Questions : MARKETING PLAN

➢ Is Har Adir’s marketing plan efficient? Should he rather go for a bigger initial investment?

Imagine that you are the CEO of e-trip, which one of the following marketing tools will you use in order to build your brand identity?
Don't forget that we have to respect the marketing budget and be coherent with the brand and the customers' target
- Use the Acquisition e-mailings: e-trip can buy external databases and send e-mails to external customers with e predefined template to ensure the quality of the database. Which kind of partners could e-trip find on the web?
- Use Banners: to create awareness and visual opportunities to other partners'websites.
- Use the viral marketing :Facebook and blogs
- Buy words on Google to be in the first commercial links
-In terms of complementary services, offer SMS and Mobile marketing to their customers (for example, send a SMS when a fly will be delayed?)
Which one of the marketing tools is the cheapest for the company?

I don't know how cheap it can be but the buzz strategy and trying to best among the first commercial links on Google have to be among the top ones for qualty/price ratio

kathia Morano wrote:Imagine that you are the CEO of e-trip, which one of the following marketing tools will you use in order to build your brand identity?
Don't forget that we have to respect the marketing budget and be coherent with the brand and the customers' target
- Use the Acquisition e-mailings: e-trip can buy external databases and send e-mails to external customers with e predefined template to ensure the quality of the database. Which kind of partners could e-trip find on the web?
- Use Banners: to create awareness and visual opportunities to other partners'websites.
- Use the viral marketing :Facebook and blogs
- Buy words on Google to be in the first commercial links
-In terms of complementary services, offer SMS and Mobile marketing to their customers (for example, send a SMS when a fly will be delayed?)
Which one of the marketing tools is the cheapest for the company?

Defintely viral marketing (almost free) and using google words (it can be very expensive, but you can monitor what you want to spend and how much you're getting back).

Getting an opt-in emailings list is very very (I should add another very) expensive and often useless. When I've worked with database, we only have maybe a 10% opening rate on those e-mails. Actually, I don't like those industrial mailing lists, because people who give their adresses are often not aware of what they are doing, or give fake adress, etc... Waste of money !

Being the first link on Google can be very expensive depending on the number of competitors using Google AdWords.

Otherwise Etrip wants to reach students, so they should make events on the targeted countries' campus!

Yann_Gerardi wrote:Being the first link on Google can be very expensive depending on the number of competitors using Google AdWords.

Otherwise Etrip wants to reach students, so they should make events on the targeted countries' campus!

SFR (French mobile phone provider) organizes more and more oftently students parties to improve their image. It's not that expensive ('cause you still have to pay entrance fee) and it's a very nice way to promote your company among students.

Just a simple question : have you guys heard of Etrip before this forum?

chloé_laluc wrote:Just a simple question : have you guys heard of Etrip before this forum?

...nope

@Chloé: no, I don't have. When I searched for the Website for the case study it was my first time to see the emblem/logo


I think the amount of money Har Adir plans for marketing issues is rather small. Compared to his goals of the number of visitors it is a relative small amount.

So he plans to spend 36,000€ on Marketing Issues (in 2009) to reach 3,575,000 visitors. That means hardly 0,01€ per aquired visitor. I think that plan is very optimistic.

What do you think?

edith_bonnefond wrote:

chloé_laluc wrote:Just a simple question : have you guys heard of Etrip before this forum?

...nope

I HAVEN'T HEARD OF IT BEFORE

me neither, but we should ask people who come from holland in my opinion

Vincent_Alliaga wrote:me neither, but we should ask people who come from holland in my opinion

or people from Belgium as well never heard of Etrip before... the site isn't even in French... so if he wanted to reach French-speaking people from Belgium, he failed...

Due to his limited budget, his best bet is buzz marketing. These days, that is how some popular websites attract and obtain web traffic. Take Twitter for example (based on number of users/daily visitors). Most people heard of twitter from other people (either in person, via blog, facebook, etc). That's how it became well-known and frequently used. And if Etrip can create buzz around their company, then it's his best approach with limited funds.

Natalie_Garcia wrote:Due to his limited budget, his best bet is buzz marketing. These days, that is how some popular websites attract and obtain web traffic. Take Twitter for example (based on number of users/daily visitors). Most people heard of twitter from other people (either in person, via blog, facebook, etc). That's how it became well-known and frequently used. And if Etrip can create buzz around their company, then it's his best approach with limited funds.

