Superbrands 2004 - Brand Autopsy

Superbrands
BRAND
several Web sites, are gaining popularity among consumers who
have little brand loyalty. That behavior creates a problem for
brands that want consumers to buy from them directly.
Hotels, for example, are attempting to eliminate price inconsistency
within their chains by offering best-rate guarantees on
their Web sites. InterContinental Group, which includes Holiday
Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels, has gone so far as to require
franchisees to sell rooms through online distributors that comply
with the company’s criteria for clear presentation of room
charges and reliable booking.
Expedia svp Barney Harford notes that 90% of the Web site’s
hotel revenue last year came from new customers who otherwise
might have never come to the hotel brand. “We’re not booking
repeat hotel customers,” he said. “We want hotels to
turn our new customers into their repeat customers.”
Third-party endorsement is also influencing travel
choices. CruiseCritic.com, SmarterLiving.com and
other sites that provide unbiased reviews are emerging
as a new channel in which brands may connect
with consumers. Royal Caribbean not only buys banner
ads on CruiseCritic, but also has hosted on-board
parties for groups of Web posters who met on the
site’s chat rooms. IgoUgo.com started with about 100
close friends posting journals about their trips. Then they
told their families and friends to read and write. Four years later,
more than a million visitors log on to IgoUgo each month to check
out travel journals covering more than 4,000 destinations.
Recognizing the power of word of mouth, Cendant’s RCI timeshare
brand has replicated the branded IgoUgo platform on its
site and has had guests write journals about their trips, displaying
reviews, good and bad, about journeys that involved the brand.
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COMPANY NAME,
LOCATION
LEAD AGENCY,
LOCATION
TRAVEL
“There is no better way to sell travel than through the eyes
of someone just like you who has been there,” said Jim Donnelly,
IgoUgo’s co-founder and president.
Suppliers better start establishing brand loyalty now because
Gen X consumers eventually will dominate the travel market.
Under-30 consumers, in particular, perceive a lack of differentiation
among travel products and are less likely to be brand loyal
or belong to a supplier loyalty program, said Henry Harteveldt,
vp-travel research for Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. They
are more apt to trust an intermediary, such as a travel agent or
Web site, for comparing choices and finding value.
“You have to have a product and image that is relevant to them
because suppliers are a commodity,” said Harteveldt.
Despite high gas prices, the car rental sector is headed into its best
summer since 2001. Solid bookings prompted sister brands Avis and
Budget to be the first to raise rates, effective July 1. Gas prices have
had little impact on the more expensive rentals of SUVs and minivans.
Vacationers traveling more than 500 miles by car will pay $10
to $20 more for fuel than they did last summer, per PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
That’s not enough reason to stay at home.
Avis Rent A Car continued its “What if we didn’t try harder?”
campaign by pursuing niches like families with latch-secured
child safety seats and disabled drivers with specially equipped
vehicles, demonstrating that it makes the extra effort to provide
for travelers needs.
“TV is the centerpiece of our media, but we already have
awareness through the roof,” said Scott Deaver, Avis’ evpmarketing.
“We really need to reach a narrow market of people
who rent cars with a fairly complex message and really
thoughtful reasons on why Avis is their best choice, and why
Avis is a premium brand.” B
HOTELS
1. Holiday Inn InterContinental Group, London Fallon, Minneapolis $11.0* $23.8 6.68 90% 7.29 58.6
InterContinental Campbell, Baltimore 2.4 6.64 21% 6.65 51.1
2. Marriott Marriott Intl., Washington, D.C. Mcgarrybowen, NY 9.0* 15.5 6.99 77% 7.33 59.2
Courtyard by Marriott Mcgarrybowen, NY 13.1 6.88 63% 7.40 58.4
3. Best Western Best Western Intl., Phoenix Dailey, West Hollywood, CA 7.4 11.7 6.47 74% 6.88 54.2
4. Radisson Carlson Hospitality, Minneapolis Bolin Marketing, Minneapolis 4.5* 8.2 6.73 63% 6.98 55.1
Regent Hotels Bolin Marketing, Minneapolis 0.2 6.44 24% 6.18 47.1
T5. Sheraton Starwood, White Plains, NY Deutsch, NY 3.8* 17.5 6.81 69% 6.97 55.9
Westin Deutsch, NY 15.0 7.03 45% 7.27 57.8
T5. Hilton Hilton Hotels, Beverly Hills, CA Foote Cone & Belding, Irvine, CA 3.8* 6.9 6.98 74% 7.05 57.3
Doubletree Hotels
CAR RENTALS
Foote Cone & Belding, CA 4.8 6.76 47% 6.94 54.9
1. Enterprise Enterprise Rent-A-Car, St. Louis Avrett Free & Ginsberg, NY $6.9 $42.7 6.59 70% 6.63 53.0
2. Hertz Ford Motor, Dearborn, MI DDB, NY 5.7 37.2 6.46 77% 6.63 52.9
3. Avis Cendant, Parsippany, NJ McCann-Erickson, NY 2.5 7.30 6.43 66% 6.47 51.5
4. Budget Cendant, Parsippany, NJ McCann-Erickson, NY 1.8 21.1 6.30 68% 6.30 49.4
5. Alamo Vanguard, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Agency Lacek, Minneapolis N/A 12.3 6.23 58% 6.25 48.8
National Agency Lacek, Minneapolis N/A 5.3 6.29 53% 6.48 50.6
* Parent company or hospitality division sales Sources: Brandweek research (sales); TNS/CMR (media); Total Research: QxFxPI=E (see key, page S18)
TOTAL
SALES
(billions)
MEDIA
EXPENDITURES
(millions)
QUALITY
FAMILIARITY
PURCHASE
INTENT
EQUITY
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