Cosmos backs new ebrochure initiative

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• The cloud's great but..
  
  

  I think Chris Lewis and J Hewson make some interesting general observations. Ideally content should reside in the cloud. As a content creation company our objective was to deliver our 2,000+ HD filmed videos to the sales agent desktop and for that video to play full screen in high quality on the existing PCs. Irrespective of what BT are doing to increase their internet capacity the reality is that today sales agents are typically stuck on the end of low speed broadband links making streaming video of any reasonable quality impossible. When eventually the internet connectivity is in place then we'll potentially be able to pension of the media server however the value is in the application and the content, not the delivery mechanism. I also agree that information is often best presented in a printed form, however if you're a sales agent trying to close a sale then it's far from ideal letting a customer walk out of your agency clutching a tour operator's printed brochure. Most likely the customer will use the phone number and web site address most operator's helpfully print on every page and book direct. A much better option for the agent is to create and email/print a personalised brochure with their own contact information. This also has the benefit of capturing the customer's email address. And to John Lawrence, I don't believe we've met but thanks for your feedback and support. Dave Howard managing director trailstream

  By Dave Howard, Thursday, November 12, 2009
• Don't knock it till you have seen it!!!
  
  

  What a load of tosh, from people who have not even seen the thing! I have. And put simply, if the agent uses it right and markets this as a selling tool rather than just sees it as another bit of technology, it will provide an excellent tool to get potential consumers back through our doors. It is cheap enough even without the support of Cosmos, has great content, and provides quality independent videos as well as personalised brochures - that can be emailed or printed. Well done Trailstream, well done Cosmos!

  By John Lawrence, Monday, November 9, 2009
• Printed marketing coming out on-top
  
  

  I have to agree with the comments of J Hewson. While the internet is being increasingly used for additional information, the consumer still likes to have a brochure. The touch an feel gives the consumer confidence and allows for quick browsing. The tiresome process of clicking and waiting makes it bothersome to use the internet when searching for destinations and comparing from one to another, be that hotel, cruise ship or resort In my industry (print), we have recently seen a switch back to printed marketing as the response rates are proving to be higher. There was a swing away to e-marketing for a while, but it has proved not to be as effective The internet and print have to be used in conjunction. Print is the primary marketing medium, with internet used as a support mechanism. People like to use the internet to find a better price and more information, including revues, pictures and local information Don't fall into the trap of thinking that e-marketing will save you money, and the planet, because it just isn't true. The cost may be reduced, but you will receive a lower return on your investment

  By Chris Lewis, Monday, November 9, 2009
• Customers and Catalogs
  
  

  Many travel agent customers prefer to pick-up brochures so they can look at them, at home, over a coffee. The Cosmos concept is somewhat flawed. From the description it would appear that Cosmos would serve videos over an agency's network to be viewed at either an agent's screen or an additional terminal. Agent's screens, like their telephones, should be for an agents exclusive use. The PR fluff said: 'Due to bandwidth and network connectivity restrictions video has yet to make the same impact in-store as it has on-line and trailstream.tv solves any buffering or viewing issues for the agent.' Maybe Dave Howard isn't aware that BT, the main Internet backbone provider in the UK, has committed to upgrading most of the UK Internet delivery speeds in the very near future. Besides, current practice is to *not* have local servers rather using the Internet as in the 'Cloud' concept. Howard also added: 'Our media server is unobtrusive and we update it overnight to avoid conflict with day to day operations." This claim, in my opinion, is wrong, as streaming media, albeit along a LAN, will impact other traffic carried on the network. Far better that the agency provide a URL so clients can watch at home as they do with YouTube, etc. Likely the Cosmos equipment would join the discarded terminals and hardware supplied by GDS in s year or so. Brochures satisfy clients in so many ways. The touch and smell of a brochure along with pictures accompanied by detailed nitty gritty about the destinations. An ethereal video hardly meets these experiences.

  By J Hewson, Saturday, November 7, 2009