Step-by-Step Guide: How Travel and Hospitality Brands Protect Their Traffic and Revenues in the Digital World

Transcription

1 W H I T E PA P E R Step-by-Step Guide: How Travel and Hospitality Brands Protect Their Traffic and Revenues in the Digital World

2 Table of Contents Executive Summary... 3 How Consumers Are Led Astray in the Digital Travel World... 4 Brand Misuse Erodes the Bottom Line... 6 Protecting Your Brand in a Complex Digital Ecosystem... 7 A Brand Protection Strategy that Maximises Traffic and Revenues

3 Executive Summary Perhaps no industry has been more impacted by the digital revolution than the travel and hospitality business. Rapidly changing Internet technology and constantly evolving online business models have transformed the travel ecosystem and the consumer experience of booking and managing travel. New travel intermediaries, including online travel agencies, aggregators and meta-search engines, have created a fiercely competitive landscape for travel and hospitality brands. To stay relevant, hospitality brands have had to partner with intermediaries and participate in this new travel eco-system. This can negatively impact the way in which brands are portrayed and used online, frequently resulting in lost revenue, higher costs in commissions, less effective marketing spend and erosion of brand image. Travel and hospitality brands need to consider a comprehensive partner compliance program that combines brand protection technology with expertise and guidance. This kind of program, supported by strong contract terms that make it possible to enforce against infringements, is an effective way to protect brands online while maintaining positive relationships with partners and a viable role in the digital economy. This white paper illustrates the challenges and risks travel and hospitality brands face and recommends some industry-specific best practices for adopting and implementing a brand protection strategy today. 3

4 How Consumers Are Led Astray in the Digital Travel World As new intermediaries such as online travel agencies, aggregators and travel meta-search engines have sprung up, established travel and hospitality brands have had to become more competitive, transparent and open to working with these partners on new terms in the digital world. Consumers have adapted to these changes in intriguing ways. On one hand, they are more price-sensitive than ever and more empowered to find the most convenient itinerary for the best price. Consumers visit an average of 38 different websites before booking a flight, hotel or vacation package; they also spend an average of 45 days researching optimal options before committing to a booking. 1 Yet at the same time that they ve grown savvier and more discerning, travel consumers have also become increasingly brand-loyal. This is largely thanks to the robust rewards and loyalty programs built by travel brands over the years, so that even as consumers compare prices, features and schedules, they show a preference for specific brands. This often triggers consumers to use preferred, branded terms as they search the Internet for travel deals. Brand loyalty is good news for travel brands. Unfortunately, marketing practices by online travel intermediaries and franchisees can negatively impact consumer brand relationships and intercept potential revenues for travel and hospitality brands. Hotel chains, airlines and other kinds of travel and hospitality brands that partner with online search engines and travel booking sites typically pay fees to the companies based on their ability to drive traffic and reservations. Guidelines regarding use of brand trademarks govern these relationships, but online travel intermediaries don t always comply with these guidelines. Many use travel brand trademarks in paid search listings, site URLs and online ads often despite brand guidelines that prohibit them from doing so. 4

5 Franchisees can add to the challenge. While well intentioned, franchisees also use digital channels to promote their own businesses. If not monitored, franchisees may use brand assets that are out of compliance with the parent brand, or they may compete with the parent brand for traffic and search engine results. These practices pose several risks for travel brands: Brand loyalty is good news for travel brands Online traffic intended for the travel brand is intercepted. Non-compliant brand use by partners such as misuse of trademarks, logos, copyrighted images, domain names and branded keywords intercept and divert traffic from its intended destination: the travel brand s website. This negatively impacts revenues and leads to escalated costs, as travel brands must pay commissions to online partners when they book reservations on the brands behalf. Traffic diversion by these non-compliant partner practices reduces the ROI of marketing efforts and a company s bottom line. Brand misuse hinders brand loyalty and confuses customers. Inappropriate or incorrect usage of brand trademarks, either visual or as content, causes an inconsistent brand experience for consumers, impedes a travel brand s control over its brand image and damages brand reputation. This misuse might range from a franchisee that posts a non-compliant logo design on its website to an online travel site that uses the brand name in a domain name to divert traffic to its booking engine. The strength of a brand especially in a hyper-competitive industry like travel depends on continuity at every touchpoint, and each off-brand experience hurts the brand s integrity. 5

6 Brand Misuse Erodes the Bottom Line... the ROI of every marketing dollar is critical to driving maximum occupancy rates, higher average daily rates and reducing partner commissions where possible. As travel and hospitality brands strive to maximize revenues in a fiercely competitive space, the ROI of every marketing dollar is critical to driving maximum occupancy rates, higher average daily rates and reducing partner commissions where possible. Traffic diversion and brand misuse have a direct impact on a brand s ability to achieve its marketing goals and conversion rates. Digital marketing costs escalate: Paid search costs increase for brands because partners are competing with them for the same keywords and driving up the costs of branded keyword purchases. A small increase in the cost per ad has the potential to translate up to tens of thousands of dollars in additional advertising spend. Increased commissions: Travel and hospitality brands typically pay 15 to 25 percent in commissions to travel intermediaries for bookings made through those websites. When consumers search for a brand term, their primary option should be to book directly with the brand. Instead, partners using those brand terms in their own marketing redirect traffic to their own sites, which not only makes the brands marketing ineffective, but also increases the commission costs paid to partners. Decrease in direct bookings: Brands depend on their websites to manage the digital brand experience as well as direct bookings. Marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) include traffic to the site from online advertising, conversion rate per visit and average booking fees. When brand abuse and misuse by partners diverts traffic intended for the brand website to the partner s site, these KPIs as well as additional booking revenue is negatively impacted. 6

