TravelMole e-Wire Q&A with Catriona Campbell, Foviance

Internet Magazine voted Catriona Campbell one of the Top 50 most influential people in the internet industry in 2002 and she is a leading light in the field of psychology and human/computer interaction.

Her web analytics company Foviance has helped develop the sites of many travel suppliers including Thomas Cook, Opodo, Lastminute, STA and Bourne Leisure. She spoke to Dinah Hatch.

Q: What are the biggest challenges for travel suppliers today technology wise?

A: I believe that one of the biggest challenges is getting cross channel experience right. CRM systems were set up in isolation of the multi channel consumer, and so managing the multi channel customer’s management information and assessing ROI is next to impossible for the brand.

Another challenge includes the dawning of real mobile usage through the safari-browser enabled iPhone. In the UK, 9.9m of us have stated that we intend to buy one and a big factor is the free always-on internet connectivity. This means that web-owners will have to assess their websites for users of the iPhone. You should think about what people may want to do on the move on your site (check flight availability) and try your site through the iPhone browser. Optimising your site to include these users desires may bear fruit!

Q: . Web credibility is becoming an important buzzword for travel providers. What is it and how can suppliers achieve it?

A: Credibility for online brands is particularly relevant today as peer to peer networking though social media means that bad news travels fast. Studio Archetype and Cheskin Research recently completed a user study of web trust. The key finding is that trust is a long-term proposition online, and one that builds slowly as people use a site, like the design (this can be a subconscious factor) get good results, and don’t feel let down or cheated. In other words, true trust comes from a company’s actual behaviour towards customers’ experiences over an extended set of encounters. It’s hard to build and easy to lose. A single violation of trust can destroy years of slowly accumulated credibility

Q: As everyone knows, social networking sites and user generated content are the big stories right now in travel technology. How should suppliers react to their brand being discussed in environments they can’t control?

A: At least brands should know it is going on. Currently I would argue that too few actually keep tabs on what is happening elsewhere online about their brand. However software measuring the “buzz” [about your brand] is readily available, and should be part of a brand’s marketing team’s responsibility. But careful management must be deployed, as users are quick to turn off a brand which behaves in a dishonest manner, by tampering with reviews or user feedback. Learning from the retail world, Top Shop is the master of CGM (consumer generated media) and has a very hands-off but nurturing approach.

Q: Embracing technology and keeping up to date is crucial if you want to stay competitive. But can you go too far?

A: Going too far is exactly what Brazilian airline TAM did when it announced it will offer free virtual flights in the virtual world of Second Life. Investing a fortune in the experience, according to Reuters they offered “jaunts that will set off from Berrini Island – where avatars will be greeted by ‘a virtual pilot and a flight attendant’ – to islands called England, Milan, New York and Paris.” A spokesman explained: “Of course, avatars can fly there on their own, or we can take them there, free of charge, for which they get frequent flier points and gifts like a virtual aircraft or clothes. It’s more of an institutional marketing tool, for people to learn about the airline’s destinations, and for us to be present in this new online fever.” Of course, they came into criticism from the online travel community for lacking a business model. Whereas what STA Travel did last year by opening a travel agency, which is manned 24/7 and actually takes booking, cannot be faulted. They have made a lot of money from their venture!

Q: Your background is in psychology and human computer interaction. Could you give us some examples of how this field of study highlights what travel suppliers can do to boost their conversion rates?

A: Of course the field that I work in is not new…it has been around as a discipline researching interfaces for decades. And now it is coming of age. You use market research to assess your offline customer’s desires, their interaction with you and the ongoing relationship. This is exactly what we do for the digital media.