Travel Trends - Trazzler, TripKick, PlanetEye, Knol

Trazzler - From the founders of 71miles and Twitter, comes the 'Where would I rather be right now?' travel site Trazzler. If you have been reading the blog for a while, you know we are big fans of 71miles and twitter, so we were excited about the new site. And like both those sites, Trazzler is quiet in design and focused on its mission. The site takes into account your location and (they say soon) your personality to deliver one travel recommendation at a time (some call it 'One Deal at a Time'). The recommendations are actually written by the human hand, rather than crudely pulled from other sites, and offer a simple description of the travel experience...don't like it, click 'next.' Integration with Kayak provides the booking engine connection for the site.

And from the Trazzler blog, a great description of the site's mission:

Trazzler's mission is to free people from the distractions and cruft of online travel research. Clear your mind and ask yourself, "Where would I rather be right now?" Then flip through trip pages designed to place you emotionally in a moment with great photography and expert travel writing. Discover travel experiences with a more natural, meandering online experience. Add to your wishlist, explore your travel personality, and take a more inspired approach to online travel—Trazzler is about making it fun.

Wonderful. The site is a refreshing re-thinking of the travel planning site model.
http://trazzler.com/

TripKick - TripKick is SeatGuru for hotels. The service allows you to search (at this time within a limited number of cities) for hotel rooms and determine which room has the best view, best bathroom or is the quietest and away from the elevator. Brilliant. For example, check out the page on the W in Seattle, the site lists what rooms are oversized and have great views. Plus, the design of the site is simple, clean and easy to use. Thank you, TripKick.
http://www.tripkick.com/

PlanetEye - More new travel sites. With backing from some large investors, including Microsoft, PlanetEye takes a slightly different angle on the 'clip and save' travel planning site with a focus on mapping (from Microsoft) and images. In addition, the site features several 'local experts' in a variety of locations.
http://www.planeteye.com

Knol - Finally, a quick note about Google's launch of Knol (a unit of knowledge), the search giant's Wikipedia challenger. Knol, in simple terms, is a user-generated content / article site, like Wikipedia. But unlike Wikipedia, Knol will and can contain multiple articles on the same subject. Plus, unless you authorize contribution from other users, no one else can edit your 'knol.' Similar to Squidoo. And what is the travel connection? Think of all the expert 'knol' pages you can create about your destination. A lot of work, sure, but the SEO returns could be worth it. Keep an eye on this site, with Google backing it is sure to grow rapidly.
http://knol.google.com

Follow the Travel 2.0 Blog on twitter

For all of those readers currently addicted to twitter, you can now follow the Travel 2.0 blog on the 'micro-blogging' service. Just go to our twitter page...

http://twitter.com/travel2dot0

...and follow all of our posts to the Travel 2.0 blog, plus any other random thoughts we might have.

All of the posts and articles on the Travel 2.0 blog will be posted on our twitter page, so you won't miss a thing.

Even More FREE Ways to Track Online Buzz

Back by popular demand, more (free!) ways to track your web presence and buzz online. Many of your recall our previous posts on the topic...Easy and FREE Ways to Track Your Online Presence...Plus, See What California is Up To, More FREE Ways to Track Your Web Presence and Quick Case Study: Google Trends...and we wanted to highlight two ways to track the ever mysterious 'social networking buzz.'

Before we dig into the options, it should be said that both of these solutions simply provide a rough idea of buzz related to each site...in this case, Facebook and Twitter. Personally, I would not necessarily include these numbers in my annual report, but they will give you a look into what is being discussed on these undeniably popular websites.

However, if you are one of those organizations who are purposely running a 'Gen-X' Facebook campaign to generate buzz, then I would be looking at these charts every hour...in between games of solitaire, of course.

Facebook Lexicon:
Facebook's new Lexicon feature (Facebook login required) allows you to view words and phrases that have been written or left on a user's wall...think of it as viewing all of the comments friends have left on your profile page. While certainly not scientific, the data does give you a good idea of what people on Facebook are talking, thinking, doing. For example, look at the chart below comparing recent movies Indiana Jones, Iron Man and Speed Racer.

