Travel and leisure

Cruising, clicking and calling for customers

The travel and leisure industry continues to see significant changes in the way consumers research and book their vacations and travel. In today’s online world, consumer travel has become commoditized and often is shopped based on price, rather than the service model that helped distinguish providers in the past. In some cases, consumers are basing purchase decisions on rankings and feedback from other travelers, adding complexity to providers’ reputations, brand management and ultimately, the sales process.

As a result, industry providers have had to adjust their marketing strategies — and quickly. The mantra of knowing your customer hasn’t changed, but the way you understand who they are, what they want and how to reach them has. Careful targeting and engagement strategies are essential for those wanting to capture their share of this $300-billion-plus industry.

Who are your customers?Whether you are selling exclusively online or online with a brick-and-mortar presence, you probably have a list of customers who have done business with you in the past. Your first step is to have a single repository of your customer data, so you can begin to analyze it and understand who your best customers are.

Using Experian Marketing Services’ ConsumerViewSM database, you can get a 360-degree view of your customers and answer questions like: Do your services appeal more to men than women? What is the average age of your customers?

What else do they have in common? ConsumerView has information on 299 million Americans in 116 million households and can help you understand your best customers and how they like to shop.

Experian’s Mosaic® USA profiling tool adds another layer of insight by helping you to understand the lifestyle and life stage of your best customers. Perhaps your services will attract Kids and Cabernet or Couples with Clout, just two of the 71 segments available. Lifestyle segmentation can help you further target your marketing

efforts and help deliver your best campaign results.

With these insights, you would know that residents of the San Francisco area are 2.1 times more likely to have a passport than Memphis-area residents (62 percent versus 29 percent).*

This kind of keen knowledge can help you target the right offers to the right people at the right time.

Integrate online insights to create and reach high value customer segmentsThe online world can be complex, but with the right tools, you can gain a wealth of knowledge into the behaviors of your best customers. Guessing how consumers, such as women or families, research and buy online can be a costly assumption for marketers. By integrating online behavioral insights from Experian Hitwise into your customer profiles and segments you can understand, engage and convert high value segments where, when and how they buy travel services.

Experian Hitwise delivers daily insights from the world’s largest sample of online consumer behavior to help you increase the effectiveness of your

marketing campaigns. Consider the three distinct visitors, Dana, Jenny and Kristen, described on the next page. Understanding each unique profile enables you to execute targeted offers via search, email, partner, social and display campaigns – and speak to the travel interests of each visitor segment.

With Hitwise, you know how consumers search, shop and buy your products and services and those of your competitors. This information is invaluable for creating relevant content and offers, and staying ahead of emerging or changing market trends.

“Hitwise provides competitive information that allows Delta to analyze trends and quickly determine changes in the online marketplace.” Francis Lavelle Manager, Web Analytics

Did you know: 40% of Americans say shopping is one of their favorite vacation activities (after sightseeing (57%) and going to the beach (41%).

200

150

100

250

Mosaic segments — Previous cruise customers (Have taken a cruise ship vacation in the last 3 years)

Group A: Power Elite — The wealthiest households in the U.S., living in the most exclusive neighborhoods, and enjoying all that life has to offer

Group C: Booming with Confidence — Prosperous, established couples in their peak earning years living in suburban homes

Group H: Middle-class Melting Pot — Mid-scale, middle-aged and established couples living in suburban and fringe homes

Group Q: Golden Year Guardians — Retirees living in settled residences and communities

Finding more of your best customersOnce you have identified who your best customers are, increase your reach by finding others like them offline and online. For cruise lines, knowing that the Mosaic profile Booming with Confidence is a segment that loves cruise vacations, you can then target those individuals with timely, relevant

messages and offers when they are in-market for your products and services.

Experian® Marketing Services brings your customer segments into focus, enabling smart marketing decisions that drive results. With a clear understanding of customers, plus easy-to-implement applications, marketers can harness

key insights, improve marketing campaign performance and enhance customer loyalty.

