Today’s lifestyle is shaped by technology–for better and for worse
[by Bruce Newman- San Jose Mercury News]
With a fierce hold on the bedrock tool of our time, 21st-century man wraps his life around a most modern convenience — the smartphone — and begins his day, thumbs flying.
These portals in the palm of our hands are passports to a nearly friction-free online world, where long lines are banished, where Bach and the Beatles wait to be summoned from our pockets, and where global positioning satellites descend from the cloud with maps.
The upheaval has reordered our lives around easier, faster and more impersonal ways of doing almost everything. We’ve been swept up in a global “service economy” that distributes entire industries into new categories of digitally-enabled winners and brick-and-mortar losers.
It also has upended the relationship between digital natives, who find all this convenience so natural, and their graying elders, warily embracing technology’s possibilities, while missing quaint modalities like face-to-face conversation.
Phones and family
As the Moore family wakes up, eyes blink open, and screens blink on in every room of their home. Randy, 18, sleeps with his iPhone. Dylan, 14, doesn’t know where his mobile phone is, and doesn’t care. But 12-year-old sister Alyssa sleeps with her iPhone under her pillow.
When her father comes to wake her, he often finds her in bed, phone already in hand — thumbs flying. “Which is somewhat disturbing to me,” Bill, 58, said.
He has been pulled along by his family into a world of e-commerce, e-vites and just enough convenience that he has surrendered.
By 7 a.m. on most days, Bill has already answered emails and texts from employees at his construction business. He used to have to drive all over the San Francisco Bay Area to deliver design plans to prospective customers; now he texts them, and usually gets an annotated response within minutes.
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trends. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
[Advanced] Capitalism With a Conscience (2)
Others are talking the talk but not walking the walk. Several large retailers, for example, embrace the image of kindness by asking customers at check-out to donate to charitable causes. That's, arguably, a far cry from a sustained and deep-seated effort from within. Even then, this national epidemic of corporate kindness is grounded in one rationale: It works.
Some 47% of consumers say they buy, every month, at least one brand that supports a good cause, according to a 2012 global survey by public relations firm Edelman. That's a 47% increase from 2010. What's more, some 72% of consumers say they would recommend a brand that supports a good cause -- a 38% increase in two years.
Just as compelling, consumers say they're more likely to discuss the good deeds a company does than they are to discuss a company's financial performance, according to a 2012 Weber Shandwick survey.
Doing good is becoming less an option and more a requirement. But it's tricky. It's not just about writing checks anymore, and most Millennials have a seemingly innate ability to smell out manufactured kindness. Corporate kindness must be grounded in an holistic sense of good that can't feel, smell or taste like it's been painted on by the corporate spin-meisters. It has to come from within.
"You can't hire someone to give you values," says Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread, which in the past 18 months has opened a handful of Panera Cares restaurants in urban areas that ask customers to pay only what they can afford -- even if it's just volunteering for an hour. "Kindness can't be a corporate tactic that's buried in the marketing department."
At the five Panera Cares restaurants, some customers don't pay at all – but that's OK, because others willingly some pay extra. The profits are primarily used to job-train at-risk kids.
Panera Cares is now making that difference in five cities, with plans to expand to more.
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20131008ada2dd86a90073e761acf98d8a15ca501cfba35650a9a15fcc6f558c920266af660.wma
Some 47% of consumers say they buy, every month, at least one brand that supports a good cause, according to a 2012 global survey by public relations firm Edelman. That's a 47% increase from 2010. What's more, some 72% of consumers say they would recommend a brand that supports a good cause -- a 38% increase in two years.
Just as compelling, consumers say they're more likely to discuss the good deeds a company does than they are to discuss a company's financial performance, according to a 2012 Weber Shandwick survey.
Doing good is becoming less an option and more a requirement. But it's tricky. It's not just about writing checks anymore, and most Millennials have a seemingly innate ability to smell out manufactured kindness. Corporate kindness must be grounded in an holistic sense of good that can't feel, smell or taste like it's been painted on by the corporate spin-meisters. It has to come from within.
"You can't hire someone to give you values," says Ron Shaich, founder of Panera Bread, which in the past 18 months has opened a handful of Panera Cares restaurants in urban areas that ask customers to pay only what they can afford -- even if it's just volunteering for an hour. "Kindness can't be a corporate tactic that's buried in the marketing department."
At the five Panera Cares restaurants, some customers don't pay at all – but that's OK, because others willingly some pay extra. The profits are primarily used to job-train at-risk kids.
Panera Cares is now making that difference in five cities, with plans to expand to more.
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20131008ada2dd86a90073e761acf98d8a15ca501cfba35650a9a15fcc6f558c920266af660.wma
Monday, October 7, 2013
[Advanced] Capitalism With a Conscience (1)
Trend-setting Millennials encourage retailers to embrace kindness and do more good
by Bruce Horovitz / © 2013, USA Today. Distributed by McClatchy Information Services.
At a handful of Panera locations, down-and-out folks pay only what they can afford. Nordstrom recently opened a test store where all profits go to charity. Starbucks has three coffee shops where a big chunk of the money made helps the needy. This isn't capitalism gone wacko. It’s capitalism with a conscience.
