Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Newco Launch - Viral & Pr Campaign Ideas Needed!

Posted by Frank on 7/21/2005 at 5:36 PM ET 150 Points
Travelwatch
‘Reliable Recommendations – Preferred Pricing’
GENERAL BACKGROUND YOU’LL NEED
I know... an overpopulated sector however, I will be launching travelwatch.ca (TW) in the next 3 weeks or so. TW is a Canadian online travel website with on/off-line booking capabilities to selected companies and products. TW provides services in the form of a community moderated by myself and aimed at consumers who travel and wish to contribute comments back from a distinctively Canadian perspective.
The tone will be personal, productive, and ‘Blog-like’ and contain regular editorials from me, positioned as a long time industry veteran and knowledgeable traveller.

THE DIFFERENCE
TW’s uniqueness lies in providing its customers, in a more personal manner, access to the direct-to-supplier channel providing arguably the lowest prices in the market. Additionally, it collects and catalogues hotel and destination info & comments from its customers and myself (extensive industry background and high-volume traveller).

TW is not a travel agency and does not seek commissions. It is an online recommendation engine. Its revenues will be generated by providing selected, non competitive travel suppliers highly qualified sales-leads for a fee. Sales leads are generated through state of the art travel search engines that generate qualified customers and documentation fulfilment is provided by the supplier.

My Question:
Travelwatch plans to market itself online through Google et al, affiliate relationships with corporate travel accounts and viral marketing efforts. My budget is skimpy (self financed) therefore I would like to create word of mouth excitement from consumer’s directly and through Press Releases that get read and printed.
I’ve thought of including a small very funny video clip with the press release, another idea was to give consumers a free music track download but I’m sure that gets pretty pricey. I have been racking my brains trying to think of a way to leverage a non competitive industry that is happy to give their product away for free in return for exposure – downloadable booklets, free/shareware?????

Any ideas along this line or a totally fresh outlook would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
cheers
Frank
PS: Can’t send you the URL; the techies still have it!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by michael on 7/21/2005 at 6:33 PM Member
    Frank,
    Take a look at www.travlang.com. They're a translation service but they have a WOD newsletter that might be good to tag onto.

    What might be "fun" is to have a tally sheet (similar to the website survey/voting) where people could enter the number of airline miles they have in their accounts. They don't have to specify which airline but they would have to register their e-mail. Your techies could then have a java script of the space shuttle flying around the earth eating away at the miles people have just entered.

    Like the old MCI tally boards, it'll never get to 0!

    Michael
  • Posted on 7/21/2005 at 6:34 PM Member
    Question #1: Have you talked with the people to whom you will refer the qualified leads? If so, perhaps they would help you market the site ... either by providing links and including the site in their promotions, or by giving you enough money to do a decent job of getting people to visit the website.

    Question #2: Have you prepared a business plan that shows how much revenue you'll need to generate to payout the start-up costs? This doesn't sound like an instant winner, so you better be sure the numbers work.

    Question #3: Have you thought about how you might narrow your target audience to the really prime prospects? You'd be better served doing a GREAT job with a narrow target audience than a mediocre job with a large audience, and it will probably cost you less.

    One of the unfortunate things about new businesses is that the odds are stacked against them. And the main reason most new businesses fail is that they are undercaptialized. If you don't have a significant war chest to get the business off the ground, you can save yourself a lot of aggravation (and money) by quitting while you are ahead (or at least not too far behind).

    You should probably plan to spend at least 50% of gross revenue on marketing, virtually all of it before you see a dollar of income from operations.

    I hate to be the one to throw cold water on your baby, but in the long run I'm probably doing a bigger favor than if I gave you three good ideas for viral marketing. And, by the way, viral marketing isn't free either. PR people have families to feed, and they have the skills and contacts you'll need.

    I wish you well, but I'm very nervous for you. Starting a self-funded business is very, very difficult and risky (as you must know). And the difference between a professionally planned and executed marketing campaign and a seat-of-the-pants one is enormous -- often the difference between success and failure.

    Maybe others here will be more optimistic than I am. I've just seen too many underfunded businesses fail, and I'd love to save you from that pain.
  • Posted by Frank on 7/21/2005 at 6:53 PM Author
    Michael,
    thanks for the airline miles idea, Ill keep it in mind!
    Frank
  • Posted by Frank on 7/21/2005 at 7:05 PM Author
    mgoodman,
    q1: All of this is already done & funded.
    q2:BP done and graduated growth is planned.
    q3: This is a good idea although the products i use are mass market and there's really no niche that I can immediately identify but Ill give this some more thought.

    Perhaps in my note I came across a bit pie in the sky but rest assured that the product, presentation and supplier base are professional and TW is adequately funded.
    Marketing budget/expense are in my mind separate from creatuivity which is what I was after in my note.
    Thanks for your thoughts and the time you put into the e-mail.
    regards,
    Frank
  • Posted on 7/21/2005 at 7:11 PM Member
    Frank:

    Interesting concept, not particularly new, but could find a place amongst the crowd…provided you establish a unique voice and service. I like your idea of affiliates, but what are you offering them in return. Usually affiliates get a cut of the sale, not sure how you’d figure that. You might pay for click-thrus, which would encourage people to put a link on their website. I’m a budding travel writer myself and might be interested in being a contributor, paid would be nice, but exposure is as important at this stage of my career. You need a product which sets you apart, not a gimmick. Maybe a custom designed ebook about getting the most from your travel dollar with a liberal peppering of how your website would help with this.

    In viral marketing strategies, a few people tell (usually by email) others and so on until you have a vast army of referrals and visitors to your site. Why would they come back? Once is not enough for a travel site, you’ve got to keep them returning. Also, your tagline…‘Reliable Recommendations – Preferred Pricing’…does not reflect the “personal” and “blog-like” feel you mention. How about something like, travelers watching out for each other, TravelWatch, Canada’s Premier Site for the Savvy Traveler?

    Thanks, Debi Brady
    Travel Journalist and Consultant
  • Posted by Frank on 7/22/2005 at 9:55 AM Author
    Hi Debi,
    Tks for the constructive email.
    I had thought of the ebook idea but short of writing one myself (no time); I’m not sure where to find one. Your questions regarding affiliates, you’re right, there will be some rev-share and as far as why people would come back, it will (should) be because of unique pricing (this is mostly a charter market like UK, its easier to compete in packaged holidays than in US mostly air+hotel market) and because of fresh comments on hotels.
    I’ve had others tell me my tag line is uninspired. Thanks for the ideas, I'll play with them. As far as your writing, I'll email you separately on the matter.
    Thanks again,
    Best
    frank
  • Posted by Frank on 7/25/2005 at 11:06 AM Author
    Thanks Shelly, I know Mr. Rosen's work but I'll have another peek.
    Can you kindly contact me directly, I have a question for you.
    best
    frank
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