Marketing on the Smart Web

Reads the title of the  Travolution blog post guest written by Mark Seall which I found very thought provoking.

I thought it might be useful to repeat my comments here as well:

If the major travel players are indeed aware of the fast changing environment they are operating in, it isn’t reflected in how their web presence looks like and how they market their product. It all comes along fairly conservatively.

The discussion reminds me of this recent article in The New Yorker magazine  by Malcolm Gladwell. The innovators (Davids) of the first phase have in only a few years become the legacy players (Goliaths). It seems the next group of market entrants ready to challenge them are entering the scene under the web 2.0 banner generally describing the social web and the tools it brings along.

With recommendations by friends and relatives having been a major influence factor of travel decisions for decades now, it is only normal that with these new social tools being developed and introduced in the marketplace, this key element will be turbo-charged to a new degree.

The innovators who are capitalizing on this part of the travel process are challenging the established players as they themselves did when entering the scene more than a decade ago automating the first and easier part, the transaction which we all know is not where travel process begins. The game is on. Should be interesting to watch who the new winners will be.

By the way a similar discussion on the topic of legacy OTAs has been held recently on Dennis Schaal’s blog here. Great stuff.

also referred to as Web 3.0, Linked Data, Semantic Web is covered in this very informative post on ReadWriteWeb.

There has been a lot of discussion for quite some time, mostly in tech circles on the topic of what is coming next on the web in terms of developments that will make it a smarter web than it is today. Unfortunately the focus often is on the terminology and the dislikes expressed by some about the term web 3.0 when it should be on what is just a phase in the constantly developing web and the advantages the changes bring about. The objective is to make the web more intelligent and the tools to achieve it are to be found in the areas described in RWW article. The public using the web will not care about what the new phase is called or how the underlying structure is built but in how it improves their experience in the use of the web for whatever purpose they chose.

What is obvious to me is that the developments happening in this area will have an impact on how travel is planned, researched and booked on the web over the coming years as more sites are launching that take advantage of the underlying tools. It should be an exciting new phase, whatever name it is called.

Today’s the tenth Anniversary of The Cluetrain Manifesto – The end of business as usual. Here’s part of the introduction:

A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.

Now, ten years on a lot of fundamental changes many brought about by this seminal work have happened and the 95 theses seem mostly as relevant as ever, however, what struck me is thesis 87:

We’d like it if you got what’s going on here. That’d be real nice. But it would be a big mistake to think we’re holding our breath.

I don’t know about you, but this still resonates with me. With all we have learned and the great tools at our disposal, how many companies don’t really seem to get it? How many are still practicing controlled one way communications and marketing speak? We all have our examples and they can be found in any industry.

Will this still be the case when we celebrate cluetrainplus15? I definitely hope not. By that time let’s hope everyone finally gets it.

at Davos 2009 IdeasLab, by Tom Ilube

I found this a very easy to understand presentation about what for the mainstream still remains somewhat of a mystery – The Semantic Web.

My favorite is the quote on the last slide by Sir Tim Berners-Lee

according to Tim Berners-Lee in Outside the Lines – CNET News and although the article was published last year, it still contains great examples of some of the features the smart web will bring. TBL is a true visionary, and one with a great track record of delivering on his ideas so this is not just idle speculation.

The comments by Google’s director of research are very revealing too. Will it really take 50 years for intelligent digital intermediaries to become a reality? Who knows, maybe less. What’s clear, is that the implications for the travel industry will be significant and transforming as we slowly but surely move forward with new technology developments that will make it happen. Exciting stuff!

Great post by Kevin Kelly on his blog The Technium: Two Strands of Connectionsim The chart visualizes in a compelling way the space we’re in right now and the path forward which is often described as the semantic web or web 3.0 and what will happen beyond as the web continues to evolve. This has been the undercurrent to my blog and I’m curious and fascinated to discover how all this will affect the travel industry over the coming years, as it certainly will.

is how Tim Berners-Lee in an interview with Boing Boing at TED2009 describes what the semantic web is about and comments why many have a problem understanding this next stage of development on the web. Here’s a key quote for me:

It’s not the first time I’ve had this paradigm-shift problem. Early on, people really didn’t understand why the Web was interesting. They saw it in the smaller scale, and it’s not interesting in the smaller scale. Same thing with the Semantic Web.

Having followed this subject for some time now, I tend to agree with his description. Let’s see how long it will take for this situation to improve and for more people to catch on to the facts that significant change will happen as this next phase becomes mainstream.

in this article Making sense of the ’semantic Web’ and presents a very innovative example by a German company of the kind of tools we will see being introduced over the coming years. The impact will be felt across all industries including travel. The huge amount of data about travel produced by so many sources and available is just waiting to be mined and better interpreted for improved results.

For an easy visual explanation, take a look at this video which I found very informative:

as John Markoff reports in this article Slipstream – A Software Secretary That Takes Charge on NYTimes.com about web based intelligent assistants. The company mentioned – Rearden Commerce – is a leader in providing this kind of advanced services mostly to business travelers today that we will see more of in future and that will be deployed in leisure travel as well.

DARPA – the original developer of the internet – is investing huge amounts in artificial intelligence development and although mainly intended for military use, there will be an inevitable spill over effect into the commercial world. The implications for the travel industry are huge and the changes in how travel is researched, planned and booked will undergo significant improvement over how it is done today. The circle of the pre- during and post travel phases will be completed with tools for each totally integrated and easy to use. It will be an exciting time in travel as we enter the next decade of the web. Who will be next the winners?

OK, web 2.0 is now officially part of the mainstream, as the Wall Street Journal reveals The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World!

So, the CMOs in companies of all sizes will now embrace social media, social networks, blogs etc. and know how to effectively deal with all things 2.0? Not so fast, I still have my doubts that this is the reality. There is still too much one way communication going on and attempts to control the message rather than enter the conversation, too many calls for traditional bottom line measurements of ROI and effectiveness when engaging in the social sphere. The recent stories about disappointing results of social media advertising have shown that the old yard sticks don’t apply in this new web 2.0 environment of customer empowerment, combine with low tolerance for marketing speak. One old marketing principle still applies – present the right message, to the right audience at the right moment. When people are engaged in social networks and social media that is usually not the right moment. Those are not secrets, just comment sense marketing.

The innovators have been using web 2.0 effectively for a number of years now and while the mainstream of corporate marketers are catching up, these companies, usually small and nimble, are already moving to the next phase of the web – the smart web, where semantics are added into the mix, data talks to data and the web becomes an ever more useful tool making it easier for the empowered and connected consumer to stay informed about products and services that are relevant to them and to make smart decisions about them. While web 2.0 is now established, welcome to web 3.0