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Brand: MakeMyTrip
Agency: Publicis Communications
Budget: Rs 80 crore
Consider these numbers. The e-commerce market in India is pegged at Rs 81,525 crore. Travel research company PhoCusWright's latest 'India Online Travel Overview' shows that 61 per cent of this comprises online travel, which is expected to hit the Rs 64,723 core-mark by the end of the year. But a booming industry does not always signify a fast-evolving one. That is the problem that plagues the online travel market in the country. While the leading players - MakeMyTrip (MMT), Yatra, Goibibo, Cleartrip, Ezeego, Travelocity, among others - all claim to offer something 'unique' to travellers, the truth is, the category has seen little in terms of product differentiation. That fact is clearly reflected in the category advertising.
Indeed, in their advertising, most e-commerce brands - be it travel or shopping - either focus on product assortment or on the convenience/ease of use. In the end the difference hinges largely on the execution. In its latest campaign, Dil toh roaming hai, online travel market leader MMT, which is among the few publicly traded online companies, has taken the tried and tested creative route, but has attempted to stand out on execution. High on emotion, the new commercial shows travellers from different age groups letting their hair down and enjoying their time with loved ones - during a boat ride, while on a drive through snowfall, or simply enjoying themselves by the pool side. Through a collage of different slice-of-life stories, the film also tries to integrate all the MMT service offerings to demonstrate that the website offers a seamless and hassle-free travel experience. The new campaign also marks a shift in MMT's advertising agency - all campaigns prior to Dil toh roaming hai were handled by FCB-Ulka.
Before zeroing in on the new positioning, MakeMyTrip's chief marketing officer Saujanya Shrivastava lead a quantitative and qualitative research to understand the personality of an average India traveller who buys hotels and flights online. He says, "The most important finding this time around was how travel is not seen as an annual exercise anymore. People buying travel online are open to the idea of taking multiple vacations in a year." Shrivastava also points out that out of 60 million users transacting online, only 16 million buy tour packages.
The recent film targets television and social media. Conceptualised by Publicis Communications, the campaign aims to project the brand's leadership status in the highly fragmented market. MMT will spend Rs 80 crore approximately in its new campaign. It is also interesting to note that most online travel operators have started splurging on television to increase reach and recall. Most online travel companies also have full-fledged presence of Facebook and Twitter, including social logins and are leveraging these media for customer service and engagement. Alongside, they have started taking mobile a lot more seriously as seen from the launch of mobile apps. Today, more than 30 per cent of their traffic and nearly 20 per cent of their transaction volume come from mobile devices.
In any case, competition had started shifting to non-air travel segments like hotel bookings due to the high margins it offered. In the case of air travel, the net revenue margins consist of commissions from airlines, service fees from customers and fees from global distribution system partners. Margins on hotel and package tour bookings come from the mark-up on services.
Coming to consumers of the category, like in other e-commerce markets, people who land up on online travel sites mostly look out for great deals. The spokesman of an US-based operator that wrapped up a consumer research exercise across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru last month, says, "When we saw the findings, there was nothing that we did not know before conducting the focus group. An average Indian traveller's expectation from a holiday is limited to grabbing the best package."
He might not be too off the mark, but things have started changing - an average Indian is well-travelled, adequately informed about different destinations and has a huge appetite for personalised packages. So the task of an operator is far from easy. Indeed, the lower entry barriers act as an open invitation for a new player to throw their hats into the ring. That Airbnb has taken off in a big way in such a short span of time is proof that the potential of the segment is immense. This also explains why travel sites such as MMT are looking to move beyond simple ticketing to becoming travel solution providers.
