• The new tool will combine the group’s first-party data and cutting-edge ad technology
• Travel Portland will be one of the first brands to pilot the product
London: lastminute.com group announced the launch of its customer insights capabilities in Europe. Operated by its media business, The Travel People, Travel Insights will give both travel and out-of-sector brands the opportunity to target customers with surveys within ad formats, both on- and off-site.
Travel Insights will use the group’s rich first-party data and partnerships with key third-party data providers to provide brands with unique and valuable insights about their customers.
The service offers a fully compliant*, quick turnaround alternative for brands looking to inform their marketing campaigns with rich consumer insight. The gamified surveys will be hosted in standard IAB formats, and will use the group’s first-party data and its cutting-edge programmatic ad stack to identify audiences and serve questions to them.
Commenting on the new product, Alessandra Di Lorenzo, Chief Commercial Officer – Media and Partnerships at lastminute.com group, said: “Since launching The Travel People last summer, we’ve been working hard to add new capabilities that can support a range of activities for our customers. Our 43 million users across Europe means we have a wealth of consumer insight, so why not help our brand partners make the most of this first-party data and get to know their customers better?”
Brands looking to run Travel Insights ad surveys will be offered a fully customisable service, and in-house data analysts will interpret the aggregated data to provide clients with visual and actionable insights.
As the tool will be priced based on advertising metrics, it will offer a far more affordable, accessible and scalable solution than traditional market research services. Consumers who complete the surveys will be entered into prize draws, incentivising customers to share their views with brand partners.
Di Lorenzo added: “Integrating our ad technology into the product means we can scale it quickly and cost-efficiently, while our in-house trading team allows us to extend the surveys across the whole web. It’s hugely exciting to bring such an innovative product onto the market and transform the way research is carried out”.
Travel Portland, the destination marketing organisation for the city of Portland, Oregon, is one of the first organisations to pilot the Insights tool. Travel Portland will be using a survey to provide greater insight into the demographic of potential UK travellers to Portland and to inform its future strategy to increase the 2.5 million UK visitors Portland welcomed to the city in 2016.
Billie Moser, Vice President of International Tourism at Travel Portland, said: “Gaining valuable consumer insight is a key way to inform our brand strategy. We were looking to do so in a new and exciting way to see what else we might learn about our customers, so partnering with lastminute.com group to pilot their Insights product was a no-brainer for us – we’re really looking forward to seeing the results.”
The product was developed following the group’s acquisition of WAYN, the world’s largest social travel network, which used similar technology to gather over 25 million user-generated ideas to enhance its content offering.
Peter Ward, CEO of WAYN, added: “Our experience building a similar product at WAYN was invaluable when it came to bringing Travel Insights to life. We’re really excited to offer a similar proposition at lastminute.com group and delighted to pilot the product with Travel Portland to help inform their research needs.”
*The Travel People, lastminute.com group’s new media business is accredited by the Market Research Society as a Company Partner, and its Travel Insights product was developed in accordance with the professional body’s code of conduct.
About lastminute.com group
lastminute.com group is among the worldwide leaders in the online travel industry and operates a portfolio of well-known brands such as lastminute.com, Bravofly, Rumbo, Volagratis and Jetcost. Every year, more than 10 million travellers book and manage their travel and leisure experiences through the Group’s websites and mobile apps in 17 languages and across 40 countries. The mission of lastminute.com group is to be an inspiring travel company enriching the lives of travellers through smart technology and cutting-edge content. lastminute.com NV is a publicly traded company listed under the ticker symbol LMN on SIX Swiss Exchange.
