Lessons Learned

Through the course and the group project I believe I have gained a better understanding on the importance of flexibility in obtaining customer insight. In previous and other experiences, I learned to obtain customer insights through research methodologies such as surveys and interviews, and to conclude from the collected data to make inferences and assumptions on the insights from this type of information. Although this method is not necessary incorrect, through the group project and course, I learned so much more about gaining insight. For example, although choosing a target segment for research is important, breaking down a segment based on a room of the house was a great way to really focus on a specific segment. When our group picked the bedroom of the house but decided to be a little bit more creative and turned it into a baby room, we started to capture a completely different market. Focusing on the different elements and stereotypes of what the baby room implied for our segment formed a new experience for us in gaining insight. We had to break down the basic demographics of a stereotypical market for the baby room but we quickly realized and learned we had a plethora of segments to choose from. We learned so much about the different characteristics of our segment through our research methods such as interviews but also learned how to use what we learned to narrow the segment for our project. In addition our insights came from other research methods such as secondary research, shop along, and photos from our contacts. I learned that gaining insights doesn’t necessary mean to gain a statistical analysis on the data from your segment. Instead insights can come from a variety of ways such as key interviews and learning about what the information is telling you. Additionally the insights can come for the commonality in the research or knowledge we gain while using secondary resources such as the internet to learn more about purchase behaviors or current availability of products for our segment. The project and course helped me to open my eyes on developing insights from many different resources and ways that may not necessarily logical or clear cut as data analysis.

Furthermore, another key concept I learned throughout the course and group project is the process of product development. I learned about the different ways to develop a product, either by working with a product idea and finding customer insights for the product or gaining insights from customers and creating a product for the insights. I believed that most products were developed first and then matched to research and tested to the insights that “fitted” the idea. However, as the course, this project, and even the guest speakers pointed out, product ideas can also be developed from insights. One of our guest speakers even talked about a process that resembles a filter in that you filter your product idea through a process that started with gaining customer insights. Likewise, one of the key examples in learning this “lesson” was through our group project. When our group first started to brainstorm about a product idea, we initially came up with a product for a segment to provide a service on the web to simplify the design process for a baby room for the parent. In the beginning the group was very excited about the great idea but after more thought we realize that our research and insights did not match up with the product idea. As a group we begin to discuss if this idea would be appropriate even though we did not have the insight to match up with the product other than our secondary research. Although as a group ultimately we developed another product that matched our insights, we went through many discussions about the two products before making decisions about the final product. However I believe through the different product ideas we were able to learn a lesson in the process of developing a product idea. I realized that many products have been successful regardless of how the product idea came into the market, but going through the process of building a product idea from customer insights made me understand some of the difficulty and conflicts industries and companies can have when developing products.

Some of the emotional reactions I have had along the way of working on the project and throughout this course are enjoyment and challenging. I believe working with my teammates on the project was enjoyable because of the different elements of the projects and the people who made up my group. The project had many different elements that gave me many opportunities to learn not only about customer insights and product idea development but working in a semester long project. Overall the project allowed me to take certain concepts from the course and apply them to a hands-on experience. The updates of the different phases from the teams were great because it allowed the groups to share information and learn from each other as well. The focus on the semester project through lectures and guest speakers also made it an enjoyable experience. The lectures were great because they provided the background and important information for us to apply to the project; they were filled with great real-world examples from the articles of companies and products that related to the lecture topic. In addition, the diversity of my group members in their experiences and knowledge created an enjoyable experience as well. I believe the creativity of our project from our choice of segment to the final product came from all of our ideas and suggestions. On the other hand, the challenging aspect came from working on a project with concepts and lessons I have never worked with before. There were times when all of my group members really knew what to do for the project and other time where we had to take the update home and think about it a little bit more. Also the diversity of my group brought challenges in that we had so many great ideas and suggestions for the project. Our experiences in different classes and from different work experiences really helped to provide a wide range of ideas and thoughts for the project. However the challenging emotion was great because it allowed me to learn so much about customer insights and working on the project itself as well.

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.

The Giants of Internet Travel Agencies - Travelocity’s competitors

Related to the topic of my paper I wanted to look at Travelocity’s competitors and at the same time look how the companies differ in their methodologies of building experiences and products for their customers. As previously mentioned, the reading “The Executive Guide: An Organization Roadmap for Your Customers.com Initiatives” details how companies can build their online stores through analysis of information they gain from their customers. A successful online store continuously strives to meet their customers’ ever changing needs. So between the three leading online travel agencies, how do they build customer experiences and at the same time stay successful meeting the many different needs of their online shoppers?
If you visit the websites of these three companies, at first you may not notice a difference. They all have a search engine for flights, car rentals, or hotel reservations and they all offer some variations of travel packages for popular vacation destinations. Also all of these websites have some type of trip planner to assist you with your vacation or other travel plans. Thus, the products from these dot com travel agencies are very similar and differentiate from each other by small variations in price. However, if you look a little bit deeper into these sites, these companies are not exactly alike. In fact, the companies are trying to separate themselves from each others to become more competitive.
I have been an online shopper of travel packages for a long time and I constantly compare and utilize these companies. These companies do in fact, have differences in their products. For example, Expedia is the leader in travel packages; the company promotes family travel packages and the major savings a customer receives from buying in bundles (flight and hotel or hotel and car). Travelocity promotes their great membership program and highlights suggestions and activities shoppers can plan for their trips. On the other hand, Orbitz builds competitiveness through their pricing strategies; the company offers the lowest prices in hotels and car rentals. As more and more consumers turn to online shopping to reserve their travel plans, these companies are going to become more and more competitive with different features and methods to build unique AND different experiences for their customers.
These differences in the companies are not just different features of their products. Instead because of the uniqueness of their online element in their business, they use these slight yet effective differences to build customer experiences. As I mentioned, at first look the websites and companies may seem very similar; however the more you use the products the more you begin to see the differences that contribute to your online travel shopping experience. So which travel giant is for you?

