Itinerary exploitation is key to mobile success

For most travel brands, the sweet-spot for mobile is post-booking ... sharing information and advice with travellers during their trip and using this permitted dialogue to generate ancillary revenue.

When creating this type of "mobile travel assistant", most travel brands will choose to work with a specialist mobile travel technology provider to get them up and running quickly and to take away the headache of supporting multiple devices and multiple mobile channels.

Since travel brands already know their customer's itinerary, when choosing a partner they shouldn't worry about who is best at "itinerary aggregation", instead they should focus on who is best at "itinerary exploitation".

So, what is itinerary exploitation?

It's about using the information within a traveller's itinerary to its best advantage, to create a compelling, insightful mobile dialogue for the traveller that keeps them coming back time and again during their trip.

It's about using the itinerary data, augmenting it with data from other sources, and then filtering that data to provide travellers with the most relevant information for the current stage of their trip.

Done well, this creates lots of new, micro touch-points with customers. Each touch-point is an opportunity to:

• Postiviely reinforce the travel company's brand by sharing timely, useful information. Most travel companies we speak to don't want to outsource the branding of the mobile dialogue ... instead, they're looking for a white-label solution that supports their own brand.


• Boost ancillary revenue by targeting relevant offers at the point of need. This can increase conversion rate for existing ancillaries and support the introduction of new categories of ancillary services. The key word here is targeting - offers need to be relevant to avoid being seen as a nuisance. Bolting on a generic ad-platform doesn't cut it.

What else do travel companies want from a mobile platform?

Beyond brand enhancement and revenue generation, the travel companies we've spoken to:

• Recognise that one size doesn't fit all and they want their mobile services to reflect this. So, different customer segments (e.g. business travellers, couples on a romantic break, or families on their summer vacation) would be shown content that is relevant to their specific needs.


• Want to offer mobile services that are available to all of their customers. So, while this includes downloaded applications for high-end smart-phones (13% of phones, but with higher penetration amongst frequent travellers), it also includes mobile-web applications (80% of phones) and SMS messaging (100% of phones).


• Want the option to include their own content in their mobile service, for example where they've invested in custom travel guides for the destinations they serve.


• Want an automated service, that requires minimal resource to operate ... but also want the flexibility to target ad-hoc messages at groups of customers (e.g. to support disruption management).

Checklist for selecting a mobile travel platform

So, if you're looking for a mobile platform for your travel company that will exploit your itinerary data and create a compelling mobile service for your customers, here's a checklist of features you should be looking for:

• White-label service


• Aggregates content from multiple sources


• Easily incorporates new content sources


• Rules-based to support multiple service definitions for different customer types


• Supports multiple mobile devices across multiple channels (downloaded apps, mobile-web apps, SMS)


• Supports multiple languages


• Built-in, travel-centric, campaign management capability


• Simple web-interface to target ad-hoc messages at groups of travellers

StreamThru: destination guide enhancements (watch the video)

We've introduced a number of enhancements to StreamThru over the past few weeks and these are mainly focused on making a traveller's life easier when they're at their destination.

Specifically, we've incorporated content from Qype to our local travel guide and we've used content from Eventful so travellers can see what's on during their stay.

To find out more, watch this short video ...

Book tours and activities, too

And, for further inspiration we've also included a tours section in our travel guide - giving travellers access to the wonderful range of tours and activities offered by isango!. Travellers can browse through the tours available at their destination and if they want to book one, they simply click to call the isango! team and get our special StreamThru rate.

Mobile is big. Where does it fit within your strategy?

Mobile and travel were made for each other, so isn't it time to consider where mobile fits within your strategy? Because, mobile is big, and it's getting bigger. To see just how big, consider the latest mobile phone statistics from Q3, 2009 ...

We've known for sometime that SMS (text messaging) is used by far more people than email. SMS now has over 3 billion active users (76% of all mobile phone users), compared to around 800 million email users. SMS is more immediate: the average SMS is read within 15 minutes, whereas with email it's around 24 hours. And, less than 10% of SMS messages are spam, compared to over 65% of emails.

