Random Thoughts: (Video, in this case) Nokia Re-draws the Map

Ah Wieden + Kennedy, do you ever stop producing cool spots? Check out the new Nokia ad, highlighting the oh-so un-tech, old school method of drawing maps. Drawing is what we did before Wii, kids. (Reading via RSS? Check out the video on the Travel 2.0 blog.)

Random Thoughts: Why Didn't We Do That?

In case you missed it, earlier this week we talked about the new travel site TripKick, which helps identify the 'best' rooms in specific hotels.

After thinking about the service a little more, I wondered why hotels or chains do not already offer this service. Personally, if I stay at a hotel where I know I will be staying again, I commonly make a little note in my phone about which rooms to ask for during my next stay.

Who better to offer than kind of information than the hotel itself? They know the layout of the rooms, which ones are better than others...why not offer that info to guests? Beyond that, why not charge more for the rooms with a good view (commonly done), quieter, larger, etc. and less for rooms with a blocked view or small window, etc. If I don't care about being next to the elevator, charge me less!

More and more often these new travel start-ups (Dopplr, SeatGuru, TripLife) are coming into the market and offering elegant solutions to problems we all encounter.

So, as a large organization, hotel or not, how do motivate and encourage your team to begin thinking about solving these common / basic problems, rather than have someone else solve them for you?

Random Thoughts: Smarter Media Spend

In case you missed it, the Orlando Sentinel had a little snippet about the LVCVA this week.

...Las Vegas, spent $123.6 million on marketing and advertising during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Vegas is seeing almost no growth in its visitor count through May, while hotel occupancy has dipped 1.9% compared with the first five months of last year.

Now, we are certainly not saying the money was not well spent, (not to mention the economy, gas prices, airlines, etc, etc, etc.) but with numbers and quotes like that, you could understand how a non-travel industry person could jump to such a conclusion. Which we all know is the incorrect one, tourism marketing / advertising is critical to every DMO and CVB.

Perhaps the industry should be focusing on how we are spending our money, rather than how much money we have to spend.

Easier said than done, to be sure.

Random Thoughts: Online Ad Spend

Reading an article in the Washington Post, this paragraph jumped out to me:

The nation's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, which spends nearly $5 billion a year on advertising, devoted less than 2 percent of its measured ad spending online, according to figures from the 2007 Advertising Age list of leading national advertisers. The company spent most of its vast ad budget on television.

Of course, 2% of $5 billion dollars is still more than enough money to fill up a swimming pool, but an interesting, possibly overlooked stat about the company which most marketers were taught to emulate in terms of strategy and spend.

Random Thoughts: Travel 2.0 and TripWolf

As all of you know, new travel sites (travel 2.0!) seem to pop-up on a daily basis, each one promising more features, better advice all while being faster than the other guy or at least more social. And while we usually just don't have time to review all of them, the recent beta launch of TripWolf gives us a good chance to ponder.

Thoughts// Ah, the benefits of launching a new travel site...learn from everyone else's mistakes, integrate the latest 'insert buzz word here' technology, use plenty of 2.0 looking fonts and logo reflections...and launch. However, in this increasing competitive slice of the online pie, the disadvantage to starting a new travel site is trying to break into the consumer consciousness that really only knows about the 3 big OTAs (online travel agencies...Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity) and TripAdvisor.

Honestly, with such a huge head start, I am not sure how or who could catch up to TripAdvisor. At this point, TripAdvisor has pretty much pulled a Band-Aid and replaced the phrase 'social review travel site' with the word TripAdvisor.

Ron: 'I going on vacation to the Bahamas.'

Brian: 'Really? You should check out a social review travel site on the world wide web. Perhaps use your favorite search engine to find it.'

Yeah, I didn't think that sounded right.

Plus, the clock is ticking on seeing more consolidation in this sector. With so many sites offering similar (in the consumers mind) services, not all of these new '2.0' sites will survive.

That all being said, I would include TripWolf in a group of travel sites that are starting to stand out from the rest...Dopplr, TripIt, VibeAgent, etc...and provide a solid as well as unique service to the traveling public.

As far as TripWolf itself, a very user-friendly site in terms of design and aesthetics, while combining good info from around the web (YouTube, Flickr, etc.) with local advice, reviews and Facebook integration. The two pieces that stood out were a website to .pdf creator (not new, but nice to see) and that the travel guide sections are set up as a wiki...meaning you or I can edit the main content of a section. Rather than just append standard 'has to stay the same' info on a site such as TripAdvisor or Travelocity.