No longer the exception
For decades, this kind of corporate kindness was the exception, but in the past few years, dozens of America’s biggest brands have embraced socially kind deeds as an effective way to sell themselves to consumers, employees, even stockholders. Some are listening to their hearts—while others are listening to social-media chatter and creating consumable spin.
In either case, there is one audience that’s watching closely: Millennials. This trend-setting, if not free-spending group of 95 million Americans, born between 1982 and 2004, live and breathe social media and are convinced that doing the right thing isn’t just vogue, but mandatory.With nearly a third of the population driving this trend, kindness is becoming the nation’s newest currency.
“Companies can’t hide any more,” says Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. Because everything they do becomes social-media fodder, he says, “forward-looking companies are starting to do less bad—and more good.”
Moving in the right direction
But it’s no longer just outliers such as Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods doing the right thing. More likely sooner than later, corporate kindness that doesn’t have its origins in the public relations or human resources department may become as common as coupons. Even in a dicey economy, kindness sells.“Millennials who got burned by the recession feel a resentment to consumerism, but have few alternatives,” says Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist. “They had to create one: Love one another.”
Not love in the ’60s, hippie sense, but love in the show-me-what-you’re-doing-for-others sense.Some are doing it at ground level. Some are making genuine, company-wide efforts.
capitalism n.
an economic and political system in which businesses belong mostly to private owners, not to the government
wacko n.
/ˈwækoʊ/
a person who is crazy or very strange and unusual
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20131007ada94c5213ed3cfb6223224e0c71e4b2c944ffaa81e4c9f9d2bbf2b8fcf714c5a15.wma
by Bruce Horovitz / © 2013, USA Today. Distributed by McClatchy Information Services.
At a handful of Panera locations, down-and-out folks pay only what they can afford. Nordstrom recently opened a test store where all profits go to charity. Starbucks has three coffee shops where a big chunk of the money made helps the needy. This isn't capitalism gone wacko. It’s capitalism with a conscience.
No longer the exception
For decades, this kind of corporate kindness was the exception, but in the past few years, dozens of America’s biggest brands have embraced socially kind deeds as an effective way to sell themselves to consumers, employees, even stockholders. Some are listening to their hearts—while others are listening to social-media chatter and creating consumable spin.
In either case, there is one audience that’s watching closely: Millennials. This trend-setting, if not free-spending group of 95 million Americans, born between 1982 and 2004, live and breathe social media and are convinced that doing the right thing isn’t just vogue, but mandatory.With nearly a third of the population driving this trend, kindness is becoming the nation’s newest currency.
“Companies can’t hide any more,” says Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. Because everything they do becomes social-media fodder, he says, “forward-looking companies are starting to do less bad—and more good.”
Moving in the right direction
But it’s no longer just outliers such as Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods doing the right thing. More likely sooner than later, corporate kindness that doesn’t have its origins in the public relations or human resources department may become as common as coupons. Even in a dicey economy, kindness sells.“Millennials who got burned by the recession feel a resentment to consumerism, but have few alternatives,” says Robbie Blinkoff, a consumer anthropologist. “They had to create one: Love one another.”
Not love in the ’60s, hippie sense, but love in the show-me-what-you’re-doing-for-others sense.Some are doing it at ground level. Some are making genuine, company-wide efforts.
capitalism n.
an economic and political system in which businesses belong mostly to private owners, not to the government
wacko n.
/ˈwækoʊ/
a person who is crazy or very strange and unusual
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20131007ada94c5213ed3cfb6223224e0c71e4b2c944ffaa81e4c9f9d2bbf2b8fcf714c5a15.wma
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
[Advanced] Super-Cocooning (1) (2) (3)
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130708ada3bfd6142c2e97b14202efa9a3db6f93f16c7f171b219ec5082df3c0ee434b681.wma
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130709adaa851ab884de2a20c87aaa06387b611c49692362fbf801bdd87bd0b8b8386f03d.wma
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130710ada14485a38f451684091b54aac0f163ff9628797146a5bccf3101b2cf6014760d5.wma
Thursday, May 30, 2013
[Advanced] Yelp Continues on Its Path of Success (3)
A Rare Genius
Yelp's sales force would be meaningless if the reviews weren't useful. Yelp initially limited critiques to a few hundred characters, but every month or so, Stoppelman would double the limit to try to keep up with the users' critical enthusiasm. Today, reviews max out at 5,001 characters and often include a comical level of detail. Yelp reviews may be plagued with frequent misspellings, overexuberance, and curious digressions, but they are generally accurate.
The company's genius is in taking these idiosyncratic assessments and making sense of them. Yelp's review algorithm gives each establishment an average star ranking and filters out shills and less experienced critics. "Typically, the push back about Yelp is, What does some college kid know about restaurants?" says Michael Luca, an economist at Harvard Business School. "People tend to assume that crowdsourced information is so erratic that it's impossible to extract meaningful signals from it. But that's not true."
Proving the Point
Luca has the data to prove it. In a recent study, he compared Yelp ratings of restaurants in Washington State with actual sales figures reported to the state's Department of Revenue. He found that a one-star improvement in a business's Yelp rating was associated with, on average, a revenue increase between 5% and 9%.