So, SMS is big ... and, the mobile Internet is becoming big too ... Yankee Group says 31% of mobile phone subscribers use the mobile Internet - that works out at 1.2 billion users, worldwide. And, Strategy Analytics says that 20% of US and Western European mobile users access the Internet from their mobile phone at least once a week.

Smartphones, a category still dominated by Nokia, but that also includes the rapidly growing Apple iPhone and RIM Blackberry models, accounted for 14% (source: Canalys, Strategy Analytics) of all handset sales in Q3, 2009. Over 45% of Smartphones sold in the period featured a touchscreen. And, the best known of the touchscreen phones, the iPhone, now accounts for almost 1% of all mobile phones (although usage is heavily US biased. 33% of all iPhones sold were in the US).

So, it seems that more people are using their mobile phones more often to do more things. And, when it comes to data access, there's no doubt that people use their mobile phones differently to their PC's ... but the fact remains, there is a ready and significant audience of mobile users willing to engage with you when they're out and about.

Where should travel companies start with mobile?

The key is to ensure your mobile projects are customer rather than technology driven.

So, tempting as it may be to commission or build an iPhone app, this isn't necessarily the best starting point. If your business objectives are to use mobile to help enhance service levels, boost revenues, or reduce customer service costs, then you should be looking to reach the largest audience possible and SMS and mobile Internet currently tick this box better than applications. Applications certainly have a place, but I'd recommend getting the basics right first.

Within the travel industry, this is an approach that seems to have been adopted by Orbitz:

Orbitz.com spokesman Brian Hoyt said that his company still hasn't joined in the iPhone application craze, but instead relies on its mobile phone tools it launched in 2006. Hoyt said that the company may release its application in 2010. "Just because you don't have an app on the iPhone doesn't mean you missed out on the market," he said. "We're still trying to find that killer app that gains higher adoption."

Where is this "killer app" for mobile in travel?

Let's not forget that for travellers, whilst researching when and where to travel, choosing who to travel with, and booking their travel are all important ... the main event is the travel experience itself. Yet, incredibly, most travellers have zero contact with their travel company when they're travelling. Putting aside search and book (where many have focused, but which I still think is at best a niche opportunity in the short to medium term), mobile now offers a real chance for you to connect with customers, post-booking, in the immediate build up to and during their trip.

Today, everyone carries their mobile with them when they travel - it's their personal device for personalised interactions. So, why not make use of mobile to provide your customers with timely, relevant, contextual information that they will value and will want to return to time and again during their trip? Implemented correctly, this type of mobile experience will help you to enhance customer service, extend existing ancillary sales windows, and create new ancillary sales opportunities.

Isn't this something you should be offering to your customers?

Travel companies can learn from mobile mistakes in other industries

Over on iMedia Connection, Jordan Greene provides some great advice for any brand considering it's first mobile project and illustrates his points using case studies from well known brands including Foot Locker and Ralph Lauren. Although the studies are from other industries, nevertheless these are lessons that every travel company should heed.

Jordan suggests that many companies who've gone down the mobile path have been seduced by the hype and have chosen to invest in a branded app, rather than develop a solid mobile strategy first. Often this decision is driven from high up in the organisation, where the assumption is held that everyone has an iPhone or Blackberry and therefore it's imperative that the brand has a presence on one or both of these platforms. But, Jordan points out that the reality in the US (and I'm sure in Europe too) is that over 75% of mobile users do not have smart-phones.

Jordan also suggests that many brands having decided they need a mobile presence, then decide to work with teams who don't understand mobile and are learning on the job. My take on this is that Jordan is referring to brands giving the mobile project to their design agency to run with.

We've seen examples of this in travel, and particularly with airlines producing first generation mobile web-sites. These sites often look great, but to what purpose? Who is the target audience? When and under what circumstances will they use the site? How will the site generate a return on (the one would assume, considerable) investment?

Yet, mobile and travel were made for each other.

Mobile offers a phenomenal opportunity for travel brands to engage their customers when they are travelling. It's an opportunity to share relevant, timely information which customers truly value and to tap into the impulsive behaviour of travellers to boost ancillary revenue. This is mobile CRM for travel companies.