We can help you market forward using the largest and most inclusive repository of consumer information available today.

Understanding these differences allows marketers to tailor advertisements and communications in real time and ultimately drive purchases.

Kristen

Jenny

DanaProfessional

• Adventure• Last-minute deals

• Kid-friendly• Planned in advance

• Low-hassle trips• Guided tours

35 0

Professional 35 3

Professional 65 Grown

Income

What you know about your site visitors today

Career Age Kids Travelpreference

?

Knowing who is visiting your website and delivering the right messageWith thousands of visitors coming to your website, how do you know what they are looking for? Serve an ad for an adventure cruise to a parent looking for children’s programs and you may lose that customer. With real-time data enrichment, you can deliver the right message to the right customer at the right moment.

Consider three customers visiting your website. They are all women with similar income levels, and they are all working professionals. If that is all you know about them, you might be tempted

to deliver the same ad to each visitor. Using Experian® QAS®, you can enrich visitor and customer data in real time to better understand and target each individual.

Following the example listed above, Experian QAS can tell you that Dana is a 35-year-old woman without kids, likes a good deal and is available for last-minute travel. Her interests lean toward adventure travel. Jenny also is 35 years old but has three children, and adventure is the last

thing she wants. Send her a message around programs designed to entertain young children so mom can get a pedicure and you may have a customer for life. Lastly, although Kristen initially appeared to be similar to Dana and Jenny, but she is 65 years old, her children are grown and she is looking for guided tours and good buffets.

Lastly, although Kristen initially appeared to be similar to Dana and Jenny, she is 65 years old. Her children are grown and she is looking for guided tours and good buffets.

Did you know: 12% of U.S. adults are planning on taking a cruise in the next year*.

Driving occupancyWhether you are trying to fill hotel rooms, cabins on a cruise ship or seats on a plane, vacancies impact your bottom line. Finding and targeting the right individuals with an offer that will drive conversions is paramount. Using fact-based data is your tool to elevate your marketing campaigns and improve return on investment.

Whether you deliver your messages through mobile, social, display, in the mail or via Experian CheetahMail, Experian Marketing Services can help you better understand your customers and their buying behaviors, and increase your marketing effectiveness and results.

.00%

.05%

.10%

.15%

.20%

.25%

.30%

.35%

.40%

May

2012

Mar

ch 20

12

Januar

y 201

2

Novem

ber 20

11

Septe

mber

2011

July

2011

May

2011

Mar

ch 20

11

Januar

y 201

1

Nobemve

r 201

0

Septe

mber

2010

July

2010

May

2010

Mar

ch 20

10

Januar

y 201

0

Novem

ber 20

09

Septe

mber

2009

July

2009

May

2009

OTAs

.29%

.20%

.10%

.029%

.029%

Airlines Accommodations Cruises Car rentals

Consumer visits to travel sites have increased significantly in the past 3 years.

Market share of visits to travel segments — Monthly Share of Visits to Travel Sites

OTAs +9%

Airlines +31%

Hotel Suppliers +36%

Car Rentals +24%

Cruises +44%

Did you know: 31% of Americans booked travel online last year and 7% used a travel agent*.

For more information on travel and leisure contact your local Experian sales representative or call 1 800 850 4389.

*According to Experian Marketing Services SimmonsSM National Consumer Study

© 2012 Experian Information Solutions, Inc. • All rights reserved

Experian and the Experian marks used herein are service marks or registered trademarks of Experian Information Solutions, Inc.

Other product and company names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Experian is a nonexclusive full-service provider licensee of the United States Postal Service®. The following trademarks are owned by the United States Postal Service®: ZIP+4 and ZIP Code. The price for Experian’s services is not established, controlled or approved by the United States Postal Service.

07/2012

Experian Marketing Services955 American LaneSchaumburg, IL 601731 800 850 4389www.experian.com/marketingservices