Objective

Develop and implement a strategy for us—Vacanceselect, a provider of camping vacations in Central and Southern Europe—that will help us achieve further growth in a travel market where building customer loyalty is a real challenge.

Execution

The foundation

  • Brand positioning and product portfolio: We began with a brand revitalization, positioning Vacanceselect as the go-to brand for vacation inspiration, featuring stories from real Vacanceselect customers. We also brought more structure to the product offering, which had become somewhat diluted over time.

Business transformation

  • Customer experience avant la lettre: Developed and implemented a data-driven strategy that served leads and customers with relevant content and stories based on their specific behaviors. The standard vacation brochure was also transformed into a vacation inspiration magazine.
  • Omni-channel activation: Launched an omni-channel activation campaign, following the delivery of the e-commerce platform and CRM infrastructure, centered around Vacanceselect’s presence at the Vacation Fair in January.

Digital transformation

  • Data and IT infrastructure analysis and design: Using functional requirements and insights into the existing data and IT infrastructure, my team and I designed the technical environment and determined how to integrate marketing technology.
  • CRM infrastructure development: Implemented the basic content management system and e-commerce platform, a customer data platform, and connected these with existing IT systems to manage all relevant customer data.
  • New E-commerce platform: Designed, developed, and implemented the e-commerce platform, seamlessly integrated with the CRM back-end infrastructure.

Results

  • A refreshed, distinctive brand proposition as a provider of inspiring vacation stories and products.
  • Clear differentiation in vacation products for customers.
  • A completely new e-commerce platform with rich user-generated content and an intuitive booking engine, significantly improving the customer experience.
  • A new IT back-end environment (marketing technology) enabling Vacanceselect to work and communicate in a data-driven manner.
  • A 5% increase in bookings in the first year post-launch, in a declining market.
  • Vacanceselect received multiple nominations for the DDMA Data Awards.