Laffitte Conseil

Internet Keeps Young People Upbeat

Young people age 13 to 24 today are generally very happy and optimistic about the future, according to an MTV-Associated Press study conducted by Knowledge Networks in April 2007.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were happy with the way things were going in their lives in general, and 62% thought they would be even happier in the future. Only one-fifth said they were unhappy.

"Nearly two-thirds of the young people surveyed said they think that the Internet, instant messaging, cell phones and other technologies make people happier, and 61% said those things make them feel closer to their family," said eMarketer senior analyst Debra Aho Williamson. "You simply cannot separate young people from technology; it is part of who they are."

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Business Blogging Still Rare

Only 5% of UK corporations use blogs on a regular basis, according to the WebTrends-commissioned "Marketing in the Dark" report, conducted by Loudhouse Research in January 2007.

WebTrends contrasted this finding with the 85% of marketers who thought an effective Web presence was important in achieving sales and marketing objectives.

"Blogging is much more than a 'nice to have' in business today," said Nick Sharp, vice president and general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at WebTrends, in a statement. "Corporate blogs can be very effective communication tools within or on behalf of a corporate community."

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Online `booking stress` may fuel a travel agent resurgence

A recent SideStep survey of 1744 UK adults, found that 50% of people consider booking travel online to be ‘stressful’. The biggest contributing factors were; too many options, anxiety over sourcing the best deal, researching  destinations and finding the time to do the research.

Take heed global travel suppliers hurrying to drive customers to online portals, and aspiring to cut out the middle man. Presumably the percentage experiencing ‘booking stress’ will only grow, as more suppliers opt for the direct sales model and push their online offerings.

Could booking stress play a key role in re-establishing the traditional high street travel retailer as a preferred booking method, rather than online direct?

Across Europe companies are investing massive amounts in online marketing, hoping to capture some of the estimated €46.8 billion spent in Europe purchasing travel online this year (EyeforTravel Research). But the stress element could cause the pendulum to swing back in favour of traditional travel agencies, rendering increasingly cluttered and competitive online sales channels redundant.

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Voyages : que représentent les achats en ligne ?

n 2006, le volume d'affaires des réservations de voyages sur le Net a progressé de 35 % en France, atteignant 4,2 milliards d'euros selon Benchmark Group. Les ventes en ligne ont ainsi continué à progresser et représentent désormais plus de 10 % du marché touristique (voyages, transport, hôtellerie).

Six mois plus tard, à l’approche de l’été, quel est le comportement d’achat des internautes ? Réservent-ils massivement en ligne ou mixent-ils les canaux de distribution ? Quels types de prestation achètent-ils le plus facilement sur Internet ? Le Web joue-t-il un rôle de prescripteur ? Et quels sont les sites de voyages les plus visités ?

Le point en chiffres avec le baromètre Fevad-Médiamétrie//NetRatings.

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A blue AirAsia enters Vietnam

AirAsia in Vietnam, set to take flight in July next year, will tap on the huge potential of Vietnam's population base of 84 million and the country's proximity to China, said group executive officer Dato' Tony Fernandes.

The Malaysian low cost carrier celebrated the country's 50th year of independence on August 31 by inking a deal with Vietnam's state-owned corporation, Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin), to set up the new frills-free carrier.

The new frills-free carrier, to be known as Vina AirAsia in Vietnam, is expected to be operational in July 2008.

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Only 22% trust advice from travel companies

Online travel sites can no long rely on market growth to boost sales and must optimise their customer experience to secure travel bookings.

That's the view of the boss of a digital consultancy which commissioned a survey showing that 85% of people plan to research or book online in the next 12 months and 40% of respondents did not to visit a travel agent in the last two years.

The study revealed that 67% of online British holidaymakers intend to conduct most or all of their travel planning online next year, while only 4% will avoid the internet for travel purposes in the next 12 months with 11% unsure.

