Paper Outline: Travelocity

I. Introduction
A. Travelocity
§ Headquartered in Southlake, Texas
§ Leader among online travel agency, sixth largest travel agency and is the second largest online travel agency
§ Created in 1996, it is a subsidiary of Sabre Holdings
§ Online travel agency that offers its customers a self-reservation system for discounted air fares, hotel prices, and car rentals including packaged vacation deals.

II. Body
A. Current strategies
§ SEMs
o Sense
§ Visually, the website provides and stimulates different senses. The number one visual sense is comfort or ease for the customer through the simple design of the website. The customer will never feel overwhelmed by the company’s service online because whether they are looking for a simple flight or a vacation deal, the website’s user-friendly site is display through the simplicity of the home page. Also the website uses beautiful and visually stunning pictures to describe the different destination points for the customer. Just looking at pictures of the available vacation spots will make the customer book it today.
o Feel
§ For most travelers they will either travel for leisure or for business, and because most businesses provide their own travel packages, most of the customers who use Travelocity will be looking to book travel arrangements for their vacations. Therefore, Travelocity’s marketing strategy is to make the customer happy and relaxed. Beyond the enticing pictures and simple to use website, the company provides excellent customer service to build the customer satisfaction and loyalty. When customers are looking for travel deals, they want the best deal with the least hassle. Therefore, by providing an excellent service/product Travelocity lets the customers feel ready for their fun and relaxing vacation.
o Relate
§ The marketing of Travelocity from the pictures of the vacation spots to the people in these pictures, the website is full of these stimulators to make the customer want to be the people in the pictures or want to be a part of the scenery or spot of where the picture portrays.

§ Experience providers
o Product Presence
§ Related to Website as an ExPros the “product design” of Travelocity is their service design. Meaning they maintain and use their website as the service/product and their design of the website to provide customer a satisfactory experience. Travelocity tries to maintain a user-friendly website along with the most up-to-date information for their services and products of discounted fares.
o Websites and Electronic Media
§ Notification and immediate emails to notify customers of price changes and discounts on travel packages based on previous/past purchasing history
o People
§ Leader in customer service satisfaction through their customer service 1-800 number
o Visual/Verbal Identity
§ The Traveling Gnome the mascot of Travelocity is used in the company’s website and other media advertising such as commercials and print ads. This character is famously recognized and connected to Travelocity; you can even buy its merchandise (i.e. cups and tshirts) online.
§ “You’ll never roam alone.”
1. This verbal identity identifies with the Travelocity’s customers that they will never travel alone once they utilize Travelocity’s service and products. The Travelocity experience not only includes discounted fares for travel but it also includes other services for the customers such as email notifications of flight changes and customer service in the event of travel problems with overbooking. Along with the Travelocity guarantee, the customers will never be alone to travel if a problem ever rises.

§ Customer Championship
o The Travelocity Guarantee
§ A commitment to the customer for a “peace of mind” about not only a low price but a promise to resolve any problems before or during the travel. For example, if any problems arise that might make the trip for the customer “less enjoyable”, Travelocity will do what it takes to arrange a better trip. Also the company offers a “low price guarantee” which includes a refund for the difference if the customer finds a fare at a lower price within 24 hours of purchase, and a $50 discount on a future purchase.
o Customer Bill of Rights
§ There are 7 rights for the customers of Travelocity:
1. Right to use a company that “looks out” for its customers. (No overbooked flights or hotels)
2. Right for the “best overall value” from discounts to customer support and control over the details of the trip.
3. Right to have unbiased information with independent reviews and ratings.
4. Right to straightforward presentation of the options when available.
5. Right to find and book quickly and easily with the redesign of the website with ease-of-use.
6. Right to have customer support anytime
7. Right to be inspired

§ Information about the customer and for the customer
o Window Vistas fare-watcher gadget
§ This desktop gadget is integrated with the new Windows Vista and allows customers to be notified when a discount occurs on a specific fare or vacation deal. This “monitoring” tool allows the customer to receive almost instant updates about the deals they are trying to purchase at a low price.
o “Active” data warehouse
§ Teradata is the software the company uses to retrieve customer data from their activities on the company website
§ Travelocity is combining past and current data about their customers to provide the most up-to-date information and product and at the same time customize and tailor their products individually for their customers as well. Instead of just storing their data into the data warehouses, Travelocity is using and “activating” their data.

B. Lessons for their competitors
§ Customer loyalty
o From the Travelocity guarantee to the customer bill of rights the company offers many additional elements to their service to create customer loyally.
§ Data mining and warehouse
o Innovative and efficient care of the data the company recovers from their customer is very valuable if you know how to use to your advantage. Travelocity is a leader in understanding their customer through the use of collected data.

C. Lessons from their competitors/Changes
§ Customer Service
o Competing online travel agencies have beaten Travelocity when comes to customer service, and in order for the company to continue at the top they need to see what their competitors are doing right and what they can improve.
§ SEMs
o Although these sensory modules are limited for a product/service such as an online travel agency, Travelocity can still improve their current SEMs and follow their competitors by researching and comparing their experience providers.

III. Conclusion
Travelocity is a leader in the industry but they need to continue to improve to make it to the top and to beat out its competitors. Their current marketing strategy is great but the competitors are right on their heels.

