Neckermann is a well-known Belgian travel organisation with a legacy of over 45 years. By means of both online and retail channels, Neckermann offers international vacations using a network of 19 departure airports and over 20.000 hotels around the world. They specialise in sunny destinations, city trips and winter sport holidays.
the challenge
With the advent of multiple competitors, especially in the online realm, Neckermann suffered a loss of market share and relevance with an audience of loyal and potential customers. The organisation was unable to fully seize the post Covid opportunity to profit from eagerness to travel. As an iconic brand with decades of experience and some unique advantages, they actively sought a strategy to reclaim their rightful place as a dominant player in the industry.
the insights
With a brand awareness of 96%, Neckermann turns out to be a very well known brand. Turning this awareness into conversion and loyalty would prove to be a matter of leveraging the brands unmistakable added values and differentiating aspects in order to cater to the rational and emotional motives of their relevant consumer segments.
the solution
To make sure Neckermann would be able to reclaim their place in the hearts and minds of Belgian travellers, we needed to find out what this target audience expects from a travel broker and make some conscious choices. We dove deep into the market position and brand perception of 12 dominant competitors to find out what could set Neckermann apart. During workshops with the organisations leadership, we sought to gain insights into the industry, brand history and future aspirations. We looked into changing consumer behaviour and current and future expectations of relevant audiences. Last but not least, over 1.300 consumers were surveyed and asked about their needs, wants and motivations when it comes to holidays and travel agencies.
Armed with the insights into the prospective target audience, we devised a brand strategy focussing on the hard to copy added value Neckermann offers with both an online channel listing the thousands of travel options and its own network of 38 physical travel agencies in Belgium, supplemented with premium partners offering Neckermann deals to their clients. We shifted the brand from a transactional and price based narrative towards a customer centric emotional approach, based on the proximity, the personalised curated product and the independent advice Neckermann offers.
This validated brand strategy was translated almost instantly in marketing, communication and advertising; but also in the customer experience in travel stores, a heavily adapted website UX and loyalty schemes for returning customers. Brand personas were devised as a means of making sure the SEE-THINK-DO-CARE model resonated with each relevant customer segment during the implementation phase. Advertising agency Lucy relaunched the brand story with a campaign modeled after the desired brand perception and updated brand story.