Lonely Planet brand story - Travel and Social Media

Travel and Social MediaThe Lonely Planet Story

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Travel was the original form of social media: as travelers made religious expeditions centuries ago, as the wealthy took grand tours of Europe in the 1800s, as travel became a way of life for many in the Western World in the 20th century, and as social content and devices become ubiquitous for travelers globally. What is Lonely Planet, the world’s largest producer of travel content, doing in this realm? In case study format, this presentation will first cover Lonely Planet’s evolution over the last 35 years as a keystone player in the world of travel social media. Then, we will address how travelers’ are using social media today and our view of travelers’ objectives in using this media over a slightly longer term. We will conclude by presenting Lonely Planet’s approach to social media, including some of the technologies that we believe travelers will be using

About Lonely Planet.

Founders Tony & Maureen

• Tony and Maureen meet in London and travel overland through Asia.

• Published first book in 1973 –Across Asia on the Cheap

• The Wheeler’s built their company on the commitment to provide travellers with the most useful and relevant travel information in a convenient format.

35 years later

93 million guidebooks sold

6m unique visitors per month

500 titles

Translated across 8 languages

6 foreign language websites

10+ television series screening in over 150 countries

2009 & beyond

Lonely Planet aims to significantly increase its reach and recognise its mission in delivering content across different platforms relevant to today’s travellers.

In October 2007, BBC Worldwide acquired a 75% stake in Lonely Planet.

Our brand.

Unique Unexpected and sometimes brave or surprising.

Inspiring Sense of place and experience, creates a curiosity, visualising the dream.

Irreverent/Spirited Quirky or unexpected interpretation, cheeky or humorous angle, loads of personality.

OpinionatedShow it like it is, sometimes challenging.

Respectful An awareness and sensitivity to cultures, people and the environment.

AuthoritativeKnowledgable, not staged, real.

Our Characteristics

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INCREASE FONT – correct font????

Demographics.

Source: Omniture

Source: Comscore

Source: Comscore

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source everything

Our Audience

Source: Comscore

Household Income USA/USDEducationHighly educated - with over 70% with a degree of professional qualification (Source: Forrester Research 2008 and Lonely Planet Travellers Pulse 2008)

Well Travelled60% of LP.com users have been to more than 10 countries(Source: Lonely Planet Travellers Pulse 2008)

Technically Savvy- 95% of LonelyPlanet.com visitors use the website everyday- lonelyplanet.com visitors are more likely to create and publish content- 22% more likely to interact with social networking sites

(Source: Forrester Research 2008)

Household Income UK£53.4K which is substantially above average internet user (£45,866) (Source: Forrester Research 2008)

The History of Travel Social Communities

ReligiousExpeditions

The GrandTour/

Baedekers

1955

PostWWII

Exposure/Frommers

The HippieTrail/

Lonely Planet

TV Society/

Rick Steves

TechnologyCommunity/TripAdvisor

Jet Travel EnviroConcern

Ships & TrainsHoof and Foot

1300 1850 1970 1990 2000

Lonely Planet - travel social networking for over 35 years…

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Enabling connections ‘tween likeminded travelers Facilitating valuable connections between travelers & local communities – eg (tsunami, volntring, etc) Guidebook as icebreaker on the road Established commonality, like mindedness I travel…therefore I am Enabling intelligent dinner time conversation for 35 years

San Francisco Chronicle

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Enabling connections ‘tween likeminded travelers

Time

12/10/02

“The bombs inMombasa andBali threatenthe best example ofglobal community.”

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Facilitating valuable connections between travelers & local communities – eg (tsunami, volntring, etc)

Work done for BBCW by the Henley Centre has identified 8 global trends

Consumer Trends Most Applicable to the Travel Segment

Stop-Go Lives: People are taking shorter breaks more often, in the US 7%more workers took partial weeks off in 2006 than 2005

Experiential Society: People have less time and are seeking value and experiences out of the ordinary.

