Marketing Through Seasonality

Marketing Through
Seasonality
Utah Tourism Conference
May 15, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 13

Ofﬁces
Los Angeles
Portland
Salt Lake City
New York City
65employees
4offices

Key
Practices
Strategy
Brand
Targeting
Digital
Social
Creative
TV/Video
Interactive
Print
Social
Design
Branding
UI
Packaging
Mobile
Production
Build
Motion
3D
Content
Technology
Innovation
Mobile
Installations
Aggregation

Expertise in
Travel and Tourism

A Legacy in
Entertainment

Reputation for
Digital Innovation

Industry Recognition Multiple Webby Awards
Cannes Gold Lion
London International Award
Gold Clio
FWA Site of the Day/Month/Year
AdAge Small Agency Award - Southwest
Multiple National Addy Awards

Lemony Snicket’s
“…the purest example
of visual elegance on
the big screen…”
Nike
“Cleverly designed
website to promote the
spirit of the ﬁlms and
the storied shoe...”
TCBY
“TCBY is getting a
big visual boost with
this concept.”
Gatorade
“Since its launch,
discussions about
sports performance
have jumped to nearly
60% from 35%...”
Utah Tourism
“It's a clever, yet
beautiful idea…”
Awards are one thing.
Creating buzz is another.

So, who is Struck?

Struck is a digital-forward
creative agency making
brands greater than.

Agency Reel

Holiday Window Stroll
Mexico Russia
Celebrating the language of the holidays from around the world
China
Let’s talk seasonality

Mexico Russia
China
In a sense...

Mexico Russia
China
Battling it can be like
David vs. Goliath

Natural Seasonality

Institutional Seasonalilty

So...back to David vs. Goliath?

Mexico Russia
China
Try to take a diﬀerent tack

Mexico Russia
China
Let’s get started...

It all begins and ends with digital

Online travelers continue to be alive and well
and darn near everywhere
• Today, 6 in 10 travelers use online
resources for researching and nearly 5 in
10 to book
• That equates to 123 million planners and
101 million bookers
• Trending growth over the next 4 years, in
both the planning and booking phases

When they do book, your website is like your
front door
• And a little more than 1/3 of customers
are knocking on it.
• OTAs are second highest channel.
• Cumulatively, almost 75% of reported
booking channels are online.

The Research (or Dreaming) phase is being
served more and more through social media
• Three-quarters of travelers use FB as part
of the research phase
• Photos
• Video
• Stories and statuses
• Instagram projected to grow even higher in
years to come

Think Mobile, because travelers are
already there
• Mobile internet and mobile apps are
becoming part of the travel experience.
• In the moment, in real time.
• On the go travel planning creates an
opportunity to interact at the point of
contact and immediacy

What else do we
know about travelers?

Generational perspectives

Boomers (born 1946-1964)
• Do not reach quite as high levels of activity as their younger counterparts; nearly 8
in 10, or 59.9 million baby boomers, were regular internet users in 2012
• Mobile internet and smartphone uptake were slow compared to other groups
• Have also not taken up social networking to the same degree as younger web
users, but 57.6% of internet users did use the services in 2012
• Accounted for more than one in ﬁve social network users and about the same
share of Facebook users in 2012
• Digital video is even more popular than social sites with boomers; nearly 6 in 10
boomer internet users downloaded or streamed video at least monthly in 2012
Source: eMarketer

Gen X (born 1965-1980)
• Avid consumers of online content; typically use social networking sites on at least a
monthly basis
• 74.5% of Gen X web users did so in 2012, and nearly two-thirds used Facebook in
particular (65.6%)
• Twitter, however, reached only 14.7% of Gen X internet users at the end of last year
(expected to reach 19.5% of this audience by 2017)
• Digital video is even more popular among Gen X internet users than social
networking, with 78.7% downloading or streaming video online at least once per
month
Source: eMarketer

Millennials (born 1981-2000)
• Millennials take online activity up a notch; 92.3% used a mobile phone in 2012,
among whom 63.2% used the mobile web and slightly fewer used smartphones
• Highest social networking penetration of any generation; highest Facebook and
Twitter use
• Millennials now make up more than half of all US Twitter users, and will hover
around that point for the next several years
• Account for about four in 10 digital video viewers
Source: eMarketer

Eight suggestions
to address seasonality
Source: Hubspot

1. Strike while the iron is hot

• Create opportunities for connection on the most prominent
areas of your site
• Examples for opportunities
• Subscribe to an E-mail newsletter
• Subscribe to a blog
• Fan, follow, or like you
• Provide a deal/oﬀer
Build your database during your peak season

• Create content that’s current or topical: holidays, major events, pop culture
• Host online contests to gather new, prospective customers
• Use your social media channels (FB, Twitter, YouTube) to invite people to
learn more about your business
A few other ways to grow your database

2. Ask for reviews

• By gathering customer stories and testimonials when
they’re still fresh means you'll have reviews that are
detailed, personal and will resonate with off-season
readers.
Testimonials offer credibility
• Use them in your off-season email marketing and
off-season promotions.
• Ask guests to submit pictures and videos or ask to
video them for a case study.
• The more raw and interesting content you can get
from your customers, the better and more genuine
your promotion will be.

