TUI – A Truly Customer-Centred Direct Mail and Email Strategy for Simply Travel

TUI_Email_Direct_Mail_1

The Challenge Was….?

TUI-owned Mediterranean holiday specialist Simply Travel’s customer retention was not as high as it should have been, and certainly not as high as some of their competitors.

The culprit? Communication timing and content was based on what suited the business and little account was taken of the customers’ needs. Although RFM (recency, frequency, monetary value) analysis had been undertaken, it hadn’t shed any light on what they should be sending customers and when.  It need to be combined with a some further behavioural analysis in order to creating a truly customer-centred retention strategy. So that’s what we organised.

…and the Solution?

Further analysis was undertaken on the database and 3 key drivers behind customer booking behaviour were uncovered:

  • That people had a tendency to book at the same time every year.
  • That travellers with children had very different criteria than those without.
  • That people either tended to go to the same place every year or go somewhere new every year.

We used these 3 drivers to inform the content and timing of our communications. For example, brochure launch mailings and emailings (business centric) were replaced with mailings and emailings centred around the customer’s previous booking timings. Travellers with children received very different communications to those without. And those who liked to travel to the same place every year were enticed to go back to their favoured destination, whereas those who didn’t were enticed with new places to go.

It wasn’t rocket science – in fact, it was very simple. We recognised customer needs and reflected it in our communication approach – and it worked. As a result of our strategy, we increased repeat business to over 50% of Simply Travel’s overall business for the first time.