Stoppelman points out an interesting wrinkle in the study: Whereas independent restaurants received an outsize benefit from good Yelp reviews, chain restaurants appeared to be unaffected by their reviews, either good or bad. "That's something we theorized about early on," Stoppelman says, "We thought that the main reason somebody ends up at Starbucks is that they don't want to deal with the possibility that the independent coffee shop isn't any good. But with Yelp, you have that confidence."
critique n.
/krəˈti:k/
a detailed explanation of the problems of something such as a set of political ideas;
a careful judgment in which you give your opinion about the good and bad
parts of something (such as a piece of writing or a work of art)
plague v.
to cause constant or repeated trouble, illness, etc., for (someone or something)
digression n.
/daɪˈgrɛʃən/
digress v.
/daɪˈgrɛs/
to speak or write about something that is different from the main subject being discussed
idiosyncratic n.
/ˌɪdijəˈsɪŋkrəsi/
an unusual way in which a particular person behaves or thinks
erratic adj.
/ɪˈrætɪk/
something that is erratic does not follow any pattern or plan but happens in a way that is not regular;
acting, moving, or changing in ways that are not expected or usual : not consistent or regular
wrinkle n.
/ˈrɪŋkəl/
a surprising or unexpected occurrence in a story or series of events
theorize v.
/ˈθi:jəˌraɪz/
to think of or suggest ideas about what is possibly true or real : to form or suggest a theory about something
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130531ada4bd6f939d61c55a23085e80068c7887f.wma
Yelp's sales force would be meaningless if the reviews weren't useful. Yelp initially limited critiques to a few hundred characters, but every month or so, Stoppelman would double the limit to try to keep up with the users' critical enthusiasm. Today, reviews max out at 5,001 characters and often include a comical level of detail. Yelp reviews may be plagued with frequent misspellings, overexuberance, and curious digressions, but they are generally accurate.
The company's genius is in taking these idiosyncratic assessments and making sense of them. Yelp's review algorithm gives each establishment an average star ranking and filters out shills and less experienced critics. "Typically, the push back about Yelp is, What does some college kid know about restaurants?" says Michael Luca, an economist at Harvard Business School. "People tend to assume that crowdsourced information is so erratic that it's impossible to extract meaningful signals from it. But that's not true."
Proving the Point
Luca has the data to prove it. In a recent study, he compared Yelp ratings of restaurants in Washington State with actual sales figures reported to the state's Department of Revenue. He found that a one-star improvement in a business's Yelp rating was associated with, on average, a revenue increase between 5% and 9%.
Stoppelman points out an interesting wrinkle in the study: Whereas independent restaurants received an outsize benefit from good Yelp reviews, chain restaurants appeared to be unaffected by their reviews, either good or bad. "That's something we theorized about early on," Stoppelman says, "We thought that the main reason somebody ends up at Starbucks is that they don't want to deal with the possibility that the independent coffee shop isn't any good. But with Yelp, you have that confidence."
critique n.
/krəˈti:k/
plague v.
to cause constant or repeated trouble, illness, etc., for (someone or something)
digression n.
/daɪˈgrɛʃən/
digress v.
/daɪˈgrɛs/
to speak or write about something that is different from the main subject being discussed
idiosyncratic n.
/ˌɪdijəˈsɪŋkrəsi/
an unusual way in which a particular person behaves or thinks
erratic adj.
/ɪˈrætɪk/
wrinkle n.
/ˈrɪŋkəl/
a surprising or unexpected occurrence in a story or series of events
theorize v.
/ˈθi:jəˌraɪz/
to think of or suggest ideas about what is possibly true or real : to form or suggest a theory about something
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130531ada4bd6f939d61c55a23085e80068c7887f.wma
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
[Advanced] Yelp Continues on Its Path of Success (2)
Going Local
Despite this daunting list, Stoppelman operates like someone who knows something nobody else does. Yelp has built a business that's the envy of its rivals.
To understand why Yelp is well positioned in the fight to digitize local advertising, first consider the prevailing attitude of the competition. "Local is the holy grail of the Internet," Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, told analysts in July. "The problem with local businesses is they are just not very tech savvy."
Her curious suggestion that local businesses are somehow to blame for failing, as she put it, to "adapt things... that we would think they would obviously adapt," doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Local businesses are, in fact, buying online ads--$19 billion worth in 2012, according to Gordon Borrell, whose eponymous research firm specializes in local media. They're just not buying much on Facebook or Google.
The Sales Force
Perhaps the most contrary move Stoppelman has made as Yelp's CEO has been to embrace what's been anathema to his web 2.0 contemporaries: He hired a sales force. Stoppelman has lifted his approach from the granddaddy of local advertising, the Yellow Pages. Yelp's advertising program is similar to the Yellow Pages, too: Businesses buy subscriptions for several hundred dollars a month in order to promote their reviews and to add special tweaks to their profiles.
While critics knock Facebook for its low advertising rates, which are about $1 for every thousand impressions in the United States, Yelp has the opposite problem: It gets accused of charging too much.
Thing is, the majority of Yelp's customers and advertisers don't seem to mind. In August, Yelp reported that it had 32,000 paying clients, more than double the total from last year. An additional 791,000 businesses have free accounts where they can post pictures and respond to users' reviews.
daunting adj.
frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident;
tending to make people afraid or less confident : very difficult to do or deal with
prevailing adj.
usual, common, or popular;
existing or accepted in a particular place or at a particular time [= current]
holy grail n.
something that people want very much, but which is very difficult or impossible to achieve
savvy n.
practical understanding or knowledge of something;
practical knowledge and ability
eponymous adj.
