Travelport is a connector of buyers and sellers in the travel industry across 160 countries, working with travel providers, travel agencies and corporations. Below is an excerpt from a great report Travelport published on today’s traveler.
“Business and leisure travelers naturally expect that the rapid improvement in technology and connectivity should improve their experience when they travel. However, the reality can be very different. Travel suppliers are increasing complexity through the unbundling of their products and introduction of ancillary services, the Internet often provides an insufficient means of navigating the vast array of travel options and only basic mobile functionality is available in most regions.
What will change in the future? Will large players such as Google make significant strides to improve the travel search process? Will other global travel brands emerge to assist the consumer in not only booking their trip but inspiring them and offering relevant options when they are traveling?”
This report challenges its reader to face the increasing expectations of the traveling consumer. As you read through this report make sure to ask yourself... are we ready for these changes in expectations and motivations? How will we prepare our destination for the ongoing online conversation about our brand?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Branding Workshop: Lima-Allen County, OH
Successful community branding is all about getting down to business. Both the philosophical “rolling up your sleeves and going to work” kind of getting down to business. And the literal “recruit all businesses to use the brand” kind of getting down to business.
North Star client Lima-Allen County is proving yet again that no one is more in tune with this idea than a community whose brand is based on capacity, values and work ethic.
“Lima-Allen County has been smart about how they integrated their new brand from day one,” notes Don McEachern, CEO of North Star. “They partnered with North Star to develop a video that not only fully explained the idea of the brand but also challenged the business community to make it their own . . . to take up its banner not only for their own purposes but for the greater good of the region. Regional leaders made the business community an integral part of the brand’s success.”
The most recent installment in Allen County’s brand development brilliance has been a series of workshops sponsored by the Chamber and led by McEachern. The meetings served as a kind of think tank for companies large and small interested in making the brand part of everyday business. Attendees ranged in size from the region’s major hospital to smaller mom and pop shops.
“I was amazed at the progress, particularly by some of the smaller businesses,” recalls McEachern. “They are not only incorporating the logo and line into their own advertising and marketing; many of them have placed the credo copy for the brand on the back of business cards and in their lobbies and work areas. That is valuable because that copy sets the tone for the brand. It is a daily reminder of what makes them unique, of why as a region Allen County should be proud. We recommend that all our clients make that credo copy a kind of community-wide mantra.”
Other ideas for using the brand were brainstormed during the session including event and product development, youth programs that focus on the true meaning of strength (staying in school, anti-bullying, anti-drug), employee health and fitness, charitable works, marketing, merchandising and more. Workshop milestones included:
- The board chair for the Lima Symphony Orchestra shared progress of the development of a "Real American Strength" original score, and the Director of County Schools asked for a simplified version to be included in all school music programs.
- A local bank discussed developing a home loan product that strikes the right balance between opportunity and fiscal responsibility symbolic of Real American Strength.
- School board members realized the potential for connecting their innovative Olweus Bullying Prevention Program to the Real American Strength idea.
- The director of marketing for the hospital realized that using the community brand was not just about using the logo but how the hospital talked about all of its wellness programs.
“It was very exciting to watch the branding gears start to turn,” said McEachern. “The ideas started flying once the businesses realized it wasn’t all about finding a way to use a logo but also finding a way to connect to the idea of Real American Strength -- pointing not just to that which is physically strong but also to that which is compassionate. One of the biggest aha moments occurred when the hospital representative realized the potential for using Real American Strength in various programs including neonatal care, heart care, wellness, technology and training.”
“Her passion at that point . . . that’s what community branding is all about,” he concluded.
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