Download the workshop presentation presented at the Skift Global Forum 2015. This presentation dives into the world of personalization and how brands can engage with their travel customers. This presentation is brought to you by Underline Communications.

1. MAKE IT
PERSONAL
Luke Daigle
Underline Communications
underline
Brian Lenhart
American Express Travel
AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL
ENGAGING TRAVELERS WITH
PERSONALIZED MESSAGING

2. © THE FUTURES COMPANY 2015 1
FUTURE TRAVEL TRENDS
July 9, 2015

3. CO N SU M E RS W I L L T RAV E L M O R E
O F A M E R I C A N T R A V E L E R S
S AY T H E Y W I L L T R A V E L F O R
L E I S U R E T H E S A M E A M O U N T
O R M O R E I N 2 0 2 0
85%
Source: American Express Travel,“Future Travel Trends” (2015)

4. S T R O N G L Y A G R E E /A G R E E :
L E I S U R E T R A V E L I S A B I G
P R I O R I T Y I N M Y L I F E64%
P EO P L E P R I O R I T I Z E T RAV E L
Source: American Express Travel,“Future Travel Trends” (2015)

5. 82%
67%
58% 55%
UNITED STATES UNITED KINGDOMMEXICOCHINA
W I L L I N G TO SAC R I F I C E I N OT H E R A R E AS O F
T H E I R L I V ES I N O R D E R TO T RAV E L M O R E
Source: American Express Travel,“Future Travel Trends” (2015)

6. 76% Book flights and hotels
73% Research destinations
60% Streamline check-ins
T RAV E L E RS US E T EC H N O LO GY
Source: American Express Travel,“Future Travel Trends” (2015)

7. 63%
84%
83%
O F U . S . M I L L E N N I A L S A R E
W I L L I N G T O L E T B R A N D S
T R A C K T H E I R H A B I T S F O R
B E S P O K E S E R V I C E
W I L L S H A R E DATA FO R P E RSO N A L I Z AT I O N
Source: American Express Travel,“Future Travel Trends” (2015)

8. Press Release: amex.co/1MNDdSI
Full Report: amex.co/1KH3L2c
© THE FUTURES COMPANY 2015 1
FUTURE TRAVEL TRENDS
July 9, 2015

9. How We Increased Email Clicks
by 22% Using Personalization
C A S E S T U DY:

10. The Situation

11. AmexTravel.com

12. Current Email Campaign
AU D I E N C E
AmexCardmembers
F R EQ U E N CY
Monthly
G OA L S
Buildawareness
Driveonlinebookings
Offer
promotion
Benefit
reinforcement
Travel
inspiration

13. Current Email Campaign
! Boost engagement
! Increase bookings
! Improve relevance
K E Y I S SU E
Single, generic
creative sent to
all customers

14. One size fits all?

15. The Insight

16. Cardmember travel
attitudes and needs are
highly fragmented.

17. Some Cardmembers take lots of short weekend trips,
while others take only a few long, expensive trips.
Some are‘do-it-yourselfers’, while others prefer to let full
service agencies take care of the entire process.
Some will pay a premium for a special experience,
while others are extremely price sensitive.
— AMERICAN EXPRESS TRAVEL RESEARCH
“ ”

18. G
Location
k
Interests
g
Family Card
Customer attributes correlate to travel preferences
T
SpendAge

19. Z
Segmentation?

20. Segment audience using personas?
Young
Professional
International
Jetsetter
Family
Traveler
Luxury
Seeker
Empty
Nester

21. Tap into individual customer attributes
k
Interests Card
T
Spend
g
Family
G
LocationAge
U

22. PERSONALIZATION VS SEGMENTATION
Specific
Adapts to individual
High variability
Tailored to the person
General
Based on assumptions
Limited variability
Tailored to a persona
ZU

23. Personalized marketing is now a“must-have”
10-20%
Source: Skift + Boxever,“The Future of Personalized Marketing In Travel” (2014). Stats based on Boxever results with airlines and OTAs.
increase in revenue
per week
improvement in
conversion rates
more revenue per visit
from repeat visitors
5%+
3-7x

24. Brands realize the importance…
of marketing professionals across multiple
industries said personalization is“important”
to“extremely important”.94%
Source: Conversant,“The Personalization Imperative” (2014)

25. …but there are challenges
! Securing internal resources to coordinate
! Building a single customer view across channels
! Finding agencies and vendors to execute

26. 70% of brands fail to personalize
their messages.
Source: Experian Marketing Services Email Marketing Study (2013)

27. The Solution

28. Anew,dynamic email template
that is personalized to the individual
message by message.
[Beautyshotofemailonan
iPadinoutdoorsetting]

29. y
y
y
y
y

30. Examples for illustration only.

31. Examples for illustration only.

32. Examples for illustration only.

33. Examples for illustration only.

34. Examples for illustration only.

35. Examples for illustration only.

36. 125potential content
combinations
5message
slots
3
content
variations
=

37. The Results

38. 29%
increase in open rate
22%
increase in click rate

39. Thank You
underline