/ɛˋpɑnəməs/
the eponymous character in a book, film, or play is the character whose name is in its title
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130530ada2891df439b062f6f28ee63a6a1f629aa.wma
Despite this daunting list, Stoppelman operates like someone who knows something nobody else does. Yelp has built a business that's the envy of its rivals.
To understand why Yelp is well positioned in the fight to digitize local advertising, first consider the prevailing attitude of the competition. "Local is the holy grail of the Internet," Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, told analysts in July. "The problem with local businesses is they are just not very tech savvy."
Her curious suggestion that local businesses are somehow to blame for failing, as she put it, to "adapt things... that we would think they would obviously adapt," doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Local businesses are, in fact, buying online ads--$19 billion worth in 2012, according to Gordon Borrell, whose eponymous research firm specializes in local media. They're just not buying much on Facebook or Google.
The Sales Force
Perhaps the most contrary move Stoppelman has made as Yelp's CEO has been to embrace what's been anathema to his web 2.0 contemporaries: He hired a sales force. Stoppelman has lifted his approach from the granddaddy of local advertising, the Yellow Pages. Yelp's advertising program is similar to the Yellow Pages, too: Businesses buy subscriptions for several hundred dollars a month in order to promote their reviews and to add special tweaks to their profiles.
While critics knock Facebook for its low advertising rates, which are about $1 for every thousand impressions in the United States, Yelp has the opposite problem: It gets accused of charging too much.
Thing is, the majority of Yelp's customers and advertisers don't seem to mind. In August, Yelp reported that it had 32,000 paying clients, more than double the total from last year. An additional 791,000 businesses have free accounts where they can post pictures and respond to users' reviews.
daunting adj.
frightening in a way that makes you feel less confident;
tending to make people afraid or less confident : very difficult to do or deal with
prevailing adj.
usual, common, or popular;
holy grail n.
something that people want very much, but which is very difficult or impossible to achieve
savvy n.
practical understanding or knowledge of something;
practical knowledge and ability
eponymous adj.
/ɛˋpɑnəməs/
the eponymous character in a book, film, or play is the character whose name is in its title
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130530ada2891df439b062f6f28ee63a6a1f629aa.wma
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
[Advanced] Yelp Continues on Its Path of Success (1)
In the fractured and fractious world of local advertising, Jeremy Stoppelman and Yelp are shooting for the moon (By Max Chafkin)
Sometime last year, the home button on my iPhone stopped working. I spent a few fruitless hours trying to fix it myself - then proceeded to the Apple Store. Cost: $200.
An easier solution
Then I found Peter. A thirty-something guy, Peter works in a shoebox of an office (on the seventh floor of a shabby building) in San Francisco's financial district. There is a worktable, a watercooler, some mismatched furniture, and, crucially, a letter tacked to his bulletin board with the following words printed in large block letters: PEOPLE LOVE US ON YELP.
To Peter and millions of other local businesses, Yelp, the San Francisco-based company that has become the largest and best source for online reviews, might as well be the Internet. I had found Peter by doing a quick search for "home button repair" using the Yelp app on my barely functional iPhone. I used the app to get directions, and within 10 minutes Peter was dissecting my phone.
Cost: $89, less than half what Apple charges. It was, as I would write in my Yelp review, another five-star experience.
Yelp's mission
When I relate my story to Yelp's 35-year-old CEO and cofounder, Jeremy Stoppelman, he gives me a sly grin. "The mission," he tells me, "is connecting people with great local businesses."
He makes it sound simple, but in fact, Stoppelman is tackling - several of the most bedeviling problems to challenge Internet companies today. Yelp is in the local advertising business, a market that no Internet company has ever truly disrupted but one so tantalizingly large (worth between $90 billion and $130 billion, depending on whom you ask) that it has attracted the likes of Facebook, Google, and Groupon, larger rivals that would like to crush Yelp. Its users are increasingly coming via mobile phones, which are reputedly less amenable to ads.
fractured adj.
/ˋfræktʃɚ/
if a group, country etc fractures, or if it is fractured, it divides into parts in an unfriendly way because of disagreement [= split]
fractious adj.
/ˈfrækʃəs/
someone who is fractious becomes angry very easily [= irritable]
reach/shoot for the moon
to try to do or get something that is very difficult to do or get
- an ambitious businessman who is always shooting for the moon
fruitless adj.
failing to achieve what was wanted, especially after a lot of effort [≠ fruitful]
shoebox n.
1 a cardboard box that shoes are sold in;
2 a very small room, house etc
tack v.
/ˈtæk/
to attach something to a wall, board etc, using a tack
shabby adj.
shabby clothes, places, or objects are untidy and in bad condition because they have been used for a long time
crucial adj.
/ˈkru:ʃəl/
something that is crucial is extremely important, because everything else depends on it
—crucially adverb
dissect v.
/daɪˈsɛkt, dɪˈsɛkt/
a smile, look etc that shows you know something secret
/ˈgrɪn/
to smile widely
tackle v.
to try to deal with a difficult problem
bedevil v.