And Claude, our friend at Les Explorers, has a good interview with Sebastian Heinzel, the TripWolf CEO...complete with shocking revelation from CEO Heinzel:

'...people won't go to a travel website every day...'

Holy crap, this guy gets it!

But I still wonder, how many travel social review sites can one person be a part of...

(Author's Note: Full disclosure, Jennifer at TripWolf invited us to the private beta a couple of weeks ago.)

Random Thoughts: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

After all of the press that United, AA, US Airways, Silverjet, etc. have received in the last few months, plus all of the talk of 'staycations' (author's note, just for fun see how many times you can say the word 'staycations' in your next meeting...I'll bet 3), what does a company like Southwest do? Take out the Super Bowl-equivalent of online ads on the Yahoo! homepage and start calling people out.

While American continues to dig it's own PR grave...see this recent article about AA trying to recover from it...Southwest continues to fly along fee-free. The campaign, 'Fees Don't Fly' features a page within the southwest.com site that explains everything that Southwest doesn't charge for. The campaign and ad are refreshing, especially in the airline industry where each carrier seems to copy the next as fees are raised. Plus, who doesn't like calling out that jerk who always skips out on the bill.

Random Thoughts: “Can You Build a Website?”

If you serve in the Interactive/digital department, you’ve invariably—to the chagrin of your very talented IT team—been referred to as the “IT team” or been relegated to the role of “website designers”. Indeed “interactivity” itself is often reduced sometimes to a discussion of tools instead of a strategy.

But it’s easy to see how this misperception started.

1. Back in the “wild west” days of 1990’s the guy or gal who “got” the digital medium was also the person who set up your network and made sure that your Outlook Contacts were synched up with your “PalmPilot” or that nifty “Handspring”.




2. And yes it is also true…the skill set for interactive does include a broad swath of “geekdom” such as analytics, search strategy, UI/IA, server-side technologists, coders etc.

But least one forgets, “interactive” is also an art form. A recent Creativity article by Renny Gleeson, Digital Strategist at W+K, makes a profound argument that the interactive medium has reopened the door for “collaborative storytelling”. Shakespeare plays were meant to be “interactive” with active audience participation; ancient folklores such as the Iliad, Gilgamesh, The Odyssey were “collaborative experiences” that were passed through generations orally.

Marketing and brand communications need storytellers and their stories. We inform, educate and create cultures based on stories. We define ourselves through their telling and their interpretations. A story is realized through the act of the storytelling. Of engagement with an audience. A great story, unread isn't. The interactive medium by its nature invites people into the process—suggesting, collaborating, amplifying, advocating and diffusing. And there will always be good and bad storytellers. The best of them move us, inspire us, change us, drive social change, and sometimes—yes, sometimes—sell us something.

In advertising, when we are at our best, we build a message around a fundamental human truth, we engage the heart, and we tell compelling stories that create meaning for brands awash in a rising quagmire of white noise. And yes, we sell stuff.

As my friend Stephen Landau says, when we think about “digital brand strategy”, it’s not thinking, “let’s build a web site.” At the heart of it all, it’s about building a relationship with people. It’s about creating an emotional experience with consumers through storytelling and through their interaction with your brand via whatever tool that makes sense.

Just be sure to have the IT team on board when you're building the tool. ;)

Update: a colleague just pointed out that our friend Troy is indeed "an artist by trade". See I wasn't kidding!

Random Thoughts: Interactive (Web 2.0) Media

Typically, I don't like using the word Web 2.0, but I figured it would be the quickest way to connect you with this post.

While speaking today at the Oregon Governor's Conference on Tourism (a full report in a later post), during both Josh Hallett's presentation and our own panel discussion, a lot of conversation centered around engagement (thank you) and what social / UGC / Web 2.0 projects you should and should not undertake.

Here was the highlight from the talk:

You should not and cannot do everything. There are far too many sites and options for your product that are simply not right for your audience. Just because some other state, restaurant, hotel launches a Facebook app (see post below) does not automatically mean that you should.

Take a step back and figure out which of these new media / interactive opportunities are really worth doing, make sense for your goals and will create a return on your efforts.

Random Thoughts: Teamwork

Interactive / new media departments, in any major company, typically work with and fit into several departments within that organization. Instead of being just a silo, the interactive team (not to mention marketing, advertising, sales, research, etc.) has to work closely with several groups to maximize its contribution. So, teamwork is key.