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China Inches Toward a Million IPTV Users

The total number of Internet protocol television users in China reached 736,000 in the second quarter of 2007, according to Analysys International's "China IPTV Market Quarterly Tracker Q2 2007."

That represents a 20.3% increase over the first quarter of 2007.

Henan, Shanghai and Heilongjiang were the top three IPTV regions, with more than 100,000 users each.

UTStarcom, Vcom and ZTE were the top three vendors in the market, with 43%, 40% and 13% market shares, respectively.

Users will also pay a one-time fee for some content

Times are good for ad-supported online content. YouTube has put transparent ads on the bottom one-fifth of videos from its content partners. And The Wall Street Journal, one of the few paid-content success stories, is considering making its online version free.

Most consumers think that viewing ads in exchange for quality content is fair, according to IBM's "The End of Advertising" report, published in August 2007. More than six in 10 consumers IBM surveyed said they preferred ad-supported online content, while 28% preferred paying for ad-free media.

However, "don't expect consumers to spend incrementally on different devices," said Bill Battino, study co-author and communications sector managing partner at IBM Global Business Services, in a Brandweek interview. "People want to pay for content once and then move it" to whatever device they like.

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Top 10 Challenging Questions to Ask Your Internet Marketing Vendor

Important considerations before hiring an Internet marketing company in hospitality

The Internet has become the main distribution channel in hospitality—over 2/3 of all hotel bookings in the US will be directly influenced by the Internet this year.  Understandably, Internet marketing has become a priority for many hoteliers who are shifting advertising dollars to the online world from traditional media and GDS advertising.  This rush forward may have come at a cost to hoteliers who rely on professional marketers to sort out this dynamic and highly complicated landscape of Internet marketing. This article is not about avoiding snake oil salesmen and Internet hucksters – those should be self evident – it’s about asking the tough questions when evaluating Internet marketers who will be in charge of managing your most important revenue channel.

Background

Online advertising set a new record of $4.9 billion for the first quarter of 2007, an increase above the record breaking $4.8 billion for the final quarter of 2006, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC).  Travel is repeatedly cited as one of the fastest growing revenue generating categories online. According to PhoCusWright, 60% of all travel in North America will be sold over the Internet in 2008. With such a growth in online revenues, how prepared is your online marketing vendor in managing the online budget and growing your direct online distribution strategy?

Everyone Wants a Slice of the Pie

Old-fashioned advertising agencies, interactive agencies, website designers, booking engine vendors, SEO firms, website hosting and maintenance companies, even PR firms have all proclaimed themselves to be Internet marketing gurus in hospitality. Web design shops that are facing stiff competition have moved toward Internet marketing. Online booking engine vendors have expanded their repertoire into Internet marketing. Web masters, computer programmers, and outsourced firms from overseas are drawn toward the world of online marketing in hospitality.

The mix of new comers and old companies who now do “all things Internet” has resulted in a lot of over-promising, under-delivering, burnt hotel budgets, and increasingly frustrated hotel owners and operators. This is not an issue of competition. It is about core competencies, quality and credibility which affect the hospitality industry as a whole.

Too often HeBS inherits damaged clients whose budgets and online efforts were destroyed by self-proclaimed experts, or by firms who have no business playing in the online hotel marketing arena.

So, the next time your PR agency, booking engine vendor or in-room Internet access provider offers to manage your search marketing, be cautious and do your research.

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Young Adults Prefer Web to TV

Over three-quarters of people ages 16 to 29 worldwide would rather live without TV than without the Internet, according to New Paradigm's "Global Net Generation Survey." The survey was online-only, which may partially explain the marked preference. It was conducted in April and May 2007 in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, China, Japan and India.

Nearly nine in 10 16-to-29-year-olds in China said they would rather forgo TV than the Internet. In the US, 77% preferred the Internet, while 23% would take TV if forced to choose.

About three-quarters of all respondents said that if a firm made untrue promises in its advertising, they would tell their friends not to buy from that company.

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