With the dawn of a new year, we ask a few of our industry leaders for what they felt was most over-hyped in the year that was, their prediction for 2016 and for good measure, we asked them their one wish for WIT.
Tao Tao, CMO, GetYourGuide
1. Most over-hyped trend of 2015
Apps. Acquiring customers on mobile apps continue to be challenging for virtually every travel company and revenue from mobile apps (with the exception of Chinese companies) are rarely significant yet albeit fast-growing.
2. Biggest trend to watch in 2016
Mobile. Companies will start to understand how to differentiate the value-add, customer experience and company investment into mobile apps, mobile web and desktop.
3. The one thing most companies will get wrong in 2016
Mobile. To be truly mobile-centric, a larger re-thinking will be required starting with encouraging/forcing employees to use the mobile experience more frequently/exclusively.
4. The one big opportunity for 2016
APIs. It’s never been easier to start a travel company and get access to hotels, flights, activities, rental cars, etc. with just a few lines of code within an hour. The base layer is now built, and we’ll start to see more startups and mature companies tap into additional content to add value to their customer base.
5. One thing you’d like to see WIT do in 2016
Hackathon with APIs + awards sponsored by sponsors. Could be a side-event in parallel to Bootcamp (e.g. the coders won’t necessarily attend the business-heavy sessions).
Morris Sim, CEO & co-founder, Brand Karma
1. Most over-hyped trend in 2015
Apps — too many, not differentiated, and difficult to build a business model around. When was the last time you discovered a truly useful app that you want to pay for and are still using 6 months later? Frequency is probably less now than a few years ago. Apps used to be able to get by on features, now that’s the hygiene factor; content, network, design, or anything else may be needed just to get noticed… and that’s assuming the big established players don’t just rip off your novel feature on their next update.
2. Biggest trend to watch in 2016
FOLO (fear of living offline) — which means that IM becomes the new OS, the center of the universe. How will your brand get integrated into the likes of WeChat, Line, Messenger, etc.?
3. The one thing most companies will get wrong in 2016
Developing engaging content that people will want to share.
4. The one big opportunity for 2016
Using virtual reality (VR) as a component of immersive marketing — so much is being invested by tech giants, with so many factors coming together to popularize a nascent medium. To be fair, it’s been around for gamers, but for brands looking to stand out, it could the rare once in a lifetime win-win game changer. But look for the opportunity to pay off in 2017.
5. One thing you’d like to see WIT do in 2016
A WIT musical — maybe The Book of WIT?
Katherine Cole, Regional Director for Hotels.com (Singapore, Australia and NZ)
1. Most over-hyped trend in 2015
Wearable tech gadgets have yet to deliver in a meaningful way financially. They may be trendy, but not exactly fashionable either.
2. Biggest trend to watch in 2016
With channels converging, the most important move marketers can make is meeting consumers where they are.
3. The one thing most companies will get wrong in 2016
Failing to position customer experience as the focus of the business, and not adopting the right technology and people to support it.
4. The one big opportunity for 2016
Allocating budget for programmatic advertising across all media platforms will drive returns for companies.
5. One thing you’d like to see WIT do in 2016
I’d like to see WIT help travel companies to target the new age travel customer by embracing the major shift occurring around technology.
Melissa Yang, CTO & Co-founder, Tujia
1. Most over-hyped trend of 2015
Wearable device.
2. Biggest trend to watch in 2016
In China, a few big consolidation cases happened last year and the trend continues in 2016. Interesting to watch.
3. The one big opportunity for 2016
Better and concrete usage of big data in vertical industries