Community Connections: An April 2007 Nielsen study found User Generated Content was the most trusted form of advertising, with 78% of consumers said they trust recommendations from other consumers

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Stop-Go Lives: People are taking shorter breaks more often, in the US 7% more workers took partial weeks off in 2006 than 2005 Experiential Society: People have less time and spend more money so they seek value (not necessarily low cost) and experiences out of the ordinary. Travellers may have more to spend on shorter trips, and be seeking adventures Community Connections: People are seeking a safe way to reconnect within communities, often online and through shared interests. In an April 2007 Nielsen study, User Generated Content was the most trusted form of advertising, with 78% of consumers said they would trust recommendations from other consumers

The Travel Cycle: What Travelers Use

•Thorntree•Worldguide•Maps•Trip Planner•Pick & Mix•Guidebooks

•Hotels & Hostels•Shop (print & digital)•Traveler Services

•Maps•Mobile Devices•Guidebooks•Phrasebooks•Blogs

•Podcasts and Videos•Thorn Tree•Groups•Rate and Review•Talk to Us

•Podcasts•Television•Newsletters•AV•Travel Feature Stories

Today’s Social Communities• Creators (Authors): Publish own blog, publish own web pages, upload

music/audio you created, write articles or stories and post them

• Critics (Back of the Book/Talk 2 Us): Post ratings/review of product or services, comment on someone else’s blog, contribute to online forums

• Collectors (Bluelist): Use RSS fields, vote for web sites, add tags

• Joiners (Thorntree): Maintain profile on social networking site, visit social networking sites

• Spectators (YouTube; LPTV): Read blogs, listen to podcasts, watch videos, read online forums, read customer ratings

• Inactives (non-travelers/passport initiatives): None of the above

Source:Yahoo/Forrester/Compete, Inc. Workshop

Today’s Competitive Landscape

Alexa global average ranking, Nov 07: The rank of a site is the geometric mean of the number of Alexa toolbar users who visit that site and the number of pages on the site viewed by those users. * Ranking is for whole domain, not just travel

Ranked <100

Ranked 100-4000

Ranked >4000

Sites I use to share travel stories and recommendationsand connect with other travelers (community)

Sites I use to browse, book and buy travel or related products online (commerce)

Sites I use to access travel information and/or review opinions of others (content)

Guardian Travel

Lonely Planet

Travelocity**

Real Travel Trip Connect

Gridskipper

TripAdvisor

Wikitravel

NY Times Travel

RoughguideDK

Frommers

WAYN

Fodors

Yahoo Travel

Flickr

World66

Borders

Hostel World

Boots n All

Socialight**

Yelp**

STA

Trip Up

Wikipedia

Travelpod

Expedia

Travel content and

commerce sites are lower

ranked and are losing rank, but

communities are gaining

Virtual Tourist

Kayak

Existing content sites provide limited social or community tools, while social networking players don’t provide differentiated, quality, reliable content, but this is

already beginning to change

Little overlap between content and social networking sites

Content sites currently provide:• Guidebook content• Articles and information on travel

destinations (Guardian Travel) • Ability to customize travel guides (DK

Encounter) • User generated content through blogs

(Frommers), podcasts and review andrate, or in guidebook form (Wikitravel)

• Limited community opportunities

Trip Advisor has user generated content, social networking functionality, as well as links to quality content providers for guidebook information. Travelpod and Facebook.

Hostelworld upgraded their site to provide additional community functionality

Community sites currently provide:• User generated travel content only

(WAYN, BootsnAll, Yelp), in which some destinations are weak on content

• Ability to share photos, videos andstories with fellow travelers

• Facebook’s applications are generally content free

Key players are expanding their offerings . .

