COMMENT IN MY OPINION
The past few weeks have seen a lot of talk about brands, rebranding and
the value of history in a brand. Is it all just talk? Does it matter? Is
it just the marketers that care, not customers? I have a simple thought about what
really drives your decision when you walk down a high street or click on a Google results page. I believe it is often familiarity with the name of the company or its brand. Never heard of them? Then often it is “no thanks” and, therefore, no sale. So when it comes to a rebrand on the
high street, it is important that other drivers are in place. The location of the shop and the
customer’s knowledge of it often means they walk in without realising. I was Lunn Poly managing director when we rebranded to Thomson. The company already had great brand awareness, with an excellent reputation among holidaymakers. All we were really doing was putting 900 new billboards in sites with high footfall – a sensible move when trying to turn a UK-centric business into a pan- European brand. Fast forward to today, and Tui is targeting a global audience.
Familiarity breeds content The other key driver is the reassurance when customers walk into a shop and see a familiar face. More often than not, that is the biggest winner for retaining clients at this time. The announcement that Hays Travel
is to rebrand Bath Travel is not a surprise, even after 91 great years. After
Build your brand around your target clients
Tell clients what they’ll get if they enter your shop or click on your site
MILES MORGAN MANAGING DIRECTOR,
MILES MORGAN TRAVEL
two years educating clients that behind the scenes the ownership has changed, any Bath Travel clients truly resistant have probably left. Staff, of course, will be key to its success. John Hays and his team have ideas to
become a national player and leverage their efforts and spend with social media and pay-per-click across the UK, not just the northeast and northwest.
Become a local authority So what about Miles Morgan Travel and other small guys out there? Big is not always beautiful and I’m sure small agents competing on Bath Travel’s patch will see a great opportunity to become the ‘local’ agent for clients to support over faceless national companies. To achieve this, opening the door in the morning and offering great service will not be enough. You have to spend some cash to tell clients what they will get from you, so when they walk down the high street, they decide to visit you.
Your business and brand must stand
for something and target certain clients. With the online world, it is even more important to stand for something, as Google’s prices increasingly eat into businesses’ profits. This is where clever and well-
targeted social media campaigns score. Remember to build your brand and its values around your target clients. Building a successful, well-known
brand will stand you in great shape in the long run. As Miles Morgan Travel approaches
its 10th birthday, we feel we are starting to crack this. Watch out for our January TV campaign and you’ll see how we are putting some of these strategies successfully into effect. Standing still is not an option.
FOR MORE COLUMNS BY MILES MORGAN, GO TO
TRAVELWEEKLY.CO.UK
34
travelweekly.co.uk 5 November 2015
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80