Travel Reference
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mode of product differentiation is no longer sustainable. New emergent models must realign
to consider how best to maximize returns by serving consumers' technological needs. At a
minimum, marketers must deliver distribution systems which are fast, reliable and open the doors
for consumers to fl ex their individual muscles, facilitating the 'self-designed' holiday. Hilton is
among those operators who place this as high priority having devised an app for the iPhone
which allows guests to manage their bookings in their increasingly mobile worlds. But some
marketers are being more technologically adventurous than others, examples include hotels
which use in-room technology to enhance the consumer experience, such as windows that turn
into televisions, beds that rock guests to sleep and fl oors that light up when walked on in the
dark. Also, Virtual Reality technology is being used by some destinations to beam destination
images direct to the home, providing sustainable and cheap ways of seeing protected destinations
(Guttentag 2010).
These are perhaps visions of a more distant future but for now a tourist industry that lags
behind others in wooing their markets digitally must focus on harnessing the immense opportu-
nities to build lasting relationships. Bonds can be now created and maintained with large cus-
tomer bases at a fraction of the cost and labour-intensity. As such companies are beginning to
utilize search-based advertising via the online platform and are also initiating 'word-of-mouth' or
indeed 'word-of-net' based presence to stimulate buzz, interest and hyperbole via blogs, discus-
sion forums and tourist communities as new and more relevant ways to replace mass advertising.
Consumers can then become advocates, true ambassadors and endorsers of the brand.
The concept of the infl uential consumer has taken on a whole new level of importance.
It can be argued that infl uential consumers have become the true gatekeepers of success for
fi rms. The biggest shift powered by the digital lever is that the average consumer has become
the new storyteller, and digital experiences are becoming more important to an empowered
consumer, who now has more options than ever before. Consumer generated marketing via
blogs, discussion forums or indeed Youtube reviews and testimonials reviewed in previous
chapters of this volume is the most revolutionary concept in marketing for a long time. As the
role of trust and source credibility becomes heightened in consumer decision making, bias
free reviews and recommendations will carry great infl uence in generating awareness and
facilitating consumer choice of tourism choice alternatives. Consumer generated marketing is a
fact of life to which all of us will have to adapt. Consumers are then gaining more and more
control, brand 'authority' is diminished and consumers are becoming increasingly empowered to
create and tailor the product themselves, such that it is the consumer who now owns the brand
(Deloitte LLP 2010).
Evolutions and revolutions in tourism branding
Brands have become omnipresent in today's marketplace. Consumers have become accustomed
to using brands as essential guides to help navigate an over-cluttered multiple-choice, multiple-
destination, multiple-experience world in which we live. Brands have historically facilitated
short cuts in consumer decision making, allowing consumers to develop decision making
heuristics, reducing time and effort by identifying reputable and trusted sources of consumer
value. Within the tourism arena, destinations, travel companies, accommodation, food and
entertainment providers alike have all adopted traditional product-based approaches to brand
development and marketing, with particular brand dimensions and personality traits highlighted
and exaggerated in advertising claims.
Tourism operators have sought to position their brands distinctively in the hearts and minds
of their target audiences, thus facilitating the development and maintenance of the brand tribe
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