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Existing content sites provide limited social or community tools, while social networking players don’t provide differentiated, quality, reliable content, but this is already beginning to change Content sites currently provide: Guidebook content Articles and information on travel destinations (Guardian Travel) Ability to customize travel guides (DK Encounter) User generated content through blogs (Frommers), podcasts and review and rate, or in guidebook form (Wikitravel) Limited community opportunities including: Sharing guides and rating reviews (travel DK) Message boards/forums A pool of users providing content (Wikitravel) Community sites currently provide: User generated travel content only (WAYN, BootsnAll, Yelp), in which some destinations are weak on content Ability to share photos, videos and stories with fellow travellers Facebook has great applications, however the most popular travel applications are generally content free Key players are expanding their offerings: Trip Advisor has detailed user generated content along with social networking functionality, and also link to quality content providers for guidebook information. They purchased Travelpod, a travel blog site, in Dec 2006 and have two of the most popular travel applications on Facebook. Hostelworld have recently upgraded their site to provide additional community functionality, pocket guides for 30 countries and destination information (this is still at a high level for most destinations)

The Decision FrameworkDo Nothing:

“Wait and See”

Heavy commitment“Grow the market”

Measured approach“Engage with market”

Strategic Options• Short term savings • Large opportunity cost (entry into new markets)• Delay will mean a loss of competitive advantage

• Approach is to self funding through business partners

• Small incremental spending • Seizes opportunity to edge ahead of competitors• Provides option to accelerate when basics are in

place, or reduce spending if revenue is not realized

• Investment in Fundamentals• May require acquisition to ramp up• Requires larger scale investment to win a

position

11 years of Thorn Tree

Where Did We Come From?

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The Thorn Tree's origins stretch way back to 1996 when Lonely Planet Online was still in its infancy and Web 2.0 concepts like "social networking" were but a twinkle in a motherboard's eye. Its then manager took some wires and cables he found lying around the office floor and hooked our traveling community into lonelyplanet.com's first online talkfest. Some time in 1997 the Thorn Tree was transformed into a fully fledged bulletin board. The name Thorn Tree was taken from the famous Nairobi café where travellers would pin messages on a notice board that surrounded the trunk of the large acacia tree outside. Within no time at all, the Thorn Tree was bubbling with travel advice, community interaction, organized get-togethers and its fair share of internet trolls. In this wild west of the early internet, where users could post anonymously and registration didn't require a valid email address, there were frequent flame wars which at times had Thorn Tree resembling Bedlam more than a travel forum. Many of our pre-registration long-time users still refer to this time as the good old days of the Thorn Tree. In 2000 it became necessary to register to contribute to the Thorn Tree and our anonymous users either disappeared back into the ether or became fully fledged members of our traveler community.

Travelers can form strong bonds on the road that become life-long friendships. In a similar way, the Thorn Tree has brought together travelers both on and off the road from around the globe. It’s this unique blend of community, which mixes hard travel information with more informal discussion, that has seen the Thorn Tree become one of the most popular and authoritative travel forums on the web.

The Tree is split into categories which cover destination-specific and specialist-interest branches with over 100,000 active threads.

Split into categories, which cover destination-specific and specialist-interest branches with over 100,000 active threads.

Deep and rich travel Q&A

Can I get my visa upon arrival to Ethiopia? Or do I need to get it in advance?

Do I need malaria medication for my trip to Vietnam?

Cycling in Cuba next 2 weeks, anyone else there?

11 years of Thorn Tree

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The Thorn Tree has brought together travelers both on and off the road from around the globe. It’s this unique blend of community, which mixes hard travel information with more informal discussion, that has seen the Thorn Tree become one of the most popular and authoritative travel forums on the web. Points from Carol Barton: Currently 470,033 users (but not all are active & participation goes through cycles depending on travel plans). Safe to say "well over a million" messages a year. At the moment we have about 4 million messages in the system total, around 15,000+ new questions are asked per month, with an average of around 150,000+ new replies a month Travel questions often revolve around the practical, ‘getting out of a bind’, ‘what do you recommend’ type questions or need for reassurance. Thorn Tree really comes into its own during a time of crisis; hurricanes, tsunamis, bombings, earthquakes, missing travelers. This is when we really see traffic spurts and travelers also go offline in droves to help out. Relationships often translate offline - there’s directories of locals willing to share a beer, coffee or lunch and a local perspective with travelers passing through

Travelers can form strong bonds on the road that become life-long friendships. In a similar way, the Thorn Tree has brought together travelers both on and off the road from around the globe. It’s this unique blend of community, which mixes hard travel information with more informal discussion, that has seen the Thorn Tree become one of the most popular and authoritative travel forums on the web.

