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Marketing technology agency FusePump recently teamed up with one of its clients, luxury travel flash-sale company Secret Escapes, to host a company-wide hackathon. The aim? To make better use of the brand’s product data and drive better digital engagement
Hackathons and hack days are becoming more common in this industry: as travel companies start to realise the importance of data to their business – from CRM and sales to marketing and PR – increasing numbers are either recruiting more developers and data specialists in-house or partnering with third parties to better exploit this key resource. FusePump, a marketing technology agency, works with hundreds of customers across the travel industry (as well as retail, fashion and telecoms) to help them understand and apply technology to succeed in digital commerce. This can include retargeting, affiliate marketing, digital advertising, social media and a whole lot more. And, as more travel companies seek out strategic partners with data expertise to gain an edge over their competitors, they really need to think outside the box. Enter the hackathon – where teams of developers compete to provide a solution to a brief within a very short timescale – anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days.
The importance of data and technology in travel marketing cannot be understated. Today, the challenge is using “big data” in a meaningful way, and using it to help drive sales. While travel sellers are rightly focused on understanding the needs and desires of travellers, the emergence of new channels, platforms and devices means they also need to be agile with their product inventory. As well as collecting data at every point in the customer journey, smart travel sellers should be connecting this data with live product information, to show the right deal to the right person at the right time. Of course, many players in travel won’t have their own data scientists, or armies of developers, as do the online giants such as Expedia or Booking.com. A technology partner like FusePump helps travel businesses of all sizes understand, manage and distribute their products into any number of marketing channels, to thrive online.
The four teams were tasked with finding an innovative new solution for Secret Escapes within 24 hours, using its product data, plus data from other sources, to address business and marketing needs. The brief covered four themes: understanding customers, collecting user data in a more interesting way, presenting travel products more engagingly, and building brand trust. In order to win the grand prize (Secret Escapes vouchers for every member of the winning team), FusePump’s cross-company teams of developers and commercial people had to present a working demo and business case for their new idea. Overall, this was to solve a marketing challenge, and their solution could apply to any one of the following...
Understanding customer desires Help Secret Escapes understand their current customers, uncovering interesting trends in existing customer behaviour and merging this with data from external sources for useful and useable insights.
Market research in a fun way Present a new method for gathering data on potential customers, across any touch-point, which will encourage engagement and help categorise users.
Presenting products exquisitely Offer a better way to present products to Secret Escapes customers, which will encourage engagement and connect data sets. Tailor holiday suggestions based on inputs, and provide new ways to filter.
Building brand trust Use technology and data to reassure Secret Escapes customers about the low prices of holiday offers, and help users compare and research deals.
Anything else Alternatively, come up with something original that will help Secret Escapes such as understanding trends, distributing and testing adverts, exploring new channels and integrating with social media and new platforms.
The teams had 24 hours to come up with a solution that addressed one of the above themes. They had to produce a working demo, a one-page summary of what they had created, a 10-minute (5-slide) presentation on their solution – and present this in front of four esteemed judges on the Friday afternoon.
Thinking about entering a hackathon? Click here to check out FusePump’s handy guide for hackathon victory
"Our hackathons don’t just test the ability of developers to code and commercial people to present a demo. It’s about teamwork, thinking creatively, and understanding the business case. While we wanted to please Secret Escapes with our solutions, we also wanted to come up with something of value to other clients."
Barney Larkin, marketing director, FusePump
The judges – click here to see who was on the judging panel – were looking out for the following: the application of creativity and innovation to address the brief; the use of commercial knowledge (understanding Secret Escapes’ business model and marketing objectives); and the use of first-party (and third-party) data to execute a smart technological solution. There were also bonus points allocated for: consideration of how their solution could be developed and used in conjunction with relevant digital trends, for example social media, the Internet of Things and geolocation; combination of product data with other sources; and incorporating elements from the other themes in their final presentation.
Click here to access the FusePump travel hackathon microsite!
"Our strapline is ‘creative with technology’ and I think this hackathon really proves that we are indeed creative with technology, and able to do plenty of interesting things with our clients’ data."
Robert Durkin, chief executive and co-founder, FusePump
Team 4 – the winners of the Hackathon – came up with a clever way for Secret Escapes to build brand trust and show the real value of their offers. By gathering product information from Secret Escapes and their competitors, FusePump could help them show how their holiday deals really do offer great value for money.
Using existing FusePump technology, the team would gather information availability and price details for offers on competitor sites similar to those on Secret Escapes (such as same room, and check-in and check-out dates). Based on the insight that Secret Escapes may sometimes offer the same price as a competitor, but for a better room, the technology would also collect those “added extras”, such as meals, vouchers and room upgrades. Reviews and ratings from third-party sites could be added to the database, which would be normalised and optimised for use in any channel.
The resulting data could then be distributed to the Secret Escapes website and other marketing channels via an API, as additional advertising content. Automated alerts could also be sent to Secret Escapes when competitor prices dropped, and the insights could be used to ensure every listing on their site had the relevant perks to make it a compelling offer.
Team member Daniel, the account manager for Secret Escapes at FusePump, said: “This solution makes use of first and third-party data to create a persuasive marketing message: Secret Escapes has the best deals on luxury travel packages, with more great perks included, as well as terrific prices. This information is not only incredibly useful for the marketing department, it can also be deployed on their website, in social media and for display retargeting, to help convince sceptics and convert browsers to bookers.”
Hackathon judge Donovan Frew, chief technical officer at Secret Escapes, says: “This team’s pitch was the most relevant as it best addressed the current needs of the business. We need to show that each excellent deal is not only of the same value as that of a more expensive competitor, but in many instances better value because of the added extras. This solution would let consumers see this without even leaving our site.”
