Time for transformation
I’ve been absent… and for a while now. I could give you the usual ‘I’ve been super busy‘ cop-out of an answer, but I won’t. The reality is, life just kept getting in the way. Between wrapping up the last of my freelance projects, returning to full-time employment and the migration and re-build of Spilling…
The anatomy of an ad: Turkish Airlines
With all the geo-political problems Turkey has encountered in the last year, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that Turkish Airlines would roll-out yet another brand campaign fronted by a superstar celebrity to attempt to pull in the tourist dollars. Case in point, the latest outing with the all too predictable ‘Widen Your World’…
Hotels Strike Back: why OTAs are no longer in the drivers seat
As we stride into February, we’re starting to see which of the big hospitality marketing trends predicted for 2017 are beginning to stick. We’ve debated the effectiveness of interacting with guests via mobile-based chat bots, whether we should be increasing marketing spend with digital influencers and have been excited about the potential of VR experiences….
Improving the travel brand experience with guest surveys
For companies operating in service-oriented industries, surveys can provide the means to better understand traveller needs, help improve service levels and gain insight into how to refine the guest experience. The usefulness of the data collected is usually determined by two factors: how seriously the survey’s results are taken within the organization, and how committed…
Battle of the Tourist Boards: the winners and losers at WTM 2016
Earlier this month, World Travel Market (WTM) London 2016 wrapped up to much fanfare. Billed as the most successful WTM to date, over 51,000 attendees packed into the London Excel, to meet with the largest number of exhibitors and buyers ever recorded throughout the show’s 37-year history. I attended multiple days of the show to…
The Travel Tech startups treading new ground
The flagship event of the annual tourism calendar, World Travel Market (WTM) once again arrived in London this week, and the event statistics are staggering. In its 37th year, the 2016 edition is expected to bring together in excess of 50,000 travel professionals, including industry representatives from over 5,000 exhibitors, covering 182 countries and territories….
Accel Partners announces Top 100 most promising European SaaS startups – we’re on it!
OK, so this is a shameless piece of promotion for Cloud 66, but I’m super proud we got a mention so massive props to the team. Last week, Philippe Botteri of Accel Partners – one of the leading global VC firms specializing in early phase and growth stage startups, published the ‘Accel EuroScape’ hot list. Taking a comprehensive look at over…
How to build the right Marketing team
I was recently asked my thoughts on what to look for when building a Marketing team. While there are countless attributes that should be considered when deciding on a hiring strategy (role objectives, person specification, needs gap, organizational hierarchy, company trajectory, et al), my personal tip would be to focus on two aspects of your…
London Tech Week, BREXIT and a European startup capital no more?
London’s tech startup scene is regularly touted as a more cosmopolitan version of its rivals across the pond, said to benefit from access to a much larger, more diversified and less expensive talent pool. And so the third installation of London Technology Week was once again a showcase for London’s tech sector – estimated to…
Why ‘Call a Swede’ is the best example of Tourism Marketing out there today
An intrepid traveller since I was a toddler, those who know me well will be familiar with my long-standing fascination with all things travel related. Thanks in part to my degree program, I spent the beginning part of my professional career getting intimately acquainted with the Tourism industry. And even though my professional pursuits have…