The VI Travel and Hospitality team recently had the opportunity to attend the eTourism Summit in Las Vegas. The conference was packed with lectures from the top travel marketing experts in the industry. After a week of networking with DMOs, travel associations, and agencies from around the world, one thing was apparent – travel is on the rebound, and industry experts are working tirelessly to re-imagine the future of tourism.

As consumers transition their banking experiences to digital platforms, financial institutions look to gain market share through new offerings and service opportunities. Trends in banking accelerated due in part to the pandemic where customers had little choice but to use online services such as P2P (person to person) payments, mobile deposit, mobile banking and online lending applications and approvals.

2020 was the beginning of a new decade - full of excitement for the future. In early 2020, marketing and media companies prepped for a busy year ahead, including the Summer Olympics and an election.

Following the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, many quick service restaurants were turned upside down and had to adjust their service models. With closed dining rooms, increased sanitization procedures and a pandemic staring them in the face, many brands shifted their focus to technology to find contactless ways to continue driving sales. With drive-thru, curbside or delivery top-of-mind for many consumers, app and online ordering quickly became the new normal for dining out. 

We're grateful for and proud of each member of our team, but today we want to brag a little extra on our very own, Deleanie Moriello. A Marketing Strategist at VI, Deleanie has been nominated and chosen as a member of the 2020 NextGen Under 30 class. This honor recognizes your professionals who demonstrate talent, drive, and service to their communities across the state, and (hopefully!) encourages each honoree to reach their lifetime career goals right here in Oklahoma.

When it comes to marketing, the Super Bowl is… well, the Super Bowl of advertising. The event where the commercials rival the big game itself. What will be talked about more: San Francisco’s impenetrable defense, Kansas City’s fast-paced playmaking, or the death of Mr. Peanut?

In early 2019, we posted this blog, predicting how our marketing world would change and evolve. There was a lot that happened last year in both digital and traditional media, social media, streaming media, sponsorships, content strategies, and on and on. But, did we foresee any of it? Let’s review what was predicted and how that compares to what happened.

1. SEO Growth

We will see an increased priority placed on SEO (search engine optimization) for a variety of reasons. First, paid search costs are going to increase. Only about 50% of US companies have paid search campaigns at last measure. That’s a low number and will surely grow. That means the demand for key search terms will increase and subsequently elevate prices of those terms. So, marketers will need to rely more on organic ranking to avoid drastic increases in their paid search budgets.

Let me ask you a question. Maybe a series of questions. That’s how insight discovery starts – by asking the right questions. But it’s not just the type of questions you ask, it’s also how and when you ask them.

For everyone following along at home, you know that we finished the previous insight blog entry looking at the difference between quantitative, qualitative and market intelligence data as they applied to a hypothetical situation. Using all of this data, we came to understand ‘why’ males ages 40-50 were frequenting a certain convenience store on Friday evenings to buy certain snacks. We came to a greater understanding of what motivated their behavior by recognizing a dilemma that led to an insight. Voila! We’re done, right? Addressing a dilemma with data, observation and market intelligence to build something meaningful and actionable = insight, right? Not so fast. We are still lacking one very important element: imagination.

We live in a world where we elevate the small things to big things. Where the irrelevant sometimes rises to be critically important. Call it a byproduct of sculpted social media profiles, 24-hour news channels, the belief that our opinion should never be questioned, the advent of the ‘everybody gets a trophy’ generation. 

Digital advertising is an essential part of the marketing mix and according to eMarketer, will surpass traditional media spending this year. This really isn’t news to anyone. Digital dollars can be tracked and attributed to specific conversions and are much easier to figure ROI for brands.  It’s the dream of any planner to point to a medium and say “X” tactic brought in sales, conversions, enrollments, whatever the objective may be.

The word strategy can mean a plethora of different things when used in the context of marketing. In turn, the job description of a Strategist can also be wide reaching. No matter the specific definition someone opts for, it's essentially an ability to uncover, present and successfully leverage a human insight.