On my way home yesterday, NPR was interviewing one of the top officials in the U.S. Army (cannot remember exactly who) about the news that Admiral William Fallon was resigning his post. To paraphrase, the guest said:

I want to have people who disagree with me (us). What good is it to have a room full of people who agree with what you are saying...that is just a room of bobble heads. Healthy disagreement is what makes good decisions.

Now, I would not exactly call the U.S. Army the case study for a great work environment...I don't expect them to be in the 'top 100 places to work' anytime soon...however, the point about disagreement struck me. He went on to say that the Army, unlike the public sector, does not fire employees simply because they disagree with the boss. True or not, a provoking thought.

How many times have you been in a meeting where everyone agreed with the decision because they were either too afraid to speak up, or just wanted to get out of the meeting. Healthy disagreement (rather than just arguing for arguments sake) can be a good thing for an organization and it's employees.

Next time you are in a meeting, be confident in disagreeing with what is said.

Now, go tell your boss you disagree with them.

Random Thoughts: tcm.com

A lot of people ask me which websites I like, which ones have good design, good navigation, etc, etc. So, I thought I would share one of my non-travel, long-time favorites.

Although they just recently purchased the harmonious domain tcm.com, the team at Turner Classic Movies has been producing this fantastic site for several years. In fact, the basic feeling / design of the site has been consistent since at least late 2004...proof that you do not need to undertake a major redesign of your site every 2 years. Yeah, stop doing it.

The site is rich, detailed and informative...and in my humble opinion, the best TV-related site out there today. Take a look at the site and explore the detail in the 'schedule' and 'games' sections as well as the enormous, but easy-to-use, 'Movie Database.' And in honor of the Academy Awards, click over to the '31 Days of Oscar' microsite to see how Flash is supposed to be used online. Interactive, enjoyable and not overwhelming.

Random Thoughts: msnbc.com

Recently msnbc.com has undergone a significant redesign of the popular news site. Background info and side-by-side comparisons are here.

Has anyone else noticed the recent redesign of msnbc.com? I find myself fascinated with the new design that has been rolled out. Specifically, they have at least (by my count) 10 different layout options for the top news section on the homepage, which are used depending on the story and images available to the editorial staff. It would appear to be a very well thought out execution...anyone who has worked on a news-related site knows how critical a great image is to the story. And what a pain it can be without one.

Random Thoughts: They Came to My Website

Reading the postmortem on Super Bowl ads on Advertising Age the other day, I was struck by an article detailing the results of that annoyingly tacky GoDaddy.com. According to estimates, two million users hit the site on Super Bowl Sunday to find out why Fox had rejected the ad and to see if Danica Patrick really exposed herself. Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons hailed the ad as a rousing success even though 17% of males and 16% of females disliked the ad; in fact he said "I would be happy with that number even if it was 37%" because "they still came to the website". Which led me to the thought:

What if the GAP, Target, Wall-Mart and every other brick and mortar store started talking about foot traffic and web traffic as a measure of success instead of sales and "engagement" with the brand?

Random Thoughts: Connectivity and Information

While writing a strategy document a few weeks ago, I included this line discussing the connectivity and information available to the traveling public (and really, this would apply for all information):

In the entire history of man, there has never been more travel information available, in more places and in more forms, to consumers than there is at this very moment.

A little over the top? Sure. But it is completely true.

Random Thoughts: Time Spent

For the last few months Mo and I have been pushing the concept of engagement rather than numbers when it comes to website statistics / analytics. One of the main pieces of that engagement puzzle has been time spent. In talking with some peers over the past few days I noticed that most viewed time spent on page as a good thing. However, I wonder what the other site of that argument is...if someone is spending a substantial amount of time on a page does that mean they cannot find what they are looking for?

Is more time spent always a positive (good) metric, or can it be a indication of an issue with the site?

Has anyone encountered this issue? Thoughts?

Random Thoughts: Website Redevelopment

Over the last several months I have been to a few online / interactive conferences, including the HSMAI Travel Internet Marketing Strategy Conference and the Madden Media eTourism Executive Preview. Both of which were fine conferences with some very good speakers and attendees (summaries of the conferences will be a separate post). But as I was sitting in the audience listening to the presentations I had a thought.

Any salesperson, vendor, presenter can convince you that your website design / layout / technique is wrong, but only your consumers can tell you if it is right.