/bɪˈdɛvəl/
to cause a lot of problems and difficulties for someone or something over a period of time [= plague]
a person, group, or organization that you compete with in sport, business, a fight etc [= competitor]
according to what some people say [= reportedly]
Sometime last year, the home button on my iPhone stopped working. I spent a few fruitless hours trying to fix it myself - then proceeded to the Apple Store. Cost: $200.
An easier solution
Then I found Peter. A thirty-something guy, Peter works in a shoebox of an office (on the seventh floor of a shabby building) in San Francisco's financial district. There is a worktable, a watercooler, some mismatched furniture, and, crucially, a letter tacked to his bulletin board with the following words printed in large block letters: PEOPLE LOVE US ON YELP.
To Peter and millions of other local businesses, Yelp, the San Francisco-based company that has become the largest and best source for online reviews, might as well be the Internet. I had found Peter by doing a quick search for "home button repair" using the Yelp app on my barely functional iPhone. I used the app to get directions, and within 10 minutes Peter was dissecting my phone.
Cost: $89, less than half what Apple charges. It was, as I would write in my Yelp review, another five-star experience.
Yelp's mission
When I relate my story to Yelp's 35-year-old CEO and cofounder, Jeremy Stoppelman, he gives me a sly grin. "The mission," he tells me, "is connecting people with great local businesses."
He makes it sound simple, but in fact, Stoppelman is tackling - several of the most bedeviling problems to challenge Internet companies today. Yelp is in the local advertising business, a market that no Internet company has ever truly disrupted but one so tantalizingly large (worth between $90 billion and $130 billion, depending on whom you ask) that it has attracted the likes of Facebook, Google, and Groupon, larger rivals that would like to crush Yelp. Its users are increasingly coming via mobile phones, which are reputedly less amenable to ads.
fractured adj.
/ˋfræktʃɚ/
fractious adj.
/ˈfrækʃəs/
reach/shoot for the moon
to try to do or get something that is very difficult to do or get
- an ambitious businessman who is always shooting for the moon
fruitless adj.
shoebox n.
2 a very small room, house etc
tack v.
/ˈtæk/
to attach something to a wall, board etc, using a tack
shabby adj.
shabby clothes, places, or objects are untidy and in bad condition because they have been used for a long time
crucial adj.
/ˈkru:ʃəl/
something that is crucial is extremely important, because everything else depends on it
—crucially adverb
dissect v.
/daɪˈsɛkt, dɪˈsɛkt/
1 to cut up the body of a dead animal or person in order to study it
2 to examine something carefully in order to understand it
3 to divide an area of land into several smaller pieces
sly adj.
/ˈslaɪ/
grin v.
disrupt v.
to cause (something) to be unable to continue in the normal way : to interrupt the normal progress or activity of (something)
tantalizing v.
/ˈtæntəˌlaɪz/
to cause (someone) to feel interest or excitement about something that is very attractive, appealing, etc.
—tantalizingly adv.
rival n.
/ˈraɪvəl/
crush v.
to defeat (a person or group that opposes you) by using a lot of force
reputedly adv.
amenable adj.
/əˈmi:nəbəl/
willing to accept what someone says or does without arguing
Monday, April 1, 2013
[Advanced] The Future of Travel (1) (2)
Companies and consumers race to adapt to the changing face of travel
(USA) It's a turbulent but opportune time for online travel companies. With mobile technology developing quickly, and stiffening competition from niche start-ups and established players such as Google, they're innovating and adjusting on the go.
USA TODAY assembled five of the industry's top executives at the PhoCusWright conference in Hollywood, Fla., this month for a discussion on the industry's latest developments: Jeffery Boyd, CEO of Priceline.com; Carl Sparks, CEO of Travelocity Global; Scott Durchslag, president of Expedia Worldwide;Stephen Kaufer, CEO of TripAdvisor; and Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz Worldwide.
MORE: Latest trends, challenges in the cruising industry
The hour-long event was moderated by USA TODAY's Veronica Gould Stoddart and Roger Yu. The text has been edited for clarity and length.
USA TODAY: Some customers believe the user experience and technology at online travel agencies (OTAs) haven't changed much in recent years. Your response?
Boyd: I don't agree. All of us have spent hundreds of millions of dollars building faster, better user interfaces. Our Booking.com offers hotels in 90 countries and 50 languages and 170,000 hotels, a number (that) is up 60% year-over-year. A lot of that represents new geography. Mobile platforms (are) a massive positive change in user experience and functionality.
Durchslag: There is an opportunity for the travel industry to be more innovative, really embracing technology. We're looking at a (service in which) Expedia (is becoming) the Netflix of travel, to stream you perfect trips with highly relevant and personalized offers. I don't think the consumer really wants to go shop at six different sites.
Sparks: We see very different browsing and booking profiles (on mobile platforms). One of our key products is Travelocity Top Secret Hotels, where you don't know (the hotel) you're (buying). These last-minute deals to get away have been very successful, double-digit percentage (growth). On mobile, it (has grown) three times.
