Marketing: ITT's guide for a strong digital strategy

Another former Google (and Thomas Cook) employee, Ian Morgan, now managing director of corporate digital banking at Barclays, suggested that travel would do well to focus less on specific products in advertising and more on building “an emotional attachment” with customers. “With Barclays, our current advertising campaign is about what we’re doing in the community, what we’re doing to upskill people around digital, rather than the latest mortgage deal.”

It was also agreed that travel has some catching up to do when it comes to mobile. Google’s head of retail Jeremy Morris cited research by US retailer Target showing that 95% of its customers are always within three feet of their mobile phone. A Target executive has described the mobile phone as their “front door” where customers find out how to get to their stores, special offers, get vouchers for in-store use and so on. “Permanent presence on a phone through an app is a massive branding opportunity,” said Robb.

Travel companies are often reluctant to spend on digital marketing without a clear and speedy Return On Investment (ROI). However, Barclays’ research indicates that brands perceived to be innovative resonate more with consumers: “That’s intangible, and even if you were able to track it, the ROI on that could extend over a period of years,” said Morgan. “Don’t just think about the final click to buy,” concludes Morris. “The worst thing you can do is limit yourself just to things you can see and measure.”

Appeal to different segments of your market via different digital platforms. Robb highlighted the example of Tesco which takes a slightly different tone on Twitter compared with its above-the-line advertising. “It regularly trolls football teams, for instance, when Brendan Rodgers was manager at Liverpool and kept buying Southampton players, Tesco tweeted: ‘Don’t worry, Brendan, we’ve got 25% off in all our Southampton stores,’ Just a slight change in tone makes it more edgy and appeal to different consumers.”

“The Tesco example shows joined-up thinking, but too many brands behave and act differently in social spaces,” noted Dean Harvey, digital development director of creative agency, Designate. “The amount of ‘Happy Friday, ‘Here’s a picture of a cat’, ‘Win an iPad’ nonsense I see… that’s not brand communications.”

Harvey and Morris both cited the website of the UK’s biggest white goods dealer, AO – rebranded from Appliances Online – a company valued at £1 billion after just 14 years of trading. “The site has quick wins such as auto-complete in the search box so you rarely get ‘No Results’ and you don’t need to register at the checkout,” said Harvey. “And if you want to see product demo videos done well, go to ao.com.”

“In 5 to 10 years, travel will know more about their customers to deliver a completely seamless digital presence throughout the holiday experience, including in-resort,” predicted Harvey. “The people on the ground know the best places to go and things to do, and that is an amazing resource that could be tapped into more where I can talk to the reps via an app.”