That's true that buzz marketing is the best way to be known at a lower cost but it might be more difficult for a flight search engine to use it than for a social networking website...don't you think?
However, this might function as the website is, in my opinion, mainly dedicated to students! The thing is...how to attract the first people and make them spread the buzz! any concrete ideas?

Creating the buzz... Not that easy. Said that, one has to think about Ryanair! I can't remember of any ads from them... even from Easyjet ! How did they start ? How do you launch a low-cost airline ?

i also think the buzz marketing is the best way considering he 's low budget , different media especially social network website can be a good idea. e trip can create the buzz through networking website and word of mouth. i think, as yann said, that e trip should do a promotion campaign directly in the universities (student associations) or team up with media partners like magazines intended to young customers

soraya_berdeil wrote:i also think the buzz marketing is the best way considering he 's low budget , different media especially social network website can be a good idea. e trip can create the buzz through networking website and word of mouth. i think, as yann said, that e trip should do a promotion campaign directly in the universities (student associations) or team up with media partners like magazines intended to young customers

As a matter of fact, I'm against the idea that buzz marketing is the cheapest way.

If you're not lucky or don't know how to launch properly your web campaign, you'll have to spend a lot of money to make it.

Well, if we go in those considerations... we can debate on and on ! Let's suppose they have a good marketing department! As Audiard said, two smart guys seated won't go as far as a walking dumb ol' guy...

I think the traditional marketing channels are already intesively occupied by competitors. I see nationwide ads on TV for flight price comparison websites every day. And THAT is expensive. So with a low budget, it will be really difficult.

Social Networking might be a way, but in my view the best option would be to bring your service to the customers in forms of widgets or apps. Facebook app, iphone app, etc. Make your tool and brandname as ubiquitous as possible in the online world. Create some additional value for the customer.

Another (maybe crazy) idea: create an lottery-like game and give away millions of stickers. Each sticker has a unique ID, the customers can register their stickers online and connect them with their name. Then ask people to use their stickers inside airplanes, at airports, etc. It's illegal, but hey, it's fun. Make sure your database which connects the sticker numbers and names is bulletproof and hosted in a non-european country. ETrip should select monthly winners (randomly selected sticker numbers that have been seen in the wild), the winners who had the guts to put the stickers there will win some free flights. Soon you will become the talk of the town with your half illegal lottery and people will find it challenging to put your stickers ANYWHERE. When airports and planes alike are plastered with your stickers, you made it :-)

okok, might be a little wild and exaggerated. But hey, a buzz needs a valid trigger.

Okay so most of you came to the conclusion that the "old fashioned" ways of advertising would fail here? Or simply are too expensive?

To lead the discussion in a new direction: Finding the cheapest price in a huge mass of offers is not a new idea. We have that in almost every kind of goods and services. But most of the search engines are for free.

1) Does anyone of you know an example where payment for finding the best or cheapest product or service is accepted?
2) What can we learn from those examples?
3) Could ETRIP have been successful with their strategy/business model?
4) Where are the differences/parallels?

An example where payment is accepted ? Well yes... take agencies for accomodations ! You pay to be sure about the quality, to have someone to complain to, etc ! If an extra fee guarantees quality or else, it works !

hi all,

I did my best to sort of read what everyone wrote but the nature of a forum makes it too difficult and time consuming to read everyone, so I apologize if I repeat or be redundant.

But out of curiosity, what type of "Social Networking" aspect or tool are they trying to use.
I recall way back when Facebook just became "Open Source" and all the new applications started rolling in, there was a very well known one called, "My Travel Map" or some name like that. In a nutshell, it became so popular and well liked that Expedia.com eventually gobbled it and uses it now on their website or some form of that.

Like most great ideas, it either gets going and makes the money or it get gobbled up through an acquisition and is leveraged or is basically thrown into a corner and left for dead.

I'm curious as to what exactly Etrip wants to do. Will they be using pre-existing Social Networks and try to pivot themselves into it or to create their own network due to the low startup and available source code out there.