Harford: (In) the recommended hotels module we just launched, we (look at) people who shopped for a particular hotel but ended up at (another), finding other hotels that are similar. We want to recognize the attributes of each consumer. For example, our data show that consumers who purchase on a Mac vs. a PC typically book a room that's $20 more expensive. You can imagine the richness of that kind of information. We put over $145 million (into) a five-year re-platforming project — building a common platform (for) all of our brands. A couple of years ago, we might have launched the site four, five, six times a year. This year, we expect to do over 800 (changes on) the site.
Durchslag: We were stuck for quite a while on a technology platform. But all but three of all of (our) pages on the site will change by this time next year. Given the complexity of all the back-end systems, it's no small thing.
USA TODAY: Marriott and Starwood now run their customers' reviews and guarantee reviews are from their guests. How do you make sure your reviews are accurate and honest?
Kaufer: We're very aware people are depending upon TripAdvisor for the right answer, the trustworthy answer. And if we lose that, we're in trouble. (In our survey), 98% of consumers said they believe the reviews on TripAdvisor. We launched hundreds of thousands of tips on hotels. We have millions of candid photos. It's pretty hard to shave the truth with a photo. We're perfectly fine if Marriott, Starwood and anyone else carry reviews on their own site. We would love to work with them to help collect reviews. They can leverage our trusted brand … (because) the consumers are going to be skeptical that (the hotels) are not filtering out the bad reviews.
USA TODAY: What have you done to ensure that hotels aren't paying for good reviews on TripAdvisor?
Kaufer: We're pleased to see more and more hoteliers writing management responses. We're very clear to hoteliers that if you engage in writing fake reviews, it's illegal in most countries (including the USA). If we catch you, we first give you a warning and then a big red badge. It has an impact on business.
USA TODAY: Expedia recently partnered with Groupon for daily getaway deals. How is that initiative going?
Durchslag: We're now up into millions of folks who have registered. It is the fastest trajectory takeoff of anything we've launched. It is not cannibalistic; it is complementary. We have learned a ton working with (Groupon) that would have taken us a year or more to figure out on our own. I know there's a lot of speculation. Is this sustainable? It is early. It's the first inning. But everything that we're seeing leads me to believe that it is big.
USA TODAY: When we tried Expedia/Groupon Getaways, we found deals that weren't quite 50% to 60% off as advertised. How can you ensure that your deals are really good?
Durchslag: That's part of the learning curve. It's not always a perfect process. We're getting better and better. You're going to lose consumer confidence if you don't (offer) something that's better. I think if you did that same check today, you would have a different outcome.
USA TODAY: Are any of the other online travel sites working on something similar?
Harford: We've launched Orbitz Insider Steals, which is a 72-hour window, member-only set of offerings that come out every week. We were concerned about the voucher-type model, where you (might not be able) to go on a particular weekend that you want to go. So we went with this (model) — these are the dates available today, and you need to make the booking right now.
Kaufer: Our Sneak Away flash sale product is only talking about properties that the millions of consumers out there have said, "Hey, this is a great place." What we all like about the concept is that it's inspiring more travel.
Sparks: I think (daily deals) may end up being a little bit more of a niche than the mainstream for most of our businesses. It is going to be one or two or three percent of the business. So we focus more on having everyday great deals. In (Travelocity's) Top Secret Hotels, (hotels are) about 50% (off).
Boyd: I probably have a different view on how compelling the deals are. Some of them look like everyday promotional pricing that the hotels provide to a lot of other distribution channels. And that's not fulfilling the promise they're trying to make to the customer. So I think Groupon has to be very careful. If we invest in flash sales, we would do that to build our own brands. We wouldn't do that to help Groupon.
USA TODAY: Tapping your social network for travel advice is a big trend, and a lot of start-ups are after the business. What are your plans?
Kaufer: It's a beautiful promise. The challenge is scale, scale, scale. How many of your friends have actually jotted down all of their thoughts on all of the places they have been? None of them, I promise you. I wish all of these innovators luck in getting there. We're a Facebook partner. Even if you've never been on TripAdvisor, you can see the travel-related things that (say) six of your 200 friends have done recently.
Durchslag: We did a big very viral promotion called Friend Trips. It was a million-dollar sweepstakes. We basically went from (about) 100,000 Facebook fans to about 1.1 million in about five weeks. But it's a bridge from there to booking a trip. We're thinking much more broadly (to include) discovery, booking, the trip, the help you need and sharing the trip afterward … and making it so simple that it becomes effortless. That's the next level.
Sparks: We launched Ask and Answer. Consumers can ask questions about the property. We found that three-quarters of customers still have questions, particularly (about) hotel bookings, even after they finish their online research on multiple sites. We have nearly 15,000 questions up already in the first month. Hoteliers and other consumers can answer (them).
USA TODAY: More travel sites are placing a premium on travel (editorial) content. Is this a priority for you?
Boyd: We have content that is relevant to consumers at the point where they're getting ready to decide to make a reservation. And not throw in there, "By the way, you can go out to dinner at Hollywood Prime." We offer city guides on some of our (sites). But we haven't found that to be a point of differentiation in where consumers are deciding to shop.
Sparks: Yes, that would be similar for Travelocity. What they need is more great content about (their) hotel. We've been much more focused on getting that right.
Kaufer: (With our new) Mobile City guides, you pull out the phone and figure out the next walking tour in London. Our premise is that we're helping you so much at all of the touch points except the booking piece. Then, you'll come back and start trip planning with us.