The Tree is split into categories which cover destination-specific and specialist-interest branches with over 100,000 active threads.

Where Did We Come From?

A dedicated team of 5 people, who spend their time reading, processing and replying to traveler feedback

Talk2Us Feedback Center

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Since being founded in 1973, Lonely Planet has remained focused on helping travelers. Talk2Us is a dedicated team of 5 people who spend their time reading, processing and replying to traveler feedback – and learning how to improve Lonely Planet.

Feedback: A virtuous circleNew

GuidebookPublished

Feedback: A virtuous circle

TravellersFeedback

NewGuidebookPublished


TravellersFeedback


Talk2UsProcess & Reply


TravellersFeedback


EditorsBrief for

New Edition



TravellersFeedback

AuthorsResearch

Add &Correct


EditorsBrief for

New Edition


Feedback Results

In 2007• 13,500 travelers sent in feedback• Their emails turned into 30,000+ useful

items of informationTravellersFeedback

AuthorsResearch

Add &Correct


EditorsBrief for

New Edition


Lonely Planet, a part of social online communities…

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In the case MS and FB, these are unofficial branded profiles which people can subscribe to as friends. They allow us as a "brand" to acquire a personality and more-so than anything else allow us to look "inside" and profile our consumer base. Re: Flickr - this again is an environment where people can liaise with the brand and is an effective vehicle for running "below the line" sweeps etc. That said, it is unofficial and a clear message to be careful when using UG platforms, LP has absolutely no right to commercialize any of the images associated with Flickr, unless where an image is assigned to LP under a creative commons license (there a 3 different kinds).

Lonely Planet Channel on YouTube• Launched on April 10, 2008

• Features a selection of the best travel videos from Lonely Planet’s own online video-sharing website, LonelyPlanet.tv and exclusive content such as previews and behind-the-scenes footage from upcoming Lonely Planet Television shows

•Current subscribers: 1,754

•Current channel Views: 22,557

•Some LP videos have had 500,000+ views

www.youtube.com/lonelyplanet

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Lonely Planet recently launched a branded YouTube Channel featuring a collection of both professionally produced and user-generated videos. Each month the videos will rotate to include new submissions from Lonely Planet TV users. - allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. This is also a space for amateur filmmakers to show their work and compare it with others. - features a selection of the best travel videos from Lonely Planet’s own online video-sharing website, LonelyPlanet.tv and exclusive content such as previews and behind-the-scenes footage from upcoming Lonely Planet Television shows. LonelyPlanet.TV currently hosts over 2,000 engaging travel videos, the best of which are featured on the Lonely Planet YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/lonelyplanet

Lonely Planet group on Facebook

• 5,000 members

• A space where users can engage with LP, connect with friends they’ve met while travelling and to share travel stories

• Lonely Planet is also working on a variety of wireless applications for Facebook users to add on their profiles

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5,000 members in the Lonely Planet group Key messages: A place to talk about travel. Objectives: To create a space where travellers can engage with LP though lifestyle in their own spaces. To have a space that can quickly create an area for user-generated content with relevant campaigns and opportunities. Strategy: Using the STA ‘round the word booklet opportunity as a board to create more opportunities online for travellers in their spaces. - This was a contest we ran on our Facebook page partering with STA. People submitted their stories to be included in a mini LP booklet. - The campaign generated a lot of responses and had great marketing value for LP because it was promoted both by LP and STA. To integrate with LP.com on relevant opportunities and campaigns. To support relevant pillar marketing activity that requires user-generated content and digital space. Dream Idea: That our Facebook group becomes a place for two-way communication between travellers and LP, almost like a moderator does on TT. Also that we can create the right opportunities for campaigns and products that involve the traveller that we can’t fit into LP.com