7 BRAND PROTECTION AND PARTNER COMPLIANCE MONITORING Use state-of-the-art technology that can detect and continuosly monitor for brand misues and non-compliance across multiple digital channels. Domain/website n Domain registration violations n Logo misuse n Typo domain redirection n Sales outside brand owner s sites n Incorrect/missing disclosures Paid Search n Landing page violations n Unauthorized promotions n Ad rank violations n Branded keyword bidding n Paid ad direct linking n Paid ad URL hijacking Social Media n Social media username violations n Logo misuse n Sales outside brand owner s sites Marketplaces n Unauthorized sales in B2C marketplaces n Unauthorized travel packages and timeshare offers n Seller username violations Mobile App Stores n Unauthorized bookings n Loss of brand equity n Trademark and logo misuse n Copyright violations Best Practices for Protecting Your Brand in a Complex Digital Ecosystem To enforce against infringements, brands first must have strong partner agreements in place. Building on this foundation, leading travel and hospitality brands have found success with comprehensive partner compliance programs, which combine brand protection technology with expertise and guidance in implementing best practices. Brands can protect their bottom lines by taking a systematic approach to defending their brands online, using technology to monitor partners for policy violations and defining processes to categorize, prioritize and educate them about partner compliance issues occurring across all digital channels. Travel brands that have been successful at protecting their brand integrity and revenues online have established a brand protection strategy and a structured program that employs a multi-step enforcement process. Consider these best practices for adopting and implementing a brand protection strategy for your travel or hospitality brand. 1. Consistently monitor for brand misuse. Travel or hospitality brands should consider adopting technology that can automatically monitor online travel intermediaries and franchisees on their behalf. This technology scours multiple Internet channels each day for brand misuse and inconsistencies by partners as well as competitive use and abuse of brand trademarks and keywords. Monitoring trademark violations manually demands many hours and resources and is impossible given the dynamics of the Internet. A technology solution can automate the process and produce daily reports of all trouble areas. 7

8 2. Prioritize your compliance efforts. A brand protection strategy will help you focus your compliance efforts on the activities and companies causing the most harm to your brand. Policing every violation would place undue demands on marketing and legal teams. Your strategy should help guide your team in making intelligent decisions about identifying, communicating with and reigning in the most egregious violations and the most frequent offenders. 3. Enforce your brand policies. A brand protection program enables travel and hospitality brands to systematically contact, educate and get results from non-compliant partners. A successful program uses communication and education to work closely with well-meaning franchisees and partners to bring them into compliance and ensure ongoing consistency and adherence, while delivering firm messages of intolerance to trademark violations (such as cease-and-desist notices or other legal communications) to deliberate violators. 4. Partner with brand protection experts. Defining, monitoring and enforcing partner non-compliance can be daunting, which is why working with experienced experts is so vital to ensuring you have the right processes, resources and technology in place. Brand protection experts help you develop comprehensive and easy-to-follow guidelines, implement a structured methodology for policing and enforcement, and design processes to efficiently roll out and maintain that methodology. In addition, to ensure your partner contracts remain strong enough to enable enforcement, brand protection experts can help you develop and refine your guidelines over time. 8

9 A Brand Protection Strategy that Maximises Traffic and Revenues In the complex and rapidly changing world of online travel, there are countless opportunities for other companies to leverage your strong, valuable brand to their own advantage intentionally or not to the detriment of your own brand integrity and bottom line. With so many travel sites, directories, search listings, online ads and social media posts appearing each day, your brand is quite likely being misused and misrepresented deterring potential customers from your own website and eroding consumer loyalty. Only with a comprehensive brand protection strategy and a program that combines technology, actionable intelligence and expertise can travel and hospitality companies protect marketing investments and the equity of brands to maximize revenues. 1 Press release. Retail and Travel Site Visitation Aligns As Consumers Plan and Book Vacation Packages. Expedia Media Solutions. N.p. Web. 13 August

10 About MarkMonitor MarkMonitor, the leading enterprise brand protection solution and a Clarivate Analytics flagship brand, provides advanced technology and expertise that protects the revenues and reputations of the world s leading brands. In the digital world, brands face new risks due to the Web s anonymity, global reach and shifting consumption patterns for digital content, goods and services. Customers choose MarkMonitor for its unique combination of advanced technology, comprehensive protection and extensive industry relationships to address their brand infringement risks and preserve their marketing investments, revenues and customer trust. For more information, visit markmonitor.com About Clarivate Analytics Clarivate Analytics accelerates the pace of innovation by providing trusted insights and analytics to customers around the world, enabling them to discover, protect and commercialize new ideas faster. We own and operate a collection of leading subscriptionbased services focused on scientific and academic research, patent analytics and regulatory standards, pharmaceutical and biotech intelligence, trademark protection, domain brand protection and intellectual property management. Clarivate Analytics is now an independent company with over 4,000 employees, operating in more than 100 countries and owns well-known brands that include Web of Science, Cortellis, Derwent, CompuMark, MarkMonitor and Techstreet, among others. For more information, visit clarivate.com More than half the Fortune 100 trust MarkMonitor to protect their brands online. See what we can do for you. Europe: +44 (0) MarkMonitor Inc. All rights reserved. MarkMonitor is a registered trademark of MarkMonitor Inc., part of Clarivate Analytics. All other trademarks included herein are the property of their respective owners.