In my personal opinion, I do agree with a few of you and believe that traditional ways of marketing are a bit outdated. Buzz marketing is basically the way to do it in Asia. Although I am unfamiliar with European trends and dear not oppose another cultures marketing strategies, but if it were at all similar I would say that this would be the most effective. It is low in cost and all it would take would be provide some form "eye-catching" advertisement. Advertisement can come in many forms such as giveaways, games, competitions or what not.
I am not fully against the usage of social networking, but rather more interested in their method. Social networking has become a huge marketing beast and if utilized correctly I feel like it would overlap with the buzz marketing and kill two birds with one stone.

Also mentioned by others, yes indeed this website needs to be retooled and modernized to become more consumer friendly. From the looks (granted I'm looking at the right site), it looks like a college student made it for a school project.

Thanks,
Jeff

florent_lefevre wrote:An example where payment is accepted ? Well yes... take agencies for accomodations ! You pay to be sure about the quality, to have someone to complain to, etc ! If an extra fee guarantees quality or else, it works !

Good example Florent! So it seems not to be impossible to offer this kind of service?
But which product or service is eligible for it? Does it have to be as expensive as an house or an appartment? Or does it depend on how often you have to "buy" that kind of product/service? What about cars? What about properties? Is it perhaps the duration of the consequences of a wrong decision?

I'm curious!

florent_lefevre wrote:Creating the buzz... Not that easy. Said that, one has to think about Ryanair! I can't remember of any ads from them... even from Easyjet ! How did they start ? How do you launch a low-cost airline ?

Actually i remember an ad from RyanAir which has been a real scandal one year ago...here is the link of some articles from 20minutes about it
http://www.20minutes.fr/article/210952/France-Nicolas-et-Carla-Sarkozy-gagnent-contre-Ryanair.php

It's in French but actually you don't need to understand French to see that is was a scandal, you jut have to look at the picture
In fact, Ryanair use the "love story" between Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni to promote their brand. They directly used their picture with a sentence saying "Ryanair for every occasion" and it shows Carla Bruni saying "With Ryanair, all my family can come to the wedding" in the ad and that created the buzz. The company had to pay a lot of money to Mrs Bruni-Sarokzy but i think it really worked in terms of buzz marketing

Jeffreymchen wrote:hi all,

I did my best to sort of read what everyone wrote but the nature of a forum makes it too difficult and time consuming to read everyone, so I apologize if I repeat or be redundant.

But out of curiosity, what type of "Social Networking" aspect or tool are they trying to use.
I recall way back when Facebook just became "Open Source" and all the new applications started rolling in, there was a very well known one called, "My Travel Map" or some name like that. In a nutshell, it became so popular and well liked that Expedia.com eventually gobbled it and uses it now on their website or some form of that.

Like most great ideas, it either gets going and makes the money or it get gobbled up through an acquisition and is leveraged or is basically thrown into a corner and left for dead.

I'm curious as to what exactly Etrip wants to do. Will they be using pre-existing Social Networks and try to pivot themselves into it or to create their own network due to the low startup and available source code out there.

In my personal opinion, I do agree with a few of you and believe that traditional ways of marketing are a bit outdated. Buzz marketing is basically the way to do it in Asia. Although I am unfamiliar with European trends and dear not oppose another cultures marketing strategies, but if it were at all similar I would say that this would be the most effective. It is low in cost and all it would take would be provide some form "eye-catching" advertisement. Advertisement can come in many forms such as giveaways, games, competitions or what not.
I am not fully against the usage of social networking, but rather more interested in their method. Social networking has become a huge marketing beast and if utilized correctly I feel like it would overlap with the buzz marketing and kill two birds with one stone.

Also mentioned by others, yes indeed this website needs to be retooled and modernized to become more consumer friendly. From the looks (granted I'm looking at the right site), it looks like a college student made it for a school project.

Thanks,
Jeff

I think that in Europe, which was supposed to be the center of Har Adir's marketing plan, creating the buzz on the internet is harder than in Asia. I remember that when the relations between France and China damaged because of the Tibetan issue (I'm not talking about political issues ), a lot of chinese people started to boycott french products and brands, using the internet and their social network to create the buzz.

For European people : do you have this feeling too? (that buzz marketing and use of social network better work in Asia than in Europe? I spend one year in China two years ago, and have this feeling, particularly concerning students and young adults, maybe I'm wrong


For the others, especially those coming from Asia : Can u explain us the trend in your country?