The Customer is Changing
So Must We!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca
29 April 2009
www.royalroads.ca/tourism
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
We are living in unprecedented times
The average Canadian Internet user has
seven online accounts; 53% polled said
it was time‐consuming to log in to all
their accounts, manage message traffic
and keep profiles up to date. nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
1

We are Living in Unprecedented Times
Formidable challenges or
undeniable opportunity?
People respond differently;
companies respond differently.
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
The sky is falling,
the sky is falling!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Don’t worry, it will all be fine soon!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Balance
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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The reality is though … adapt or perish
Our biggest limitation is what we have
done before, our greatest opportunity is
, g pp y
what we don’t know.
J.C. Scott
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Some Car Dealers are Struggling, others not!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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The Book Publishing Industry is Adapting
Pack along a little reading material
for your vacation
Or, download them all
into a portable electronic
book – light, portable,
adjustable font!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Grocery Stores Are Adjusting!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Telecommunications are in the fast lane
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
1954
Are you keeping up with the times?
AreFrom: Boardingpass@westjet.com [mailto:Boardingpass@westjet.com]
you relevant? Is your business still relevant?
To: Nancy Arsenault of it or only some?
All
Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:23 PM
How
Subject: are you changing to meet tomorrow’s
WS FLT/VOL# 798 Toronto
customer?
DO NOT PRINT YOUR e BP. e-BP
2005
N'imprimez pas votre carte d'embarquement electronique.
Are GATE/PORTE asking visitors to ‘buy a paper ticket’
you still 40
ARSENAULT/NANCY, PNR XHF1EB, FLT/VOL WS 798 SEQ#018, 23Apr,
when theyDEP Toronto @usePM, ARV/ARR Halifax @ 8:03 iPhone?
@ 4:30 PM, want to 5:00 their Blackberry, PM, SEAT/SIEGE
2008 15A
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
6

Opportunity and Success is all around us!
Burgerville Winning Over
Young Customers
With healthy, higher
priced food
Medical Tourism: Emerging Phenomenon
in Health Care Industry
Many patients are traveling great
distances to obtain quality care at lower costs
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
And Opportunity and Success is all around you!
AIR MILES ® REWARD PROGRAM
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD (2005)
Olivier Soapery, Ste-Anne-de-Kent, NB
PARKS CANADA SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AWARD
The Bay of Fundy Tourism Partnership (2006)
Formed by Tourism New Brunswick and NS
Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BANK OF CANADA Aquila Tours
q
NEW BUSINESS OF THE YEAR AWARD (2006)
London-Wul Fibre Arts, Lakeburn, NB
10+Awards and Counting!
VIA RAIL CANADA VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR AWARD (2008 Finalist)
Margret & Axel Begner, Opera Bistro, Saint John, NB
The People’s Choice Charity Feast, Multiple Food Bank Events
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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And there is more!
Shediac Lobster Fest World Travel & Tourism Council
ABA Top 100 Events Town of Bouctouche
Finalist in the Destination Category
2008 TIAC Awards for Tourism Excellence
Town of Bouctouche: Sustainable Tourism
2008 New Brunswick Tourism Excellence & Innovation Awards
Susan Butler, Miramichi Folksong Festival: Minister’s Award for Tourism Excellence
Club Wind and Kite Inc.: Excellence & Innovation in Tourism Product Development
St. John River Valley Association: Excellence & Innovation in Marketing
Town of Bouctouche: Excellence & Innovation in Tourism Partnerships
2008 TIAC Awards for Tourism Excellence
Ann & Dennison Tate – Cape Enrage: Volunteer of the Year
Le Pays de la Sagouine: Best Cultural Attraction
West Jet 2008 up! Magazine Value Award
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
How is your business changing?
Are you responding to the times?
How has yournancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca
customer changed? 29 April 2009
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It’s about If you want to be:
Shifting Paradigms! • Ahead of the edge
• Leading the competition
• Recognized!
You can’t be:
• Complacent
• Doing exactly what others are doing
• Thinking like everyone else
This winter ice scene was filmed outdoors in August 2005, Victoria BC.
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Clasp your hands!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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The House
of Change
Context Renewal
“Passports required “I will shift my market focus
for the US/Canada; and create new value
travel & gas prices” propositions”
Confusion
Denial
“The
“Th USA marketk
“They can’t be serious, will come back”
this isn’t good.”
Adapted from the Capilano University tourism students in
the 2009 Case Competition
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
is changing in ways we
“Society
have never before experienced!”
Institutional Age Digital Age
Agrarian
“Second Wave” ‘Third Wave’
“First Wave”
First Wave
Age of y
g your Customer?
Age of Staff? Volunteers? Board?
19th 21th Century
20th
Century Century
1900 1950 2000 2020
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Source: NEO Power by Ross Honeywill and Verity Byth (Australia)
10

