Burst The Web 2.0 Bubble?

...without your neighbor/classmate/sister/girlfriend’s tireless devotion to keeping her profile up-to-date, MySpace would merely be a place for FOX to promote its properties. Without a horde of news junkies yearning to see their username in digital print, Digg would be an ugly page of yellow and white.

And that is why the Web 2.0 era will come to end sooner rather than later. Because if there is one immutable law of humankind, it is that we are really, really lazy. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A thought provoking and possibly ridiculous (at the same time) post from Seth Porges at the CrunchGear blog. The post poses the argument that the 'Web 2.0' bubble, i.e., MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, et al., will burst because of basic human laziness. An idea which has some parallels with a San Francisco Chronicle article we covered last week. While certain elements of the article are valid points, like the idea of losing interest in a project (in this case a social networking site), the overall article should be taken with a grain of salt.

However, the article does make you think about the state of this Web 2.0 movement. In the travel industry, we should be aware of the possible effects because of too much user-generated content. Although we have seemingly not reached that point, when does 459 posts about the buffet at a hotel in Las Vegas become too much? When does a user say to themselves, 'I just want to read what a expert thinks.' Or do we ever reach the point?

In addition, the post does bring to light another 'law of humankind'...that we are always looking for an easier way to do anything. It is the same basic reason why people starting using Google, because it was easier (to search and find what you are looking for) than previous search engines. So, the question is not if the concept of UGC and social networking sites will fail, but what is the next site that will make connecting with your friends, co-workers or book club even easier.

Social Sites Becoming Too Much Of A Good Thing

Aarica Caro is sick of sharing. That is, sharing online.

She has shared the lives of her cats. She has shared a list of her favorite television shows and movies ("Grey's Anatomy," chick flicks). She has shared her reviews of Bay Area haunts (two stars for the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Jose, five stars for the Starbucks in Morgan Hill). And she has been invited to share some more.

If you believe the buzz, the latest incarnation of the Web is all about sharing, connecting and community. Social networking sites such as MySpace and Palo Alto's Facebook have exploded in popularity, drawing new users into the fold each day. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A good article from the San Francisco Chronicle which raises the question of a social networking burnout. While the users featured in the article are certainly not representative of all social networking users, they do suggest that the wealth of social sites available to consumers is becoming a bit overwhelming.

Some of the attrition at these sites can simply be explained by users signing up to learn more about the service and then deciding the do not want to participate or just fading away. Of course, in the case of MySpace and Facebook, daily sign-ups are far out pacing this number.

However, the question is out there...with so many sites, major investors (who want major profits), scams and a host of other factors...how many social networking sites are too many? How long until the market is saturated? How long until there is consolidation (at least via profile) of these sites? Are the current group of social networking sites strong enough to remain relevant in 5 years?

Personally, I think we can start by consolidating catster and dogster into 'petster' (Don't bother looking up the domain name, I have already locked it up).

MySpace Launches Targeted Ad Program

News Corp.'s MySpace social networking site is using personal details contained on users' profile pages and blogs to sell highly targeted advertising, the company said Tuesday.

The Web site started the first phase of its "interest targeting" experiment in July, culling likes and dislikes from its users' pages to sell ads in 10 broad categories such as finance, autos, fashion and music. >>Full Story

Thoughts// The announcement that MySpace will begin behaviorally targeting users based upon their MySpace pages could become the first real test to determine the threshold of how much information consumers are willing to give in order to receive targeted, relevant ads. While most online users have been behaviorally targeted already, one would assume the vast majority of this group is unaware that any targeting has taken place. However, in the case of MySpace there is the potential for a connected, vocal group to educate the majority of users on how their profiles are being searched for keywords...and for those users upset with the practice to move on to another social networking site.

While most behavioral targeting takes into account which pages you have previously visited and then serves ads for those companies (basically), the MySpace model will actively search out and look for keywords that you have used in blogs, quotes and descriptions of yourself on your MySpace page. So, if you have just wrote a blog about your upcoming vacation to China, a company such as Orbitz (for example) could use that information to run targeted, China-related banners (for flights, hotels, etc.) on your MySpace page. Talk about a targeted message.

As the investors and parent companies of these popular web companies look to monetize and recoup investments, how will advertising programs such as this one affect the reputation of these sites with there members? Will MySpace users accept this type of advertising or simply move on to the next, new site?

Travel Trends - Email, MySpace, Tacoda, AOL

Addicted To Email - According to a recent survey, the typical user checks their email an average of 5 times per day. In addition, 15% of those surveyed consider themselves 'addicted' to email. And most users have more than one email account...half (52%) have two or three accounts, while 22% have four or more.
http://www.mediapost.com

29,000 Sex Offenders Identified On MySpace - While certainly not a shock to anyone familiar with the ease of registering on MySpace, the news that the company has identified 29,000 sex offenders that were members of the site does cause a great deal of concern for companies using MySpace as a promotional tool. As with any ad campaign or marketing effort, attention must be paid to how the medium will affect the consumers and in this case, the repercussions of using such a public forum to deliver a brand message. The scary part of this story is that these 29,000 are only the users who registered with their real names.
http://www.adage.com

AOL Buys Ad Firm Tacoda - AOL has purchased behavioral targeting ad firm Tacoda. The deal, which brings AOL into the ad network buying frenzy, could mark an important turning point for behavioral targeting. In the past, most major portals steered clear of such ad delivering methods due to consumer privacy concerns, but with AOL clearly supporting behavorial targeting, the technology may finally clear the privacy hurtle once and for all.
http://www.cnet.com

Travel Trends - 71Miles, Social Networking's Social Classes

71Miles - Half blog, half travel guide, 71Miles combines in-depth writing with the nimbleness of a blog to feature short, well-written articles on specific cities. Initially focused on Northern California, 71Miles combines (or mashes-up) several technologies, including Google Maps, Kayak.com, video slideshows and consumer comments to create a simple blog-post style travel guide.
http://71miles.com/

Social Networking's Social Classes - Emerging data suggest the two may not be direct competitors after all. The blogosphere is buzzing about a provocative June 24 essay by U.C. Berkeley researcher Danah Boyd suggesting that MySpace and Facebook users are dividing along race and class lines.
http://www.businessweek.com