Author Archives: Siva Vajjhala

June kick-started on a high note with the Mobile Apps Unlocked (MAU) in Las Vegas. Focused on the future of mobile application acquisition and retention, the conference emphasized on some of the biggest trends taking over the digital marketing space. Although it’s been nearly a year since Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) in iOS 14.5, the mobile app landscape is still grappling with its massive influence on user acquisition.  While ATT protects consumers from being tracked by third-party apps, it impedes the collection of identifiers that advertisers essentially leverage for personalized targeting. Coming from a world where marketers championed their audiences and campaigns through complete visibility, this creates a pressing business problem. With this paradigm shift in privacy centricity, brands ought to be smarter with building trust through the relationships with their customers and users. Less data signals now call for custom metrics for attribution that give specific signals to their solution. Additionally, with diminishing attention spans, brands across the globe are unanimously struggling with the fallout of departed app users. And so, with user attrition becoming yet another key business hurdle, brands are at a pressing juncture to unlock the full potential of digital customer experiences. The conference brought together seasoned leaders and subject matter experts who proposed the need for sophisticated platforms that can drive measurable value, support segmentation, creative testing and deliver unique insights across the customer experience. Here, Machine Learning (ML) algorithms have proven to dramatically improve customer experience, maintain customer loyalty and increase engagement. This technology suits all mobile business apps that need predictions and insights from large data sets. Although personalization is believed to drive customer experiences, it will be increasingly difficult to achieve without an integrated system that allows marketing to leverage first-party data. In light of this, user acquisition is now becoming more complex by the day, urging an inevitable focus on making the best efforts in sync with user retention and engagement. However, experts believe that the wide gaps in strategy have been brought by the now obsolete retargeting. Tapping into potential solutions, the industry has identified the use of creatives as the apt pivot in this level playing field. With authenticity believed to aid relatability, data shows that authenticity has made attainability a lot more real. And it is in this tangent that brands are building their digital identity and presence for the current generation, through bite-sized creatives, better known as the TikTok style of engagement. Finally, on the flip side of this booming new digital era, is the marketers’ heavy dependence on developers. Although it has been a familiar and ongoing struggle for brands since the dawn of time, now more than ever it continues to inhibit independent discretion of marketers. The vicious cycle of consumers demanding relevant content and brands becoming more reliant on dev teams, sprint cycles, and app store approvals to launch even the simplest of personalized and segmented campaigns, seems like it is here to stay. But in all, MAU was a testament to

The hospitality sector was one of the worst-hit during the pandemic and requires evolving in these uncertain times with fresh perspectives While looking at trends and data in the past three years, with regards to the hospitality industry, there’s only one thing we know for sure- change is the only constant. Gone are the times when there was a specific set format and a considerable difference between leisure and business travel. From doubling down on investment in relevant technology to accelerating and automating processes to identifying and shifting the way we cater to different groups of guests, it’s about time we take a pause and move forward in a strategic manner as an industry, on the whole. These are some of the many points that were addressed at the 44th Annual NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, which was a great opportunity to network with industry leaders, and get exclusive insights, perspectives and happenings on everything hospitality. Understanding the prevalent shift in customer expectations, and what we are and should be doing about it-   As of late, lead booking time has considerably reduced to anywhere between 0 to 6 days, with almost 50% of guests making their bookings on the very same day as their arrival. A steady increase can be seen in the rate of impulsive travellers, and the only way to match this pace is to be agile with our technology. Pre-pandemic trends can no longer be taken into consideration, and the steps that we take henceforth has to reflect futuristic thinking. Subscription-based model is gaining high momentum in the high-end leisure travel and hospitality sector. There are also a number of bookings that have already been made for the foreseeable future, which also means a large increase in lead booking times. Companies and brands have to focus on catering to both these groups- impulsive travellers and high-end leisure travellers. A sharp increase can be seen in group travel, with private properties and hotel suites getting booked out faster than ever. While this was not so prevalent a few years ago, more companies turning to remote working and experimenting with 4-day work week is opening up opportunities for an increase in group/family travel and stay. The fact that technology could possibly replace FTE is causing a certain sense of fear in people. While we should definitely be pro-automation, having people handle front office operations is a must. An ideal 10-15% of the process can be automated, and live engagement with customers without having to use Business Intelligence tools is a definite must. We must ponder about how we can use technology better to enable these live interactions and also how automation can enable staff and co-exist with them rather than replace them Events and entertainment are taking a front seat, and travel specifically for this purpose is making a huge comeback. With Las Vegas being completely booked till 2024, it only makes sense to take this new development into consideration whilst strategizing. There is a notable trend