| Issue 17 |

Danny Gosis, Managing Director, Last Minute Travel

• Number of employees in firm: 100 in Israel, 450 worldwide (Travel Holdings group). Number of employees under my direct responsibility : 10.
• We provide: Online travel services.
• I'm on the job for: 1.5 years; I was previously Aviation Director at the organization's headquarters in Orlando for 3.5 years. I came to Travel Holdings after working in managerial positions at ISSTA. I was trained as a dental technician and after working as an independent dental technician, I moved to the field of tourism, which fascinated me.
• I like on the job: The innovations we are bringing to the Israeli market. I enjoy providing up-to-date tourism services that are appropriate for our century, the 21st century.
• Most difficult on the job: To change consumption habits and to accustom the Israeli consumer to purchase tourism online.
• Goals I set for myself: To make Last Minute Travel the leading tourism portal in Israel. And on a personal level, to continue to grow and develop with the company in the field of tourism.
• Our vision: The vision is to be the leading site in Israel and to change consumption habits here in the field of tourism. The vision arrived here from abroad, as part of Travel Holdings' global expansion plan. We emphasize our vision and goals again and again in our meetings and in conversations with employees, and during seminars conducted here occasionally by senior executives from the headquarters in Orlando.
• Original product in our market: We're the only one in Israel to offer satellite mapping (like Google Earth). A customer can see from a satellite camera the entrance to the hotel he is about to reserve, the attractions nearby, the real location of the subway station and how close it really is to the hotel.
• Sources of innovation: The employees bring ideas to internal meetings and we decide together whether to implement them. In addition, we are always monitoring what is being done in the industry, looking for innovations that appear throughout the world in the field of online tourism.
  
• Send comments to: danny@lmt.co.il
• Would you like to be interviewed?: contact us
  

Integrated Direct Marketing / Ernan Roman
/ NTC Business Books publication

The highly regarded management advisor Peter Drucker claimed: " The goal of marketing is to make selling superfluous ." We use this statement to begin the marketing workshops we conduct for sales people. They wake up right away …

The book we recommend this time presents a totally different approach. The book focuses on fields that require selling by sales people. For example, products and services that are B2B (selling to businesses), or complex B2C products (selling to private customers, such as cars or education services). In fact, the book argues that in these cases marketing campaigns are designed to do one simple thing: to assist and support the work of sales people - or to be more precise, to provide them with promising contacts with new potential customers (referred to in professional jargon as "leads.")

The book was written by Ernan Roman, the owner of a leading consulting firm in the field of direct marketing, whose offices are located in New York. Ernan developed the method of integrated direct marketing (IDM), which entails the efficient and synchronized combination of a number of marketing channels: advertising, public relations, conferences and events, direct marketing, telemarketing and field sales. The book describes a comparative study demonstrating that integrated direct marketing can cut the cost of obtaining leads by a factor of three, while still generating ten times the sales revenues. That is, it is 30 times more effective than a conventional marketing campaign, and this can definitely make the difference between marketing failure and dazzling success.

The book presents the main principles for achieving this. One of the most important of these is the principle of compression: reaching the customer via a number of marketing channels, with close synchronization and well-planned order. For example: advertising in professional journals, followed a week later by direct mail, and telemarketing calls three days afterwards, when the mailed material is still fresh in the minds of the addressees. In this way, the effectiveness of the campaign grows substantially.

The book, which is also entitled Integrated Direct Marketing, explains in detail additional principles for implementing a more efficient direct marketing campaign, and slaughters a few sacred cows along the way. For example, the book explains why in these fields a television campaign will generate rather meager results, including a rate of 40% and more of erroneous incoming calls (of callers who do not understand where they have called and are not potential customers at all). In addition, while senior marketing personnel believe that there is no reason to consult with sales people when building a strategy (since they do not possess "marketing thinking"), the book recommends listening to sales people, already from the stage of formulating the marketing strategy. Since the leads are intended for sales people, the book argues that it is essential to understand which leads they are interested in receiving, and to conduct preliminary filtering accordingly, at the telemarketing center. In addition, sales people can recommend preferred events and conferences, improve advertising materials (so that they focus on the customers' important needs and employ the language used by the customers) and even assist in analyzing the campaign's results and recommending ways to follow up.

The book even details how to conduct in-depth studies before planning the campaign, how to offer customers ideals of significant value, and how to effectively manage an annual program of marketing communications. Despite the fact that the book is a bit outdated (it was written in 1998 and does not address advertising in the electronic media), it is a must-read book for anyone trying to generate leads, "go out into the field," and effectively assist sales people. It is also likely to arouse renewed thinking among experienced marketers in regard to their profession and role.

• Buy the book at :  Amazon
• A list of other must-read books for managers
• For an article on Market Penetration : click here
• For consultation or a ZOOZ workshop on Integrated Marketing or Market Penetration : contact us

The wipe for teeth cleaning

Our article published on TheMarker's site in 2002, entitled Systematic Innovation with Teeth, explained how to develop products systematically in a given field by employing inventive thinking. The article focused on toothbrushes, described existing innovations and even predicted future innovations in the field. One of the inventions that already existed at the time and was described in the article was a toothbrush with rough bristles that clean the teeth along the full length of the bristle and not only at the end of the bristle. The inventor of this innovation, of course, was Oral-B, the world's leading toothbrush producer. Persistent innovation, in every possible direction, is what one expects from a company acquired by Gillette, as noted in this column in the past.

One of the innovations we predicated in 2000 was a thimble-like toothbrush. This type of innovation was indeed developed in 2005, also by Oral-B, and became the product of the year in Europe. The Brush-Up teeth wipes enable teeth cleaning and mouth freshening at any time or place. The Brush-Up wipes have a rough texture to facilitate brushing of the teeth. In addition, they are moist - therefore, there is no need for water during brushing. And the liquid they contain has a pleasant and refreshing mint flavor. Brush-Ups are sold in packages of 3 or 12, with each finger-size wipe individually wrapped in a sealed package. The new product has recorded great success, apparently from social motives. For example - you can clean your teeth and freshen your breath a moment before gathering up the courage to initiate a conversation with a stranger on the beach, on the street or at a pub, or before entering an important sales meeting.

One of the nice things in this story is that the people at Oral-B realized that their role is not necessarily to produce excellent toothbrushes. They understood that their role is actually to help customers maintain mouth hygiene, even if this means they have to get involved in wipes and finger forms. And you - what is your role?

• The mini Website for Brush-Ups
• For details on Systematic Innovation workshops: see here or contact us