Social Media – Coming of Age

1. Social Media – Coming of Age

2. Introduction – Todd Castor Bio: As Director, Vacation Packaging Products with Marriott International, Todd Castor is responsible for defining the long-term product plan and developing the overall strategy to achieve the sales objectives for the vacation packaging product on Marriott.com, Marriott's global sites, and RitzCarlton.com. Castor previously served as an Area Director, eCommerce with Marriott, overseeing online sales and marketing, web site development and management, partnership marketing and online merchandizing for nearly two dozen hotels and resorts encompassing multiple brands, including Courtyard, Marriott, JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton. Prior to joining Marriott, Castor served as Staff Vice President, eCommerce at Pleasant Holidays, where he led successful initiatives in channel distribution, dynamic packaging and merchant hotel products. In 2008, Castor was named eMarketer of the Year by the Hawaii chapter of the American Marketing Association. He was a Marriott “Chairman’s Circle” award recipient in 2009, and in 2010 was part of HSMAI’s “Top 25 Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing.”

3. Todd Castor – All You Really Need to Know • Walked into an Internet Café in February 1996 • Built my first web site three months later • Over time, dove deeply into interactive marketing • Drank the social media “Kool Aid” in ’09 • Involved in some of the most ambitious social media campaigns undertaken to date in the travel industry

4. (A Few) Social Media Stats

5. Social Media is Driving a Fundamental Change in Communication

6. Time Spent on Various Online Activities

7. More Than Ever, Product ReviewsInfluence Purchase Decisions

8. Opportunities & Risks

9. Why Does This Stuff Matter?

10. Before: “Contact Us”

11. Now: Twitter @thesatsfan2: 1,755 followers on Twitter @maxvoltar: 14,938 followers on Twitter

12. My Recent Experience with United Airlines

13. My Recent Experience with Virgin America

14. THE Social Network • Approximately 800,000,000 users worldwide • Not just a site, but a platform • Platform supports apps, games, music, videos, movies & much more • Organizations should maintain a presence on Facebook, but must avoid making it their only presence

15. Micro-blogging & social networking • 200,000,000 users, including many celebs • Fantastic resource for customer feedback • Opportunities: “push marketing,” interaction, “outreach” • Great platform for small-scale contests

16. Google’s latest attempt at social media • Launched Summer ’11 – 43,000,000 users and just opened to general public in mid-September • “Circles” represents a different approach to online groups – more privacy controls • “+1” button allows recommendation – similar to Facebook’s “Like” button • Google+ business pages should launch in late-’11

17. Sample Campaign: Jack in the Box: “Rich Fan” Sweepstakes

18. Jack in the Box: “Rich Fan” Sweepstakes • App added a nickel to an imaginary jar for each new Facebook Fan • Explosive growth in fan base – over 190,000 new fans in a month • A shot at free money = fans, but are they engaged and will they stick?

19. Location-based, GPS-enabled social service • More than 6,000,000 active users worldwide • Primarily a smartphone app, enabling users to “check in” and share their location while earning points in an attempt to become the “Mayor” • 3,000,000 “check ins” per day • Foursquare “friends” can be added from Facebook & Twitter • Businesses can establish and manage their presence on Foursquare, and run promotions

20. “Connecting Google users with the places they love” • Businesses can “claim” their location and manage most content for free • Users are encouraged to rate and share places on Google • Particularly important for search and maps • Google wants to “own” local search and reviews (September ’11 purchase of Zagat)

21. Sample Campaign: Domino’s UK “Mayor” Campaign

22. Domino’s UK: “Mayor” Campaign • Foursquare “Mayors” were rewarded with free medium pizzas • Pizza awarded once per week on a specified day • Users who simply checked in received free breadsticks • More than 10,000 check-ins from 3,500 visitors

23. Largest and best-known of the many “social commerce,” aka “group buying,” aka “daily deals” aka “local deals” sites • Fastest growing e-commerce site in history • Employs local account managers to bring local deals – usually 50% off or better – to its massive audience • The group buying “twist” – deals don’t “tip” until a certain number have been purchased • Groupon is the merchant, and generally retains 50% of campaign revenue

24. Competing in the same space as Groupon, Living Social is “Pepsi” to Groupon’s “Coke” • Similar massive audience (many subscribe to both services) and similar approach to sourcing offers • Living Social’s group buying “twist”: convince three friends to buy and yours is free • Living Social also plays the role of merchant, and also generally retains 50% of campaign revenue

25. Sample Campaign: Wingo’s

26. Wingo’s: Half-Off Campaign • $10 to spend on wings for $5, or $20 to spend for $10 • The opportunity is very easy to understand for all involved • What’s harder to figure out for business: Is it worth it • LivingSocial’s math can be more complicated than Groupon’s

27. “Do ‘likes’ and re-tweets add up to sales? Who knows? And who really cares?” - Fast Company, June 2011 • Social Media measurement can be challenging…this is not the second coming of search, email or even banner advertising • Social Media ROI may ultimately align more with PR and brand measurement than e-commerce • Don’t just measure numbers of fans, followers, etc. Measure interactivity and engagement What NOT to Measure

28. Sample Campaign: Jamba Juice “Feel Good Bucks”

29. Jamba Juice: “Feel Good Bucks” • Objectives: drive sales, attract customers • Utility of a coupon and the anticipation of an instant win • Facebook app used unique coupon generation • Virtual “gifting” solutions encouraged users to share Jamba Bucks • 95,000 customers redeemed coupons, at over 700 locations

30. Mahalo!