Nick CooperExecutive Director, Head of Insights & Analytics, EMEA

12 May 2016

THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IN

TRAVEL & TOURISM MARKETS

Agenda

Section 1: Context for brand

Section 2: Industry consolidation

Section 3: Implications for brand

Section 4: Brand experience

Section 5: Implications for consumer insights

It’s all getting much more competitive out there

SECTION 1 - Context for brand:

Travel & Tourism – Context for brand

A critical industry, directly and indirectly accounting for 9.5% of global GDP (source: WTTC)

Traditionally driven by operational excellence and financial disciplines:• Seasonality• Thin margins• Commoditised offer

Branding an afterthought, not a central driver of the business.

Travel & Tourism – Context for brand

Today, the industry is undergoing rapid change:

Consumers have more options than ever

Consumers are better informed than ever

Continuous disruption

Implications

You have to fight for your right to be noticed

TOM is more critical than ever

Communications are bigger and faster than ever; they can work for you or against you…

SECTION 2 – Industry Consolidation:

Airlines

Hotels & Tour Operators

Rapid pace of consolidation

UnitedContinental

US AirwaysAmerican

DeltaNorthwest

LufthansaAustrianSwissGermanwings

Air FranceKLM

British AirwaysIberianVuelingBritish MidlandAer Lingus

AIRLINES:

Rapid pace of consolidation

MarriottStarwood

AccorFRHI Holdings

FosunClub Med

“hospitality mega-merger”

ExpediaTravelocity

EQTKuoni

TUI AGTUI Travel plc

HOTELS & TOUR OPERATORS:

Implications

You have to be clear about what you stand for

Scale creates greater ability than ever to invest in marketing and building brands

You have to make decisions about which brand to back

Choosing your best brand bets

United and Continental chose…

Delta and Northwest chose…

US Airways and American chose…

SECTION 3 – Implications for brand:

Why bother with brand?

…Because if you don’t someone else will!

So how can brand help?

Brand builds equity across four key metrics:

Differentiation

Relevance

EsteemKnowledge

Drives price premium and recommendation

Drives trial, consideration, and market penetration

Drives customer loyalty

Drives understanding of a brand

Source: BAV

So how can brand help?

There has to be a compelling reason for consumers to choose you…differentiation is often the foundation, leading to notoriety or status

Branding is no longer about defaults or purely practical benefits.…you have to build your own brand story, although it is increasingly

possible to project this

Brand is becoming a huge lever for success...and you will go backwards unless you use it fully

BRAND STORY

St Mary’s Axe The Walkie Talkie Heron Tower

St Mary Axe

The Leadenhall Building20 Fenchurch Street

“How was your trip to the City of London?”

Err…

St Mary’s Axe The Walkie Talkie Heron Tower

The Gherkin

The Cheese GraterThe Walkie Talkie

“How was your trip to the city of London?”

Well…

St Mary’s Axe The Walkie Talkie Heron Tower

The Gherkin The Cheese GraterThe Walkie Talkie The Shard

SOME BRANDING PRINCIPLES:

Provenance:It may be right or wrongBut it is unavoidable…

Provenance:… so distill the good parts from the bad and leverage them to create advantage

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Authentic truth:Ensure the basis of the brand is credible, authentic, true and…

Authentic truth:Ensure the basis of the brand is credible, authentic, true and…magnetic and desirable

Amplify:Identify valuable, desirable, differentiated assets…

Amplify:… assets that combine ownable ideas with those elements of provenance that you have selected

SECTION 4 - Brand Experience:

If you want to change

perceptions, change

reality.

In Travel & Tourism, changes in perception usually happen only gradually

This is because brands in these sectors are especially influenced by provenance.

Which can hold you back or… propel you forwards

But it is possible to accelerate

AuthenticCharming

Arrogant Uncaring

UnreliableNot trustworthy

Not innovativeNot dynamic

Emerging attributes

Approachable

Trendy

Progressive

Energetic

Trustworthy

After the 2012 Olympics

Source: BAV, France, October 2012

Traditional attributes

Before the 2012 Olympics

BRAND STORY

A STORY OF TRANSFORMATION

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We are remarkable…

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PLACEHOLDER FOR VIDEO

SECTION 5 – Implications for consumer insights:

What do we need to

discover?

Every brand idea is based on an authentic truth…

… or you will be found out. 1

Create desire and magnetism…

… if not why would anyone want it? 2“Build it and they will come”

Leverage positive provenance…

… as a hyperlink to building the perceptions you want. 3

Create a sense of belonging so that there is a human relationship…

… “it’s mine and I know how to experience it.” 4

Take advantage of the speed generation…

… what used to take decades now takes years…

... what used to take years now takes months. 5

Insights becomes a key driver of the brand and therefore the business

Authentic truth

Desire & magnetism Speed

Positive provenance

1 Belonging

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THANK YOU