IV. References
§ http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid11_gci1197444,00.html
§ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdzsb/is_200108/ai_ziff6690
§ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_July_26/ai_n6122539/pg_1
§ http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/000194.php
§ http://www.ip97.com/travelocity_commits_to_customer_gjh.aspx
§ http://www.rightnow.com/resource/casestudy.php?id=1580&product=9
§ http://www.keynote.com/docs/kcr/cem/Keynote_AirlineCE05.pdf
§ http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/02/19/010219opprophet.html
§ http://svc.travelocity.com/guarantee

Breaking the Code

Dr. Rapaille’s technique includes a three step physic journey for the subjects that take them past reason, through emotion and finally to the primal core where all the purchasing decisions really lie. The focus of his research is to find out why people do what they do; Dr. Rapaille conveys that consumers are driven by unconscious needs and impulses in their purchasing behaviors. In the first step of the focus group, Dr. Rapaille starts with the cortex or reason; he says that people want to show off how intelligent they are and so he allows the subjects to define a word such as luxury. What people think about it or how it is related or portrayed by marketers or companies. For example, luxury is related to a product being well-made. However, Dr. Rapaille does not care about what they say, the information is nothing new. Then they have a break; during this break the subjects will feel good about themselves and very happy and content. For the second step of the process, they come back into the room for the “emotion” phase. They are told to make up a story to tell a 5 year old from another planet. This moves the subjects into a different mindset, not logical or intelligent but just to please a 5 year old from another planet. Now the subjects do not understand what they are doing anymore, and this is exactly where Dr. Rapaille wants them to be. Afterwards, the subjects have another break; during this break the subjects will think that Dr. Rapaille is crazy and that they don’t understand anything. Finally the third stage of the phase begins after the break. When the subjects come back to the room, they will find no chairs but pillows on the floor. Then the lights will be turned off and the subjects will relax together to try to go back to what they were trying to understand the first time. Dr. Rapaille is trying to create the mindset the subjects will have when they wake up in the morning. The results are surprising thoughts from 20 to 30 years ago and all of the notes and scribbles from the subjects at this time relate all back to the first subjects (e.g. luxury). What Dr. Rapaille is after in this step is to understand primal urges; he is after what he calls the Reptilian Hot Button. He mentions that is crucial to understand that the reptilian always wins no matter what. Ultimately, Dr. Rapaille wants to achieve breaking the code of a specific word (e.g. breaking the code of luxury). He suggests that the first time we understand a word, we imprint a meaning o the sword and create a mental connection. Therefore through his process he is trying to break the code of these words to get to the consumers’ primal core and mental meanings we associate with the words.
In my opinion, this research method is a great methodology to understand the true motives behind the purchase behaviors of customers. Through most of the data collecting measures such as interviews, regular focus groups, and direct observations, most of the information or data can be skewed or have some sort of bias. However, taking the subjects into different stages and ultimately to the stage where it breaks down barriers of market research seems to allow great room for understanding and gathering valuable data for Dr. Rapaille. This type of research allows the subjects to reach a comfort level with the interviewer by affecting the environment of the subjects. As a market researcher this method could be useful any aspect of business to break the code for a specific product to see why an old product is not selling or how a new product could sell. Also it could be used for industries and market segments to find out more information and data about the areas.

Do you see an old lady or a young woman?

The podcast with Michael Shermer discusses some of the unique and peculiar modern phenomenons; as a scientist he shares with us the different reasons such as cognitive bias and pattern seeking we as human beings use to explain some of “these weird things”. I thought that the different “scientific” rationale for the Nun Bun and other images was very interesting. I’m not sure if all of what Michael Shermer referred to is valid but I do believe that he provided some logical and agreeable explanations. Although I have not heard most of the example Michael Shermer used in the podcast, I have heard and seen some similar unusual things.

For example, as Michael Shermer mentioned, when you squint your eyes, the image goes from “fine to coarse grain” and generally this action followed by the comment “oh yeah…I can what you are talking about” or some variation of the phrase. Also people do try to find patterns and similarities among different thing. As human beings I think that cognitive bias is present because of our desires to relate with others and I believe that people believe what they want to believe, and people see what they want to see, and often I believe what people want to believe to see is influenced by others. For example, I believe it was 4 or more years ago in my hometown, San Antonio, TX where there was great excitement about the image of the Virgin Mary on a…tortilla. You see when you cook a tortilla brown cooked spots appear, and apparently at a local taco restaurant, one of the cooks noticed the image of the Virgin Mary in one of the cooked tortillas. This was a great interest story for the local news channels; I not only saw the news report on this but I also remember talking about it with friends and teachers. Now I’m not sure if the public would have been concern for the tortilla if the cook didn’t identify what he thought he saw. Likewise, I remember there was a similar phenomenon with the statue of a crying Virgin Mary. Supposedly, this was a standalone statue of the Virgin Mary and she would cry blood or red tears. I remember hearing this from a local news story as well.

I think it all goes along with what the public and human beings do with the unknown, people shape their opinions and what they want to see through their own beliefs and experiences from their lives. For instance, when I heard about the Virgin Mary on the tortilla and the crying Virgin Mary, I remember discussing that these items were fakes and scams for publicity with my dad; and also growing up as a Christian has taught me the importance of not idolizing items such as the tortilla or statues. Therefore, through my experiences I have very different opinions and ideas about these “weird things”. Similarly, as we shape what we want to believe and see with our own ideas, we also have the tendency to adjust our visions and beliefs by what others tell us. For example, in the optical illusion or brain teaser of the picture with the old woman or young lady, often people see one or the other very clearly but cannot see the other image without someone else pointing it out. I think this is a very clear example of what Michael Shermer was talking about with cognitive bias and people seeing and believing what they want to.