Harford: Google's acquisition of Zagat is intriguing. We're doing some experimentation around semantic analysis to understand the signals inherent in large amounts of content. (In) family travel, people are talking about kid-friendly amenities. If we're able to extract that, show a set of reviews that talk about those amenities and (show) family-friendly hotels, that's a lot more useful to consumers.
USA TODAY: Google entered the flight search business with Google Flights after buying ITA Software. Your impression so far?
Harford: It's a pretty incomplete product. Forty percent of consumers who purchase travel online are purchasing through travel agencies. The airlines have made pretty clear that they don't want to have metasearch sites (such as Google Flights and Kayak) offering OTA prices. If you're a Google trying to build a metasite, or if you're a Kayak, it makes that value proposition very challenging. Increasingly, you can't even buy interline itineraries (on some metasearch sites), where you go out on one carrier and back on another.
Durchslag: It is surprising because Google stands behind putting the consumer first in terms of choices. And that wasn't done here. Hotels have very strong feelings about some of us here. But what they've paid to us is probably a fraction of what they would potentially pay to Google.
Kaufer: It's a surprise, because Google claims to always be about the consumer. I immediately went to use it, and (I thought) "why would I come back?" If I'm looking for the best price and the widest selection, I would have to use an OTA because Google Flights doesn't offer that.
USA TODAY: Regarding your efforts with mobile technology, how fast will mobile take over your traditional business in the next five years?
Kaufer: I don't see desktop research being replaced (by mobile). But we have 10 million downloads of our app. There are really nice apps coming out from all of those around the table.
Sparks: Very fast. I mean, 30% to 40% of the business in the time frame that you're talking about. You might get together with a bunch of friends and say, "Hey, we should really go to Vegas." And everyone leaves and forgets about it. With mobile, we actually (book) it right then.
Harford: We're surprised how fast it's happening. On CheapTickets, 8% of its hotel reservations are done on a mobile website. And that isn't even with an app. We've launched the Orbitz Hotels app for iPad, which allows you to book in just three taps. We're seeing that 65% of our mobile bookings are for same-day reservations, (vs.) 12% to 14% on our desktop site.
Durchslag: We see the same thing. I also think the separation between the mobile Web experience and the app experience is going to become less and less.
Boyd: There are products available in a mobile environment that are not available on your desktop. Tonight-Only Hotels on Priceline is a perfect example. We had a freak Northeast snowstorm at the end of October in New England. In Connecticut, more than half the people were without power for days and days. And we literally watched the hotel reservations light up on our mobile devices.
Sparks: It's a great time because it forces us to be more innovative. You want to make it easy to get to a transaction very fast (on a small device). If you're doing it for a tablet, you might think of it more as a lean-back kind of experience, flipping through pages.
Durchslag: You have to make better choices. You can show 50, 100, endless search results on a desktop. On a 3.5-inch display, you can see maybe three or four. When you have to make those choices for the consumer, it forces innovations.
Companies and consumers race to adapt to the changing face of travel
Discussion Questions
- Do you use online travel agencies? Why or why not?
- What is the most challenging aspect of packing for a flight?
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mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130402adaf3a8cb293083c0b5a1cd9043bba3a8b7.wma
Thursday, March 14, 2013
[Advanced] The Ups and Downs of Airplane Improvements (2)
The ultimate in legroom is lying down.
As people carry more mobile devices and expect to be constantly connected, airlines are adding wireless Internet and standard power outlets in the seat to keep those devices functioning at 30,000 feet. For those off the clock, airlines are offering on-demand movies and television, usually for an extra charge.
Sensory shift
In-cabin ambience will be improving on many flights.
For example, new workhorse Boeing 737 planes are likely to have the Boeing Sky Interior, which evokes a greater sense of space. The interior has been ordered as an option on more than 90 percent of new planes.
The Boeing Sky Interior includes sophisticated LED color-changing lighting, along with new side panels and overhead bins. The interior is meant to make passengers feel calmer, connected and more welcomed — a diffuser for the stress created by traffic en route the to airport, security-line hassles and boarding bungles.
Notes and Vocabulary
ultimate adj.
1 happening or coming at the end of a process, series of events, etc.
2 greatest or most extreme — used to say that something or someone is the greatest or most extreme example of a particular type of thing or person
3 used to refer to the original or basic source or cause of something
4 most distant in space or time
coast-to-coast adj.
going across an entire nation or continent from one coast to another
long-haul n.
a long journey or distance; a long period of time — usually used in the phrases for the long haul and over the long haul
refuge n.
[uncountable] shelter or protection from someone or something
[countable] a place that provides shelter, or protection from danger
on-demand adj.
available when needed or wanted
bungle v.
to make mistakes in doing (something) : to not do (something) well or successfully
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130314adabfd2db2ca9554d880a433fd248649b51.wma
As people carry more mobile devices and expect to be constantly connected, airlines are adding wireless Internet and standard power outlets in the seat to keep those devices functioning at 30,000 feet. For those off the clock, airlines are offering on-demand movies and television, usually for an extra charge.
The good news is that many of the technology upgrades are available in coach too.
