Getting it right with Mr and Mrs Right

Case Study time at the TFM&A conference in London today. And travel is an obvious area where CRM can work wonders.

Customers tend to book their holidays at the same time of year, each year, according to TUI Travel, with January and June still the twin peaks in the cycle.

Its e-CRM manager Louise Kendall says Thomson – still the UK's biggest holiday brand – is using this business-wide finding to timetable campaigns targeted as previous bookers.

Customer retention is becoming increasingly important for travel businesses, as promiscuous consumers put it about, loving and leaving suppliers because there are so many seats and beds around.

So, why should someone settle for Mr/Mrs Right now, when we're confident that Mr/Mrs Right will always come along?

Thomson will email you a year after your booking, gently reminding you that they are still around and interested, if you are.

A week later, there will be a more determined approach - emotional blackmail might be a bit strong, but there is an attempt to pull on our heart strings – if not purse strings – by featuring images and videos, reminding us of that great time we had together last year, and how easy it would be for that to happen it again…

Personalization of emails is nothing new - it is doubtful that there are any online travel businesses sending out the same email to its entire database.

Mark Brennan, MD of Thomson's email partner CreatorMail makes the distinction between a generic email blast and an e-trading platform – once email products are instilled into the fabric of an organisation and resources made available, you can create an emotional bond with the recipient, turning the email into a cost-effective marketing device, rather than a trash-can item waiting to happen.

[NB: TFM&A has obviously done its research in this area. CreatorMail won a Travolution Award in 2007 for its work with Thomson - Ed]

Martin Cowen, chief writer, Travolution

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