The disclosure
of Facebook data breaches during the U.S. presidential election has created a
shudder across the marketing landscape.
They are suddenly calling into question the
efficacy of Facebook data and more broadly calling out data harvesting
practices online.
Setting aside people's sudden surprise that what they share
on social channels is being repurposed more widely, we think there is a more
fundamental question at hand.
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Is the
sharing of data in travel a good thing or the equivalent of someone rifling
through your bedroom closet?
Is it a long-term boon for marketers or a practice
that will ultimately be shut down by regulators?
We believe the proper handling
and usage of data insight creates a phenomenal tool for both travel marketers
and their customers, and we're confident that over time it will become a more
powerful, effective and accepted practice.
The day of reckoning is coming for
ad tech, but the travel industry is a unique case.
Travel's special position
Let’s start
with the landscape. In no industry is data as prevalent and available as in
travel.
From shopping and experiential behaviors to actual e-commerce data, the
interwoven matrix of travel suppliers, intermediaries and peer-to-peer networks
represent an enormous amount of information about consumers.
Don’t worry about what the recent Facebook saga says, and instead start preparing your data strategy to allow for transparency, adherence to smart and ethical practices.
Clayton Reid
Basically, through
web, mobile and social technologies we can see where you are, what you are
interested in doing on a trip, how you’re going to get there and what you do
once you arrive.
Information like this has been collected since the early days
of the internet, but it has become more ingrained and connected to the web user
experience in the last decade.
Does anyone
really not understand that offers they received five minutes after spending
time on XYZ.com don't originate from data mining?
Sure, it's clumsy and annoying
today, but is the online consumer really not savvy enough to understand the
quid pro quo of online consumption?
We would argue that, if anything, the
landscape has become too dense with providers that are too opaque. That data is
sold and resold too many times, leading to difficulty in tracing it back to its
source.
As this gets sorted out in the coming months, a more meaningful value
proposition will emerge as the model.
Crunch time for data crunching
In recent
months, the speed at which data is being collected, modeled and monetized has
accelerated in such a way that people are beginning to raise the issue of
regulation.
According to Scientific
American, seven in 10 smartphone apps share your personal data with third
parties.
And online travel agencies,
Google and TripAdvisor as well as supplier brands are all looking at ways to
create user groups through the smart collection and deployment of data
strategies. And yes, Facebook is one of the most important platforms today in
gathering that data and forming those profiles.
The question
we should all be asking is how this interwoven data landscape can better the
travel industry long-term, not whether it will continue to exist. Because it
will.
Our London
office has been educating MMGY Global's U.S.-based data teams about the very
important regulatory framework that takes effect this May in Europe.
General Data
Protection Regulation is an intrinsic part of privacy laws in Europe and will
be quite far ahead of regulation in the United States.
Basically, if you are
dealing with consumer or employee data in any way, you must become compliant
with the privacy directives laid down by GDPR. And we believe this approach to
data privacy is on its way to the U.S., perhaps sooner than you think.
So the
Facebook data breach is relevant in one major, macro way.
It is a harbinger of
what is to come with broader regulations around U.S. consumer data.
- Does this
mean consumer data will be off-limits in the future? No.
- Does it mean marketers
won’t be able to use data to make intelligent marketing decisions? No.
- Does it
mean people will stop sharing their deepest (or sometimes inane) secrets on
public social forums? Come on.
From our
perspective, this is about two things: transparency and policy adherence, two
standards of MMGY Global's Terminal data platform, a program with which we
gather 10,000 full traveler profiles each month.
First, all
of the people from whom we collect data are aware that we are utilizing their
survey responses for marketing and measurement purposes.
And although we own
the personally identifiable information, we disclose the purposes for using of
the data, we never possess it per GDPR requirements and our processors protect
it as their first priority.
We also
anonymize the data so that, should it become accessed, there is no way to use
it against the individual in a nefarious way.
And our data partners, including
third parties such as Adara, Experian and PlaceIQ, are compliant with current
data handling best practices as they follow the same principles of transparency.
Trust, distrust and somewhere in the middle
When GDPR
makes its way across the Atlantic, we expect there will be additional measures
requiring our attention, but self-regulation is always in our best interest as
well as that of the consumers who we seek to influence.
Which brings
me to the most important point about Facebook or any other permission-based
online platform. At the end of the day, despite the recent noise around
#DeleteFacebook (ironically being posted on Facebook), people want and need
these platforms.
In MMGY
Global’s most recent Portrait of American Travelers, not only do travelers
consider Facebook an important tool for travel decision-making, but they also
convey a significant distrust toward content that is presented online about
both travel experience and price.
They express frustration with how long and
how complicated it can be to book travel, rooted in the inadequacy of suppliers
and intermediaries to offer relevant and timely information.
Online travel agencies, Google and TripAdvisor as well as supplier brands are all looking at ways to create user groups through the smart collection and deployment of data strategies.
Clayton Reid
On average,
travelers visit over 34 websites across eight or more different web sessions, in
a search for information that allows for their best decision-making.
Data
practices today have not yet met the promise of perfectly aligning a traveler's
need with curated information, but this reality is just around the corner with
the advances being made in contextual search, automated learning and better
data modeling.
Just read this story from the MIT Innovation Lab to get a
glimpse of what companies such as Amadeus are doing to bring data, AI and the
customer together.
So how
better to solve for improved travel infrastructure than with the intelligent
use of consumer data to bring relevance, enriched content and one-on-one
relationships that provide a greater value proposition?
In our
study, 70% of travelers tell us they will transact when seeing a
relevant image or content piece that connects with their travel need.
According
to Pew Research, 65% of online users know they receive access to free
online content in exchange for some personal data, while seven in 10 believe
the government is monitoring their content.
Despite (and
perhaps because of) this cynicism, we are confident that the future and proper
use of data will ultimately reduce the click path to booking, better connect
supplier inventory to consumer demand, more clearly match expectation with
experience and, perhaps to the chagrin of some in the industry, reduce
distribution marketing cost by creating closed user groups that streamline
commerce.
So to the
travel industry, we say don’t worry about what the recent Facebook saga says,
and instead start preparing your data strategy to allow for transparency,
adherence to smart and ethical practices and a better communication model that
relates to travelers on their terms.
Even if it means using their data to do
so.