"All this in-flight entertainment and connectivity give the airlines
the ability to distract passengers' brains from the pain of being in
these ultra snug seat pitches in economy class," Kirby said.
Wi-Fi, in particular, is becoming a standard offering on mainline
aircraft.
Sensory shift
In-cabin ambience will be improving on many flights.
For example, new workhorse Boeing 737 planes are likely to have the Boeing Sky Interior, which evokes a greater sense of space. The interior has been ordered as an option on more than 90 percent of new planes.
The Boeing Sky Interior includes sophisticated LED color-changing lighting, along with new side panels and overhead bins. The interior is meant to make passengers feel calmer, connected and more welcomed — a diffuser for the stress created by traffic en route the to airport, security-line hassles and boarding bungles.
Notes and Vocabulary
ultimate adj.
1 happening or coming at the end of a process, series of events, etc.
2 greatest or most extreme — used to say that something or someone is the greatest or most extreme example of a particular type of thing or person
3 used to refer to the original or basic source or cause of something
4 most distant in space or time
coast-to-coast adj.
going across an entire nation or continent from one coast to another
long-haul n.
a long journey or distance; a long period of time — usually used in the phrases for the long haul and over the long haul
refuge n.
[uncountable]
[countable]
on-demand adj.
available when needed or wanted
bungle v.
to make mistakes in doing (something) : to not do (something) well or successfully
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130314adabfd2db2ca9554d880a433fd248649b51.wma
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
[Advanced] The Ups and Downs of Airplane Improvements (1)
Airlines recraft the cabin by adding and adjusting amenities inside jets
After decades of relatively little change, aircraft cabins in the United States are undergoing a renaissance that promises to make the flying experience more comfortable and enjoyable for passengers.
Discussion Questions
- Would you pay extra for more legroom during a flight? If so, how much extra?
- What airline amenity do you value most and why?
Notes and Vocabulary
do any stand out
- How to Stand Out in an Interview?
- How do you make yourself more desirable to the interviewer?
turbulence n.
irregular and violent movements of air or water that are caused by the wind
amenity n. plural amenities [countable usually plural]
/əˈmɛnəti/
something that makes a place comfortable or easy to live in
- The hotel has every amenity you could want.
- houses that lack basic amenities (=basic things that people need, such as heat and running water)
renaissance n. rebirth
/ˈrɛnəˌsɑ:ns/
a new interest in something, especially a particular form of art, music etc, that has not been popular for a long period
tremendous adj.
very big, fast, powerful;excellent
stagnant adj.
/ˈstægnənt/
1 stagnant water or air does not move or flow and often smells bad
2 not changing or making progress, and continuing to be in a bad condition
stiff adj.
difficult, strict, or severe
benevolence adj. the goodness of your heart
/bəˈnɛvələnt/
kind and generous; organized to do good things for other people
/ˈsæŋktʃəˌweri,/
a place where someone or something is protected or given shelter
elite n.
a person who is a member of an elite : a successful and powerful person — usually plural
a cramped room, building etc does not have enough space for the people in it;
unable to move properly and feeling uncomfortable because there is not enough space
perk v.
snug adj.
fitting closely and often too tightly; providing or enjoying warmth, shelter, and comfort : cozy
confine v.
to keep (someone or something) within limits : to prevent (someone or something) from going beyond a particular limit, area, etc. — usually + to
logistics n.
the things that must be done to plan and organize a complicated activity or event that involves many people
foremost adj.
most important, priority
fuselage n.
/ˈfju:səˌlɑ:ʒ/
the main part of an airplane : the part of an airplane that holds the crew, passengers, and cargo
configuration n.
the way the parts of something are arranged
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130313ada628552ba3e0645705c6ae6a4a8576425.wma
After decades of relatively little change, aircraft cabins in the United States are undergoing a renaissance that promises to make the flying experience more comfortable and enjoyable for passengers.
- Would you pay extra for more legroom during a flight? If so, how much extra?
- What airline amenity do you value most and why?
Notes and Vocabulary
do any stand out
- How to Stand Out in an Interview?
- How do you make yourself more desirable to the interviewer?
turbulence n.
irregular and violent movements of air or water that are caused by the wind
amenity n. plural amenities [countable usually plural]
/əˈmɛnəti/
something that makes a place comfortable or easy to live in
- The hotel has every amenity you could want.
- houses that lack basic amenities (=basic things that people need, such as heat and running water)
renaissance n. rebirth
/ˈrɛnəˌsɑ:ns/
a new interest in something, especially a particular form of art, music etc, that has not been popular for a long period
tremendous adj.
very big, fast, powerful;
unable to move properly and feeling uncomfortable because there is not enough space
perk v.
snug adj.
fitting closely and often too tightly; providing or enjoying warmth, shelter, and comfort : cozy
confine v.
to keep (someone or something) within limits : to prevent (someone or something) from going beyond a particular limit, area, etc. — usually + to
logistics n.
the things that must be done to plan and organize a complicated activity or event that involves many people
foremost adj.
most important, priority
fuselage n.
/ˈfju:səˌlɑ:ʒ/
the main part of an airplane : the part of an airplane that holds the crew, passengers, and cargo
configuration n.
the way the parts of something are arranged
mms://203.69.69.81/studio/20130313ada628552ba3e0645705c6ae6a4a8576425.wma
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