Notice the huge spike in 'words' for Iron Man around April 30th (premiered May 2nd) and then the fairly large drop-off. You can also see that buzz for Indiana Jones is building, however mentions of Speed Racer barely registered on the graph.
http://www.facebook.com/lexicon

Twist:
Developed by Flaptor, Twist is another buzz monitoring application, this time for Twitter. If you are not familiar with Twitter, it is basically a running list of what you are doing at the time, limited to 140 characters (be concise!).

Twitter is quickly becoming a near instant source of information when news breaks...beyond just simple messages of going to the grocery store...so, monitoring Twitter can be a key way to stay ahead of any bad press or negative reviews.

Again, like Lexicon, simply type in two or more words to compare results. Let's try the same sample set:

---

---

(Can't see the graph? View it on the Travel 2.0 blog.)

Well, if I am working on the Indiana Jones promo campaign I can enjoy a long weekend. If I was working on the Speed Racer campaign, I have probably been enjoying long weekends for awhile.

In addition to this data, Twist also allows you to see what context these keywords have been used. Click on the 'see what people are saying about indiana jones' link and follow the conversation.

For example:

ivyaurora: We saw the new Indiana Jones movie today right after coming out of the field.

Lirianna: Just got to the theater to see Indiana Jones... hope it's worth it. I want real food! : (

SinnedSoul: Just got back from Indiana Jones...not bad, not bad at all. If you're a fan of the others you'll like this one. The theme is silly though.

instapundit: : KYLE SMITH DOESN'T LIKE the new Indiana Jones movie, calling it "the worst Steven Spielberg popcorn..

rossdavis: @explodey friendly monkeys from Indiana Jones

What do you know, regular people are just like you and I!
http://twist.flaptor.com

Full credit to TechCrunch, who featured a post about this topic a few weeks ago.

Travel Trends - Luggage, UGC, Twitter, More JetBlue, Bad Photoshop

Checking 2 bags? That will be $40, thanks! - Wow. American Airlines will start charging $15 for the first checked bag, cut domestic flights and lay off workers as it grapples with record-high fuel prices. That's right, $15 for the first bag. So, if you are a family of 4 flying from Chicago to Phoenix for a week vacation, each carrying 2 bags each, that means you will have to pay $160 just to get your bags to Sky Harbor. Now, I am the first to admit I do not know the intricate economic factors that affect the airline industry, but rather than charging for the first bag, just lie to us. Stick that $15 in another fee...environmental conservation fee, new tire fee, landing taxes, whatever...but telling us (and yes, this is completely opposite all of the transparency we push on the blog) it is for the first bag feels like a slap in the face.

My two 'trends' from this announcement...(1) carry-on bags will get even bigger and will hurt even more when they hit you in the head...(2) companies such as baggagequest.com and luggageconcierge.com will become much more popular.
http://news.yahoo.com/

Big Media Is Dead...Again...Really - Interesting stats from eMarketer on the attitudes of our fellow marketing professionals. Bye-bye TV!
http://www.emarketer.com/



JetBlue 'Following' Consumer Trends Via Twitter - A very interesting post from Joel at the socialized blog. Basically jetBlue was or is following conversations on Twitter (confused about Twitter, here is the explanation) to improve customer service, look for trends, etc, etc. Twitter is a great way to communicate quickly with your friends and peers, so if you are stuck at JFK because the ground crew is late and decide to rant about it via Twitter, (in theory) the JetBlue communications team will have a head start on resolving the issue. A fascinating read and an interesting us of new technology by a large company. Now, how do you feel about JetBlue 'following' your conversations?
http://www.socializedpr.com/

More JetBlue - JetBlue has recently launched a new 'Happy Jetting' campaign, complete with a new Happy Jetting website. The site 'aims to bring back humanity to flying' not to mention push the companies new Green initiative (who doesn't have one?), show off some of the new creative, allow users to play games and generally feel warm and fussy about flying JetBlue. Which, I will admit, TV in-seat is nice! If nothing else check out the 'almost totally real pilot name' generator, an old trick that interactive folks love to add to sites like these, but still fun.

