[video_popup width="805" height="454" video_link="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvZOaFSLlxw" video_image_link="https://www.tnooz.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/southwest-video-notification.jpg"]
Contextual display or text advertising has been around for quite a few years and is an increasingly important method in travel marketing.
Being able to target consumers based on their cookie or website browsing history makes perfect sense, not least in the travel sector where travellers typically browse dozens of brands for ideas or during the shopping phase of buying a product.
The machinery behind the scenes to allow this to happen is inevitably pretty complicated, thus the emergence (or re-emergence of weakened SEO outfits) of dedicated agencies to help brands with their activity.
Speaking at a workshop at the PhoCusWright Europe conference in Dublin, Daniele Beccari, travel project manager at Criteo, says email marketing remains one of the primary channels for communicating with customers.
But where does this all potentially go next?
Ask anyone involved in some way with marketing (ad agencies, Google, brands themselves) and the answer inevitably involves video.
So couple video with personalisation and you get something very intriguing, Beccari says.
US-based video marketing and application development company, SundaySky, has imagined a world where an airline such as SouthWest might be able to send out personalised marketing and information messages to customers using their trip data.
The idea is that perhaps a passenger is a few days away from taking a flight and about to receive a reminder to check-in or up-sell some other products.
The clip would be brief but relevant, thus making it appear less like an ad which accompanies many customer emails and more akin to a public service information broadcast - but highly personalised. It could also feature on the airline website during a return visit to upgrade or check-in.
Here is the short demo clip:
Beccari says the concept could eventually take customer-brand engagement "to a new level", but concedes that the technology behind the scenes would be even more complex than the existing systems which target customers with static display images.
Still, food for thought...
NB:Beccari is also a contributing Node to Tnooz.