Business travel market feels the slipstream of corporate stress

Value for money taking centre stage from pampering and privileges

Business travel discounting reflects new corporate mood

Reductions of 30% on British Airways business class flights to Hong Kong and Beijing, 35% to Cape Town. Just two examples from BA’s current ticket sale that suggest times are getting tough not only at the front of the cabin, but for the wider business travel sector.

Business travel has been on a roll over the past four years. Buoyant economic growth, strong exports performance, and the burgeoning economies of Asia and Far East have created a sound platform for demand-side growth. On the supply side, the business customer has become number one priority for many airlines and hoteliers, and the primary source of profitability.

Employees adapt to the new travel austerity

But in the current economic climate, the upwards growth trend has slipped into reverse, with business travellers to areas such as North America down by almost one-third compared to last year. There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that businesses are introducing cost-saving travel measures, and tightening their travel rules, with employees having to give up the privileges they’ve enjoyed in the past.

It means that the low-cost carriers are becoming a more widely used option, staff are having to travel at the back of the plane, while choosing the more basic amenities of the budget hotel chains. For some businesses, travel is being prioritised around meetings that are deemed revenue-critical. The rest can wait, or be done using remote communications.

Travel budgets working much harder

Travel budgets are being worked much harder as corporate UK starts feeling the pain of economic downturn, and the more immediate pressure from ever-rising travel costs. For many businesses, the first reaction to the onset of a recession is a slash and burn of non-core activities. Down goes the marketing budget, followed by the travel budget. It means that value is now moving centre stage.

And it’s introducing a new price sensitivity into this area of expenditure. It’s also bringing a demand for greater accountability into budgetary management. Suppliers and travel management companies need to help their corporate customers navigate this changing mood. Best value isn’t necessarily about ‘cheapest’ – it’s more about maximising 'business outcome' from the existing travel budget.

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Appealing to the Older Consumer

When presented with advanced technology, older and less tech-savvy consumers may feel like children again.

They want answers to the questions: how does it work; what does it do; is it relevant to me?

Technology brands should think less about sleek, polished looks and more about making technology fun, and relevant to this group, which could include more innovative control systems such as motion and voice.

For example, build brain training into the core function of a device, such as creating a Sudoku-focussed mobile handset that is designed to update a library of puzzles daily.

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Elemental twist for Dots candy

In USA, Tootsie Roll Industries released Fruit Gums under the Dots Elements brand in a new range of four flavours.

Dots has been established as a popular candy brand in the US for decades and has seen some interesting seasonal variations and flavours. The new Elements range is quite a radical reinvention for the brand and brings an interesting theme as well as some on-trend flavours to the sugar confectionery market.

The range comprises the four Aristotlean elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, in Pomegranate, Wintergreen, Cinnamon and Green Tea flavours respectively. The packaging has a distinctive and contemporary look and unusually for this brand each pack contains only a single candy flavour.

Pomegranate and Green Tea are two of the successful "super" flavours of recent years and it is interesting to see these in a range linked to the natural world, something relatively unusual in this particular market.

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Scalp care to move men's haircare forward

Aveda extends exfoliating haircare into men’s category to encourage men to apply the same principles to their scalps as they do to their skin.

Aveda ’s  exfoliating shampoo (£16.50) under the Men Pure-Formance brand is not the first exfoliating haircare product on the market, but it is unique in that it specifically targets men. Men are taking a growing interest in maintaining their skin, and use of hair products is on the rise amongst younger men. The build-up of styling agents may mean that men are looking for products that offer a deep clean feeling and are beginning to apply their skincare regimes to rid their scalps of product build up. The formula is enriched with organic essential oils claims to deep cleanse the hair whilst also exfoliating the scalp to remove dead skin cells, excess oil and product build-up. The spearmint will provide the scalp with a refreshed feeling to further support the clean hair feeling.

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Innocent Knitting

Drinks brand Innocent has launched its 2008 Big Knit appeal, aiming to raise money for Age Concern and inviting consumers to create hats for its bottles.

Each time a hat-wearing bottle is sold, Innocent and Sainsbury's (which will exclusively stock the bottles) will donate fifty pence to Age Concern. The charity bottles will be sold in the run-up to Christmas to highlight the problems faced by older people during winter.

A Sense of Fun

Innocent is well-known for the sense of play inherent to its business, and the Big Knit - launched in 2003 - is an example of how that can be combined with a more serious fundraising effort to great effect.

By involving customers and inviting them to create something unique and silly, but which also takes a degree of effort, the brand can engage in philanthropy without being seen to preach or be more-moral-than-thou.

• The success of Comic Relief has shown how humour and charity can combine effectively - people do not want simply to be shown images of suffering; something is needed to counter the negative and encourage a sense of unity and community.
• In the same way, but on a much smaller scale, Innocent can move away from the traditional money donation model, and bring in a sense of playfulness. With uncertainty and a degree of fear about the state of the world acting as prime influencers on consumers, brands that can offer an alternative will stand out.
• This lightness of touch is necessary and a key driver of business. Customers feel that they can strike up more of a relationship, feel more connection with brands tuned into the play ethic, and this leads to sales success and the ability to transmute that across into other areas such as charity.

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Double Reward Points from Chase Bank

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Face Lotion

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