Mar
19
Interesting article fell into my mailbox this morning.
Interview with man from Google
The question about "predicting user perference" caught my attention. Not least because the following words formed part of the answer:
"The biggest unsolved problem therefore becomes this: how can we reduce the time to perfect fulfillment of the users’ online travel needs?"
I'm interpreting this (and forgive me if I've misinterpreted what's being said) as: "The biggest problem is working out what people need".
And I need to ask what is for me an obvious question. Who is running your marketing?
Interview with man from Google
The question about "predicting user perference" caught my attention. Not least because the following words formed part of the answer:
"The biggest unsolved problem therefore becomes this: how can we reduce the time to perfect fulfillment of the users’ online travel needs?"
I'm interpreting this (and forgive me if I've misinterpreted what's being said) as: "The biggest problem is working out what people need".
And I need to ask what is for me an obvious question. Who is running your marketing?
According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the purpose of marketing is as follows:
"Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably"
Basic stuff folks.
- Identify customer requirements
- Anticipate customer requirements
- Satisfy customer requirements
- Make money by supplying customers with their requirements
These are fundamental disciplines EVERY business needs to engage in.
The man from Google is quite right. Working out what people want is a huge challenge. But it is dealt with by applying (offline) basic marketing techniques. Of course, most hotels are quite unprepared to PAY for this work to be done.
The man from Google appears to be saying that people need to find well structured offers when they are searching for them.
If I turn that the other way round - am I to understand that people aren't finding well presented and packaged offers? Or if they do, there is some sort of delay in fulfillment?
The former doesn't surprise me - hotel marketing is littered with promotions that focus on the hotel, not the customer.
Is the man from Google really saying - "come on guys, you need to start working out what people want to buy and when they want to buy it".
It strikes me that online tools like Facebook, the various services of Google, Twitter and whatever else you can find might be useful in working out what people want.
But until you embrace the need to work out what people want - and identify how you're going to do it - you can squander a lot of hard earned cash on the internet.
"Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably"
Basic stuff folks.
- Identify customer requirements
- Anticipate customer requirements
- Satisfy customer requirements
- Make money by supplying customers with their requirements
These are fundamental disciplines EVERY business needs to engage in.
The man from Google is quite right. Working out what people want is a huge challenge. But it is dealt with by applying (offline) basic marketing techniques. Of course, most hotels are quite unprepared to PAY for this work to be done.
The man from Google appears to be saying that people need to find well structured offers when they are searching for them.
If I turn that the other way round - am I to understand that people aren't finding well presented and packaged offers? Or if they do, there is some sort of delay in fulfillment?
The former doesn't surprise me - hotel marketing is littered with promotions that focus on the hotel, not the customer.
Is the man from Google really saying - "come on guys, you need to start working out what people want to buy and when they want to buy it".
It strikes me that online tools like Facebook, the various services of Google, Twitter and whatever else you can find might be useful in working out what people want.
But until you embrace the need to work out what people want - and identify how you're going to do it - you can squander a lot of hard earned cash on the internet.
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