How to Get in Your Customers' Pants… Pocket (Travel Tuesday)

Pardon the salacious title; I couldn’t help myself. But you’ll love where this is going.

If you’re a typical hotel, travel agent, airline, car rental agency, or cruise line, most of your customers don’t interact with you all that often. Sure, the “road warriors” do, but lots and lots (and lots) of others might only buy from you once a year, if that. You’ve only got a handful of opportunities each year to put your brand in front of the customer and deepen the relationship.

Or do you?

Check out what W Hotels is doing with their mobile app:

Yep. That’s a music player, featuring curated music mixes from hip, trendy DJ’s. Instead of interacting with that customer maybe a few times a year, they can engage with that guest every single day, reinforcing their relationship and continuing to tell their brand story.

Now, obviously, the music options W chose limit its appeal to a certain type of customer. But that’s OK, because that’s exactly the type of customer W wants in its lobbies, bars, and, ahem, bedrooms. They’ve done better than getting in their customers pants. They’ve gotten in their hearts and minds.

Of course, they’re not the only one taking this approach, inside the travel industry or out. Nike, for example, shifts the brand experience from the few times a year a customer looks for a new pair of running shoes to a continual conversation with its Nike+ app and Nike Fuel Band.

Both companies have found excellent, brand-focused ways to assist their customers and engage in their daily lives. Because, as I’ve noted before, “…mobile is always at hand. Literally.” Or, y’know, in their pants pocket.

What creative ways have you seen for brands (in travel or outside) to offer apps that both enrich their customers’ lives and deepen the relationship? If you have a minute, tell me about them in the comments. I’d love to hear.

Interested in more? Register to receive a free copy of my new special report, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World,” produced in conjunction with Vizergy, here. And you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of mobile, including:

• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and the Changing Customer Journey
• What’s the Future of E-commerce? Look to the Past to Find Out
• Why You’re Slowing the Growth of Mobile E-commerce