3. Re-imagine your content
in the oﬀ-season

The Four “C”s of brand-building content
The following principles have a proven ability to increase awareness and improve
brand perception:
1) Capture your brand’s North Star in branded content.
2) Connect to your consumers in context.
3) Create visible value.
4) Continuously measure and optimize.
Source: Forrester

If I’m a Washington County Cherry Grower...
• 10 recipes that actually taste better With frozen cherries
than fresh ones
• How to Can and Jar Fruit to Last All Year
• How to Make a Healthy Smoothie With Frozen cherries
• 7 Outdoor Summer Activities to Book for Your Family Right
Now using St. George as your basecamp

4. Be the life
of the party
Gatsby image

Be social, the year round

Staying year-round: a few recommendations
Twitter
• Provide frequent updates
• Engage in the conversation
• Nurture the community
• Product Twitter "chats"
Facebook
• Regular updates to your fans and followers
• Opportunity to share video and photos with community engagement (YouTube as well)
• Use polls allowing voting and discussion on fun things to do and see about your destination
• Solicit engagement from direct questions resulting in focused responses

5. Don’t forget about e-mail

Subj. line: “Beat the heat in Idaho”
Sent: 8/25/12

While we’re talking about email...
• Short Subject Line: Under 70 characters, to be exact. For mobile? 20 characters or less.
• Clear 'From' Field: Be clear to the recipient who the message is coming from. You? Company Name?
Nothing technical.
• Browser Version of the Email Is Oﬀered: Including the option for recipients to view your email in
their web browser.
• Short Message With Short Chunks of Text: Keep it concise and make sure you’re leading to the
CTA

While we’re talking about email...
• Fonts and Colors Remain Simple: Rely on a handful of colors and fewer fonts to prevent visual
overstimulation.
• Clear Call-to-Action: Make it easy for readers to ﬁgure out what their next action is.
• Social Sharing: According to Econsultancy, emails that include just one social sharing button have
30% higher click-through rates and when you oﬀer three or more, click-through rate jumps to 55%
• Straightforward Unsubscribe Option: Don’t euphemize or hide it. Place it in the footer and make it
easy to use (though hopeful no one will!)

6. Generate hype with storytelling

What’s on the horizon that your customers can get
excited about?
• New product oﬀering
• Early bird discounts or sales
• Sweepstakes or contests

Tell a story

Consumers like a good story
• Resonates with greater “truth” and not
overly sales-y.
• Emotional
• Engaging
• Multi-platform

Elements of storytelling
• IMMERSION: Create an immersive experience through content that is delivered in multi-
media and that is multi-sensory. Can I go deeper into the story-world, by learning more
• about it or by heightening my sensory experience of it?
• INTERACTIVITY: Allow the consumer to become a part of it. Can I change or inﬂuence
elements of the story? Can I interact with other people around the story?
• INTEGRATION: Ensure there is coherence across the many touchpoints. Is a cohesive
story being told across platforms? Can it interface with the real world in any way?
• IMPACT: Make it lead to action. Does the story inspire me to take action in my own life?
source: Future of Storytelling

Best practices to get your
stories germinating

MEET BASIC INFORMATION NEEDS. Audiences desire instant access to information that
deepens their experiences of a narrative, such as added historical or cultural context for a
story’s setting (e.g., “how did people actually live back then?”).
OFFER A NEW VANTAGE POINT. Allow audiences to explore different perspectives—by
seeing things from a certain character’s point-of-view or by becoming a character
themselves who is not a main character. Because works of historical fiction tend to have
richer, more “novel” story-worlds, they’re ripe for these types of off-the-beaten-path
interactions.
OFFER A SOMEWHAT ACTIVE EXPERIENCE. Only 12% prefer completely passive media
experiences, while more than half crave “a lot” of interactivity when it comes to making plot
decisions, interacting with or influencing characters, and so on.

CONVERSE WITH THE REAL WORLD. Audiences want their actions in the physical world to impact
the larger narrative. For example: contribute to battle efforts against another side by having your
smartphone register when you’re near a particular location or another participating fan, or by
importing an object into the story-world by scanning a real version of it with your phone. Not
surprisingly, real world integration is popular for sci-fi, fantasy, and other epic stories.
BE LONG-RUNNING. Forget flings; today’s audiences want to commit to long-term media
relationships. Thirty-eight percent thought the perfect story would be 4+ installments, while 31%
felt never-ending would be just the right length.

7. Look for niches or
new products
to diﬀerentiate

Bakery example: introduce new products
(e.g. gluten-free) that can help absorb seasonal lag

Dog Bark Park, Idaho

8. Don’t forget
your locals

Mexico Russia
China
Summary

8. Don’t forget your locals
7. Look for niches or new products
to diﬀerentiate
6. Generate hype with storytelling
5. Don’t forget about e-mail
4. Be the life of the party. Year-
round social activity
3. Re-imagine your content in the
oﬀ-season
2. Ask for reviews
1. Strike while the iron is hot

Marketing Through Seasonality

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