GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- One of a mere handful of national consumer ad
campaigns by a travel agency group has been launched with Vacation.com's debut
in USA Today.
Unlike ASTA's consumer ads, designed to boost the standing of
agencies in the minds of consumers, the Vacation.com series is not
an image campaign.
"The overriding goal is simple," Bobby Heiser, executive vice
president of Vacation.com, said. "It is to drive more new business
into our member agencies."
The quality factor
But not just any new business: In recognition of the realities
of today's travel marketplace, Vacation.com is stressing "higher
per-diem" cruises and packages offered by its preferred suppliers
that will boost members' profits.
"It's not intended as a last-minute travel ad," Heiser said.
"It's intended to be a quality travel ad."
That is a feature that appeals to brand-new member Joe
Annunziato III. Annunziato, president of Marina Travel in San
Leandro, Calif., said a $3 million agency like his simply cannot
afford to handle "cheap business" any more.
With airline commissions on the wane, a small agency needs
higher-end business to survive, he said.
A small agency can never churn out enough cheap packages to
"make it up in volume," he said.
Vacation.com said its relationships with preferred suppliers
often will allow it to offer "better products" either with an
enticing price or with exclusive value-added features.
"In many cases, there are additional offers available through
our partnership with MasterCard," Heiser said. "It's an integral
part of the campaign."
Buying power
The prices and extras also appeal to Annunziato, who is hoping
consumers will appreciate the benefits of combining the
consortium's buying power with his local service.
The ads are scheduled to run each Friday through October 2001.
USA Today offers up to 25 advertising regions, but Vacation.com
decided that nine variations, reflecting different pricing for
different areas of the country, would suffice.
Consumers who call the 800 number on the ad automatically are
routed to nearby member agencies, based on their area codes and
telephone prefixes.
To participate, agencies must be members in good standing and
sign up for AgentNet, the consortium's extranet.
"It's the perfect medium to support the advertising, so that the
members will know how to book and whether there are special
procedures," Heiser said. "We can't communicate effectively without
it."
Web matches
Consumers also have the option of logging on to the consortium's
Web site, where they will be asked for their ZIP codes to match
them up with local agencies.
An incoming call will prompt the member agent to press 1 to
accept the referral. If for any reason the agent does not pick up
the call -- if, for example, it is after hours -- the call will
bounce back to Vacation.com's lead center.
"That way, the customer will always be hooked up to a live
person," Heiser said, which will allow the consortium to gauge and
maintain the customer's level of interest.
The lead center, however, will not take the booking; instead, it
will send an e-mail alert to the original agency.
Heiser expressed concern that some member agents might be
confused by that process and suspect that the lead center either
would take away or redirect the business.
But Phil Papa of Papa's Travel Store in Secaucus, N.J., said the
consortium "did a great job in keeping agents informed, and I don't
foresee any problems with it."
Virginia Hill of Escapade Cruise and Travel in San Antonio and
Karen Efterfield of All About Travel in Columbia Heights, Minn.,
also said they had never had doubts about the intent of the lead
center.
In addition to the main ads, strip ads and banners will appear
during the week to remind the reader to watch for the Friday
offerings.
Heiser said other devices to drive traffic, such as a
sweepstakes and some interplay with the Web site, also are
planned.
The campaign will cost the consortium about $2 million this year
and $4 million in 2001.
2% return
Heiser said a 2% return on USA Today's 2.6 million readership
would be "an aggressive expectation" for this type of ad
campaign.
That would result in 52,000 calls per week, he said, which
"would have us jumping up and down."
But he added that in these early weeks, Vacation.com is focusing
on how the system functions rather than on the rate of return.
Annunziato said "the jury is still out" on whether the campaign
will be worth the expense and effort. "I will find out, as a little
guy, if a national presence drives people to my agency," he
said.
Similarly, Papa said, "if the concept is valid, it will work. At
least I get a shot at something I didn't have before."