Facebook Use
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/nielsen-news/social-networking-new-global-footprint/
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Family Time in the 21st Century! Recognize this?
Wired in a shared social space; pursuing individual and collective interests
Hearing Aid
( g g population)
(Aging p p )
How are you connecting with your visiting
audience?
New Social
• Is this your
Reality:
market?
3 computers,
• Are you
3 personal
Do you have something inviting for these folks?
connected to
activities, while
their realities
planning a
or asking
vacation,
Have you f ll assessed all your priority
H fully d ll ii them to adjust
watching TV
to yours?
and enjoying
audiences?
time together
Facebook, homework, TV, MSN, On-line game (Multi-task generation)
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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“ A tourism product is what you buy.
A tourism experience is what you remember.”
(Canadian Tourism Commission Experience Toolkit (2008)
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
“The customer experience will be the next business tsunami.”
Shaw & Ivens (2005)
• We are living in a commoditized economy
• Products, prices, people, and technology are so
,p ,p p , gy
W similar
H • To differentiate, we must develop and sell
‘meaningful things’ that travelers will remember,
Y along with the activities in special places
? • Embracing ‘experiences’ requires a
fundamentally different mindset It is a strategic
mindset.
organizational shift
“The customer experience is the next competitive battleground.”
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Grab Some Ice, Close your Eyes and Set Sail
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
The 2007 Royal BC Museum
Titanic Exhibit
A Resounding Success!
• 451,120 visitors,
451 120 visitors 1/3 said this was
the reason to visit Victoria
• $30M economic impact
• Fabulous exhibit but the
passenger manifest and the
‘ticket’ … were the ticket, to a
terrific guest experience.
• I received my boarding pass and
entered …I saw, I sampled, I tried
on, I touched, then … Discovered
my fate on April 15th, 1912.
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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The Power of Stories
Stories are very powerful and are very
compelling instruments that enable
people to get information across and
provide a learning experience
experience.
Stories make a subject much more
exciting and can be used to describe or
create an experience. Our Experience
Library is a story in itself and each of
our
o r areas con e s its o n stor to
conveys own story
create a learning environment for our
customer.
Wayne Pearson, City Librarian, Cerritos Library, California
http://www.ci.cerritos.ca.us/library/library.html
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
What is experiential travel?
Travel that engage travelers in a series of
memorable events, revealed over time, that
are inherently personal, engage the senses,
and make a connection on an emotional,
physical,
physical spiritual or intellectual level
level.
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Know your customer!
What do they value?
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
The Multi Generational Challenge
• Matures (1928 – 1945)
• Front End Baby Boomers (1946 – 1954)
• Tail End Baby Boomers (1955 – 1964)
y ( )
• Generation X (1965 – 1979)
• Generation Y (1980 – 1990)
• “Why” Generation (1991+)
Customers,
Employers,
Employees
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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You May Not be Your Customer!
The Customer
The Staff
World War II Cohort World War II Cohort
(1928 ‐ 1945) (1928 ‐ 1945)
Early Baby Boomers
Early Baby Boomers
(1946 ‐ 1954)
(1946 ‐ 1954)
Late Baby Boomers
Late Baby Boomers
(1955 ‐ 1964)
(1955 ‐ 1964)
Generation X (1965 ‐
Generation X (1965 ‐
1979)
1979)
Generation Y (1980 ‐
Generation Y (1980 ‐
1994
1994
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Try this at work!!
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
An alternate look at the customer
… beyond demographics, market segments … it’s about who is spending on what!
NEO’s – The New Economic Order
• Read, earn, spend, travel and expect more
• Propensity and capacity to spend, dominate the top end
of spending
• Pay a premium for peak experiences
• Social influencers (Word of mouth and mouse)
• Self-recognition, imaginative self-definition
• Reinventing the world as traditionalists know it
This is the high-yield traveler!
Source: NEO Power by Ross Honeywill and Verity Byth (Australia)
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Neo’s want experiences that align with their values;
they are not age specific!
• Love experiences
• Authenticity
• Intelligent
• The path less traveled
• Personal freedom is
important
• Want to hear the stories
• Make informed choices
• Love food with everything
• Individuality
• Wired, love the internet
www.neogroup.net nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Traditionalists on the other hand
• Consumption triggered by a deal (need, transaction, deal)
• Lower spending, lower discretionary choice behavior
• Technologically and socially conservative
• Accept institutions, traditional rules of politics, religion and business
• Work hard to make a difference (as opposed to influence)
• Surrounded by traditional brands
• Defined by their job, enjoy being employed
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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… from moments to memories …
Results!
Stage in the End of the
Beginning of the
visitor experience visitor experience
visitor experience • Memorable
experiences
Share
Select
Sl t Discover &
Di stories,
ti
Want to Search,
• visit, stay
Memories
Attraction Enjoy photos
travel Inquire,
longer, spend
more, revisit
• word of mouth
… and
Get on the Market, Influence Welcome Relevant Thank, celebrate,
, ,
• word of
df
radar
d promote,
t interaction reconnect
mouse!
Begin the customer Complete the
Stage the
interaction experience
experience
Modified from Shaw & Iven’s (2005) Moment Mapping ©
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Marketing is No Longer Just a Function
4 P’s
Ps
3 C’s
4 E’s
It’s a process of engaging with customers; conversations and community are29 April 2009
essential.
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca
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The New 3 P’s and 4 C’s
The New Twist on the Triple Bottom line:
People, Planet and Profits
It’s about: Connections, Creative, Collaboration
and Context
• From products to co-created solutions
• From promotions to communications within communities
p
• From price to customized value
• From place to choice and convenience
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
The Envelope Please
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Keys for Success!
Metepenagiag Heritage Park
• Educate • Vision, passion, belief
• Calculate • Dare to be different
• Motivate • Manage talent
• Differentiate • Trust
• Celebrate • Care
• Evaluate • ACT!
C A
M
Focus on what you do best, partner for the rest
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
Personalization
Trends
Shorter booking
The times
customer
Niche markets
has Paradigms
The Experience
changed … Economy
Workplace Values
Tectonic
Sustainability
Have you? Shifts
Internet
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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Thank you!
E-copies of the presentation:
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca
www.hatleypark.ca
www.royalroads.ca/tourism
Hatley Castle, Victoria BC, Canada, campus of Royal Roads University
nancy.arsenault@royalroads.ca 29 April 2009
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