But, creating this type of dialogue requires thought - it's harder than building a first generation mobile web-site or mobile application. It requires domain knowledge. You need to understand the traveller's itinerary. You need to understand why the person is travelling. And, using this knowledge you need to preempt what information the traveller needs now ... at this current stage of their trip. It's about aggregating useful information, then filtering this information to deliver a highly personal, contextual experience.

This is the true value of mobile in travel.

So, yes engaging customers in a compelling, personal dialogue takes more effort than building an unpersonalised, generic, albeit pretty looking first generation mobile web-site. But, this is exactly what smarter, forward thinking travel companies are looking to do. They're looking at where and how mobile fits into their overall customer contact strategy. They see that mobile allows them to bridge the communication gap with their customers when they are travelling. And, they know that by bridging this gap they can enhance their service and boost their revenue ... and this gives them a return on their mobile investment.

Mobile CRM for travel companies

This year we've seen increasing coverage of 'mobile' in the travel press and at industry conferences, and it seems that many travel companies have dipped their toe in the water with mobile projects (or are planning to do something shortly).

This is great. But, my concern is that once travel companies have done their first mobile project, perhaps by implementing a non-personalised, first generation mobile web-site (e.g. an airline providing timetables, flight status, etc or a hotel allowing people to browse its properties and perhaps book a room), they think they've ticked the mobile box and that they can move on and forget about it.

But, mobile is so much more than this. Mobile offers the most personal way of communicating with your customers through a device they carry with them all of the time. It is the ultimate 1:1 marketing tool. As such, it should be embedded into every travel companies contact strategy.

Saying you've done mobile, is like sending confirmation emails to your customers and deciding that you've done email. If you took this attitude, you wouldn't send email newsletters to your existing customers, you wouldn't use email to promote special offers, you wouldn't email customers to notify them of changes to their booking.

And, it's the same with mobile.

I think as the market matures, travel companies will develop a clearer view of all the places where mobile technology can help their business. For me, the sweet spot for mobile is building personalised dialogues with customers in the immediate lead up to and during their trip - this is "Mobile CRM".

For customers, the trip was their reason for booking, yet in many cases during the trip itself they have no contact with their travel company. Mobile CRM can bridge this gap and used well it creates new touch points that customers really value. These new touch points enhance the customers' experience, enhance their perception of your brand, and create new ancillary sales opportunities by reaching the customer at their point of need.

But, doing this isn't easy - you need to find and aggregate content relevant to your customer's trip, you need to filter and personalise this content, so they just see information relevant to the current phase of their trip; you need the ability to target offers for ancillaries at the right time, so the offer is useful rather than an annoying ad; and you need all this to work on any phone in the customer's preferred language.

Doing this isn't easy, but with the right help, it can be done and those travel companies who are first to embrace Mobile CRM will gain an edge over their competitors.

SMS still has big role in mobile-travel as a "push" technology

A recent SAS press release highlighted how they're using technology to make their passengers journey smoother. Many of these innovations are mobile related. For example, they are doing some nice stuff around mobile check-in and supporting mobile bar-coded boarding passes (mBCBP).

And, it's good to see SAS offering SMS services alongside their mobile-web portal. It's all to easy to get carried away by the hype these days and think that mobile is purely about downloadable applications. The reality is: SMS is still the only mobile technology that allows you to reach near 100% of your customers ... although let's not forget that mobile-web adoption is growing apace, doubling in the US in the past year.

But, back to SMS, and specifically what role does it have to play in the mobile travel experience?

Using SMS for "Pull" mobile travel services

The SAS service is a PULL service. It allows travellers to text in keywords to access timetable info, booking details, etc - which sounds like a great, customer-focused idea.

But ... a couple of years ago we did some small scale trials of this type of service for ourselves ...

We asked people to text in a keyword (e.g. EAT, NIGHTLIFE) to get activity suggestions for their destination. However, we soon abandoned this experiment, because people simply didn't use the service. Feedback from customers told us that there was nothing particularly wrong with the service, it was just they either didn't think to use the service when they were travelling or they couldn't remember the keywords. And, off-the-record conversations with travel companies who've tried similar services indicate that they've seen similar underwhelming results.

