To kick off the session, Siew Hoon asked Patrick and Mario to choose their C songs that described how they felt about the current state of the industry.
Mario chose U2’s “City of Blinding Lights”, emphasizing the chorus refrain, “You look so beautiful tonight”, while Patrick selected David Bowie’s “Changes”.
1. Change
For Patrick, the veteran in the industry, the biggest change he’s seen in the business is the Internet and how it has revolutionized the business from the emergence of OTAs to the rise of revenue management as a discipline.
Mario, the newbie, who left Microsoft five years ago to start his own business in social media analytics company, Circos Brand Karma, said it’s been a refreshing change, noting that “travel people were way more interesting than tech people”.
And because he had to start his business from the ground up, he had to do a lot of selling – something he had never done before. For him, face to face sales is critical to selling an online product especially when it’s a brand new concept, as social media analytics was a few years ago.
And the biggest change yet to come? For Patrick, it’s the move towards the cloud and for Mario, it’s what’s happening in social media and the amount of data being collected about people’s social profiles and the implications for personalisation. “We haven’t even scratched the surface of what is possible,” he said.
2. Competition
Everyone needs to differentiate in today’s competitive environment and price is not the answer. Patrick says price discounting is short-term and addictive “like crack or cocaine”.
People, he said, do not want to stay in a “commodity”. “The experience is crucial. Be interesting and communicate that in your brand engagement.”
On Brand Karma’s part, one way the company has differentiated itself from the competition which is snapping away at its heels is to link social media with business results, said Mario. He cited an example of a hotel client that spent US$550 on a Facebook ad campaign which generated 3,000 room nights.
Social media, he said, allowed brands to differentiate themselves on a medium that is largely price-driven.
To stand out, be creative, take risks, he said, citing Tipp Ex in Australia’s “Shoot The Bear” campaign on YouTube.
3. Collaboration
The travel industry has always been very innovative when it comes to collaboration, said Patrick, noting it’s probably the only industry when competitors actually do things together.
Referring to Delta Airlines’ integrating its booking engine with Facebook, both panelists said it would only be a matter of time before hotels started doing it as well.
4. Creativity
The key to standing out is to be creative, to hire people who can see things differently and not accept the norm and for people to take risks.
Patrick said in the US, “it is okay to fail” but there is still a stigma associated with failure in some Asian cultures, which probably explains why people were less willing to take risks here. “Don’t be afraid to say I don’t know,” he told his customers, saying there were times when he knew people didn’t understand but were afraid to ask.
5. Customers
Patrick said the great thing about Asia is its young population and, in general, youths have a more open mind to trying out new experiences. Suppliers have to step out of their box to offer these new customers customizable and different kinds of experiences.
Travellers from China and India are also going to make such a huge impact on the Asian travel industry, the magnitude of which we cannot possibly imagine, he said.
Mario, a Gen-Y himself, meanwhile has stayed in 35 hotels in Singapore and said his favourite in terms of product was New Majestic and in terms of customer service, Mandarin Oriental. He said he had a pleasant experience in New York when he visited the Mandarin Oriental there. He was expecting a New York-style of service but was instead greeted by an attendant who said, “Could I please show you to way to the toilet?”
At the end of the day, said the two panelists, it comes down to delivering a great product and great service.
Featured image credit (Red World Change Keyboard Button): Ockra/iStock
