Ogilvy Idea Shop is an initiative that seeks to offer free consultancy to small and medium-sized businesses . On Monday (14th June), a mini-version of Idea Shop visited The Tourism Society Annual Conference to offer travel industry professionals a social media masterclass, free consultancy and lots of good ideas for growing their business.
The Tourism Society Annual Conference is an opportunity for travel professionals to network and attend seminars to discuss the industry and its future.
New technology and challenging economic and environmental circumstances are raising important new questions for anyone who is responsible for a travel brand in 2010. How can one reach an increasingly niche and fragmented set of consumer audiences? What will stop a customer service hiccup from turning into a reputational disaster? How can a brand communicate its sustainability policy without being accused of greenwash? With falling newspaper circulations, should travel companies still be inviting journalists on press trips? What is Twitter, and should we all be Tweeting?
The Ogilvy PR team spent the day helping attendees address these challenges, right across the range of PR practices including Consumer, Corporate and Broadcast PR, and Digital Influence – identifying and engaging influencers and activating people in social media.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable day, with the team fielding questions about the value of Twitter to a travel business, ways in which training outfits can equip small businesses to promote themselves without the advantage of a big budget, and even simple things such as getting started on Facebook; no question was too large or small to command out attention.
With great tools like the new Apple iPad (above) on hand we were able to very simply show people how to navigate online assets that would allow them to start conversations with consumers and influencers and promote their businesses, now what could be more valuable than that?