This is your captain, Troy 'Romance' Thompson, speaking, enjoy your flight.
http://www.happyjetting.com/

My New Favorite Blog - Photoshop is a dangerous program in the wrong hands. Having been a photoshop 'guru' in a previous life (sorry, the new versions confuse me), I love the Photoshop Disasters blog. It just goes to show that we all make mistakes (some larger than others) and that not everyone should be using Photoshop!
http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

Case Study: Trail Blazers' Use of Twitter to Chat With NBA Fans

I have been intrigued about the buzz around Twitter and curious about its potential use as a tool to engage and interact with consumers. My curiosity was fueled earlier this summer when I saw a campaign by the Portland Trail Blazers who used Twitter (view the site here) as part of a campaign to stimulate conversation among NBA fans about the recent draft (Portland had the number one pick).

I connected with my friend Stephen Landau, partner at Portland based digital brand agency Substance (his firm created the campaign) for a few words of wisdom…why Twitter, why now and how did it work?

Why did you and the Trail Blazers feel that Twitter was the right platform for this campaign?
When we were thinking about ways for the Trail Blazers to extend their digital brand beyond the web site, the idea of communicating via mobile devices came up. But with traditional text messaging, there's a fairly expensive cost in sending out text messages and setting up a number. Twitter, however, is free to subscribe to (via the web or mobile device), and free to use. This allowed the Trail Blazers to send out messages whenever they wanted.

Why did you we think it was important to communicate using Twitter, why not blogs or email?
With the NBA Draft drawing significant attention because of the caliber of potential first round picks (Greg Oden or Kevin Durant), we wanted to build upon this excitement for the Portland fans. Twitter allowed fans to be a part of the conversation, hearing what was going on pre-draft, all the way up to the moment the draft choice was made.

Post-draft, Twitter was used to send announcements about Greg Oden, his visit to Portland, and then moved into information about Summer League.

We also used Twitter as a content management tool, pulling the Twitter feed directly into the "Oden or Durant" microsite. This allowed the Trail Blazers to publish content to the microsite without investing in a full content management tool.

Can you share any results of the campaign?
Currently, over 150 people are "following" the Trail Blazers Twitter feed via Twitter, which doesn't count other RSS feed subscriptions. The plan is to continue to utilize Twitter for communications during the basketball season... everything from special ticket offers to game results.

Any parting comments?
The interesting part of Twitter, as with many Web 2.0 technologies, isn't what people might initially use it for. For example, many people dismissed Twitter as a "what I'm doing right now" kind of online service, to write about making toast, or going to a movie, or whatever they were doing. But abstracting this idea to further think about, "what is my company (or my brand) doing right now," using the existing technology, allows for continued growth from a digital brand standpoint. The more compelling and relevant the content, the better the conversation between people and brands, and better conversations result in better relationships.

Travel Trends - VibeAgent, Boo.com, YouTube, Twitter

VibeAgent - Still in private beta (not open to the public), VibeAgent is hotel search / booking engine site where members can create a network of trusted friends and groups that share similar interests, locations, destinations or opinions. (If you want to take a look at the site, let me know...I have 5 invitations to the private beta site.)
http://www.vibeagent.com

Boo.com - A fashion site in a former life, boo.com jumps into the social-networking travel space offering users a way to 'quickly sift through the more than 50,000 hotels in 165 countries available through boo.com, creating a manageable and meaningful handful of choices.' Interestingly, boo.com will then let users book directly with the hotel's site, rather than an Expedia-like booking site. Plus, boo.com allows users to create 'boo crews', groups of friends you can rely on for information...very similar to the new offering from TripAdvisor and the soon-to-be offering from VibeAgent.
http://www.boo.com/

YouTube - Is YouTube heading down the same slippery slope that AOL slid down several years ago? Simon Dumenco at Advertising Age draws some interesting comparisons in his opinion column. More and more, content providers are asking the question, why can't we do this too?
http://www.adage.com

Twitter - Go ahead and call it the next big thing...a lot of people already are. Based on a simple question, 'What are you doing?', Twitter allows users to post mini blog entries on their Twitter page via SMS, instant messaging or email. Then, your friends or 'followers' can receive constant updates on what you are doing.
http://twitter.com/