Loyalty Programs - Who benefits the customer or the company?

Frequent flier miles, frequent buyer rewards, and store coupons, all components of different customer loyalty programs. These programs have been a popular methodology for companies to collect data about their consumers. However, as more and more companies use these programs, we have to ask ourselves who really receives the benefits, the customer or the company? As we discussed in our class, when building the experience framework companies assume that if they increase the value for the customers, they will also increase the value customer will provide for the company.
Value for the customer. So in order to receive value through the loyalty programs we as customers receive benefits and incentives to enroll and participate. Most if not all of us are part of some loyalty program whether it’s with a clothing store such as GAP or Express or with a music “store” such as I-Tunes with promotional music downloads or with another online or brick and mortar store. From these programs we receive pieces of direct mail marketing from postcards to catalogs reminding us of an upcoming sale and coupons with our billing statements or at the stores at the point of purchase. If you pay close attention to most of these programs, companies carefully designed them to create relationships with consumers. For instance, during seasons of high consumption levels (i.e. Christmas, Valentine’s Day) companies send out many coupons and brochures to have you come and “save” with their products. Some companies go way beyond the average coupon; some will provide extra benefits, bonuses, or special treatment to their enrolled customers. For example, with American Airline’s popular frequent flier mileage program, not only do their customers receive frequent flier miles but they also have the options for upgrades and special treatments on their flights. As we become more and more involved with different companies and their reward programs, our expectations will continue to increase raising the bar for many companies to continue to be innovative and to meet the high standards.
Value for the company. For many companies, execution of these loyalty programs are low in cost and high in benefits; related to the assumptions of creating the customer experience framework, when companies provide value through the programs customers will be willing to make more purchases resulting in higher sales and profits. In addition, higher sales mean more consumer data for the companies, and this will result in more information about their customers and their purchasing behaviors. Finding out more information about customers allows the companies to not only improve their products but to create opportunities to build relationship with them. Thus building long term relationships will hopefully create long term customer loyalty. However, even though the companies may receive many benefits and successes from these programs, they MUST continue to build relationship with customers through other elements such as customer service and quality and pricing of products.

Online Customer Experience – The Travelocity Guarantee

There are a couple of articles related to my topic from the class readings; my topic is about the popular online travel agent, Travelocity. I will analyze and assess their current strategies to provide their online customer experience through the concepts and theories we have learned in class.
The reading “Framework for Managing Customer Experience” by Bernd Schmitt details the different Strategic Experiential Modules companies can use for their products and services to build an “experience” for their customers. It explains how companies appeal to their market by creating a marketing campaign and experience through the five different SEMs (feel, sense, act, think, and relate). The reading also includes how these modules are created through the experience provides such as communication, people, web sites and email, and etc. Utilizing these tools will be helpful in building and managing a successful customer experience for any company.
Likewise, the reading “The Executive Guide: An Organization Roadmap for Your Customers.com Initiatives” features the different steps to build and implement a .com program in e-commerce for the company. The steps begin from focusing the company’s vision and putting into action, internal controls (i.e. targeting, strategy, and etc) to improving the processes continuously to keep up with the changes. The process of this initiative also focuses on the customer and how to improve their experience through interactions and analysis of data that can be collected from the websites and other online activities. The reading also notes that it’s not just about the website or just about the customer but rather to create the in-depth analysis and reform of the websites from these analyses.
Today, technology seems to be a necessity in any type of business, in fact, it seems companies are transitioning into “clicks companies” (i.e. Blockbuster) and many businesses are launched on the Internet without a physical location (i.e. Amazon.com, EBay). However, how do any of these companies stay alive and continue? As we have seen after the 2000 dot com boom and failures, most businesses only see the quick fixes and enthusiasm associated with the Internet. Therefore, in order to become successful companies must develop a program and process that builds customer experiences and create loyalty like a “bricks company”. The strategic goals are the same whether or not you are an Internet company or a company with a website.
Travelocity is one of the leading online travel agent/guide companies today; their marketing strategies and low-cost products attract millions of customers to purchase and interact with their online website. They build customer experience through not only specific SEMs and experience providers but other important tools that include the user-friendliness of the website as well. I have been a satisfied Travelocity customer for the past three years and have seen some of the changes that over the years created an overall customer experience. I frequently compare Travelocity to some of its competitors like Expedia and Orbitz but always come back to Travelocity because of their low prices and my relationship with them. Through this research and analysis I hope to learn more about the company and their strategies for customer experience and building loyal relationships.
Sources:
1. “Framework for Managing Customer Experience” by Bernd Schmitt
http://reserves.lib.utexas.edu/eres/documentview.aspx?cid=2904&associd=70931
2. “The Executive Guide: An Organization Roadmap for Your Customers.com Initiatives”
http://reserves.lib.utexas.edu/eres/documentview.aspx?cid=2904&associd=70934