Lonely Planet photo groups on Flickr

• 35,000 + images

•4,100 + members in Lonely Planet Photo Challenge group

•2,800+ members in photo book group

• These groups are designed to provide an avenue for travelers to showcase their snapshots from their journeys

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Flickr Key messages: Photobooking the world Objectives: To create an online book of photos from all over the world with user-generated content and Flickr. The big difference is that, unlike geo tagging, each user gets to add a little of their personality with a sentence or two about the photo. It isn’t just photos, it’s the photographers story too. Strategy: Engaging travellers that are passionate about the countries that have travelled in, to inspire those that wish to go. Creating new Photobooks for each country at a steady rate to keep the community active and engaged. Creating opportunities for Photographers have their images seen by LPI. Creating opportunities for Superadvocates by creating exhibition spaces. Dream Idea: That we have a catalogue of photos of every country in the world. A one stop place for traveller photographic inspiration. Plus giving new talent a place to shine for further publication with in LP or exhibitions of travel photography.

Lonely Planet.com

Where We are Going Online?

CHARACTERISTICS

VISIONTo inspire and enable

travelersto connect

with the world and each other . . . every day

•The whole travel cycle on multiple platforms

•For LP travelers – curious, self-selecting, self-packaging explorers

•Topical, accurate, trusted, relevant, and we have a distinct Lonely Planet voice

•Self-organized with the travel community at the center

•Localization of products for key territories

•Big, profitable, diverserevenue streams

•A rich-media storytellingexperience

• Interacting “where you like it”

•Beautiful DNA, and employee/stakeholder pride

•Global production company

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More community interactions and more User-generated content means greater competition for your attention - filtering becomes even more important (our role) Contributors that provide valuable content wanting to be remunerated for their efforts Facilitate deep connections between like-minded individuals Profiles & Groups on new lp.com

Inspiring and enabling travellers to connect with the world

and each other

Whilst maintaining leadership in travel publishing, Lonely Planet will further build out its multiple media offering to increase its frequency of engagement and connect with its

consumers ‘everyday’.

….every day

I‘m back

I dream

I plan

I buy & book

Travel Life

CycleI‘m there

Digital

Print

Wireless

Digital

Digital

Print

Wireless

Magazine

TV

DigitalWireless

WirelessDigital

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AWAIT FEEDBACK FROM AGENCIES

More content

Richer experience

And more tools to discover, create & share

From our guidebooks, repurposed for online

From our authors on the road

By aggregating the best content from the web

From like minded travellers

The result is a powerful ‘triple play’ not available anywhere else.

• the single largest source of authored travel content on the web

• combined with the insight of the Lonely Planet traveller

• and the best of the web.

They will return to get up-to-date information, follow travellers through group and community tools, and to take content and share it.

People will come to the site for:

Where are we going?

Global connectivity trends are important• Increasing uptake of broadband internet in Asian markets

• Interactive TV is growing rapidly, the online market grew 179% in the 12 months to June 2007 with 8 million users of IPTV services worldwide

• The market for mobile internet services remains largely untapped, according to the Yankee Group which claim that operators and service providers could be raking in as much as $66bn per year, instead of the $9.5bn they are taking at present

• The number of mobile navigation device (GPS) units shipped reached 7.4 million worldwide in the second quarter of 2007, an increase of 116% over the same quarter last year

Mobile Media

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Always on community interaction through mobile

Where are we going?

• Licensing our content to location based service platforms

• Providing a compelling Mobile site – Driving traffic to the M-site through operator deals,

owned sites and affiliates

– Selling advertising, offering sponsorship opportunities and driving transactions to partners

• Selling downloadable applications and video through retail channels

Mobile Actions

The Lonely Planet Mobile Solution

In conclusion

1/ New technologies are going faster: Web 2.0, Evolution and opportunities in e-tourism

2/ How do you use social media to reach people?

3/ The future of e-tourism

Lonely Planet brand story - Travel and Social Media

Social Media

Transcript of Lonely Planet brand story - Travel and Social Media