Keywords work best when they're a response to a promotion (e.g. a billboard encouraging you to text BROCHURE to a short-code) - and the SAS service may well be promoted in this way (e.g using in-airport advertising, and through promotion in their in-flight magazine) which would give it an advantage. But, in general, for a travel service, my comments about first generation mobile-web applications apply - we're simply asking the traveller to work too hard relative to the value of information provided.

When it comes to using SMS as a PULL technology with travellers, the only exception we've found is with an "any questions answered" type service, where people text in free form enquiries and get an answer back from a human expert. We've used this successfully with our destination assistance service which provides answers to questions about the local area, language translation, and a live interpreter in an emergency. I think this works because we're not asking people to work too hard ... they don't have to remember too much and the value they get out of the interaction outweighs the effort of sending the text.

Using SMS for "Push" mobile travel services

However, I believe the real value SMS brings to any mobile travel service is as a PUSH technology. SMS is perfectly adapted to the role of pro-actively sending information (e.g. itinerary reminders, flight changes, boarding calls, delay notifications, daily weather forecasts, links to mobile-web applications, etc) to travellers when they're on the move - and, in this context, no other technology can match the reach or reliability of SMS, which is why I think it should form a part of every travel companies customer contact strategy.

Mobile applications: What travel companies need to know.

Mobile applications have been around for ages, but their meteoric rise into popular public consciousness over the past year or so is largely thanks to the iPhone and the success of Apple's app store. Apple made it easy for the non-technical to download and install applications onto their handset. And, now, with all the hype surrounding mobile apps, it seems that every company wants to have one. So, for a travel company considering its mobile strategy, going down the mobile app route is a no-brainer, right?

Well, actually, it's not quite that simple.

If we stay with the iPhone as our example, a recent ComScore survey says that 3.5% of mobile media users in the UK own an iPhone and that 75% of those people are males aged between 18 and 44.

So, even allowing for the rapid growth in iPhone owners, an application developed for the iPhone is still targeting a niche market. And, with contract rates of up to $1000 USD per day for a decent iPhone developer - it could cost you a lot of money to keep a small number of customers happy.

Most travel companies I've spoken to want to use the mobile channel to reach the majority of their customers. So, with an app strategy that means you'll need apps for Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Anroid, Windows Mobile, etc, etc. All are different, all require development work, some handset manufacturers (e.g. Nokia) have multiple operating systems ... so, going down the apps route is an expensive option in terms of time and development resource.

An alternative is to connect with your customers when they're on the move by creating a mobile web-site.

Using the mobile-web you can still offer a rich media experience to your customers and mobile web content is accessible from pretty much any handset with a data connection. With the mobile-web you don't have to worry about how you get your 'application' onto the user's handset, nor do you have to worry about how you roll out upgrades to your software.

However, the mobile-web experience will never be as slick as a downloaded application. Mobile web content is slower and consumes more bandwidth, because you have to download each page individually. Whereas, with a downloaded app the graphics, page layouts and all static data are pre-installed on the handset, so you only have to download the dynamic data.

Furthermore, mobile-web sites can't provide offline access to content (e.g. itineraries), nor do they enable you to take advantage of high-end phone features like built-in GPS and compasses (e.g. for what's near me type requests).

So, which way to go?

Until we see greater consolidation of mobile phone operating systems or until cross-platform development environments (e.g. Adobe's Flash Lite) support interaction with the handset (e.g. access contacts, calendar, location), I recommend:

• If you are serious about using mobile in your customer interactions (e.g. airline mobile boarding pass and mobile check-in initiatives), go down the mobile-web route. Mobile-web will enable you to reach the widest audience for the lowest cost.


• If you are looking to make a PR splash, then by all means go down the app route. For example, lastminte.com's labs team have produced some really nice sample apps recently.

Finally, if you really are bitten by the app bug, then you could always develop a mobile-web site to reach the majority of your users and develop a complimentary app for your favoured handset!

At Mantic Point, we see mobile-web, applications, SMS, and even email as delivery channels. Our focus is pulling together right content, at the right time to create valuable mobile dialogues with travellers. We're agnostic to the delivery channel and we'll work with whichever technology (or more likely technologies) is most appropriate for the audience we're trying to reach.