Holiday firm Center Parcs Europe has cut its marketing costs by
nearly £1m and increased revenues by the same amount since
implementing predictive analytical software across its marketing
department.
The company, which operates 15 holiday villages across Europe,
rolled out the analytical software, from supplier DataDistilleries,
as part of an overhaul of its marketing processes, which were
centred around two bulk mailings per year.
The software has allowed Center Parcs to increase the occupancy
rates in its holiday villages and sell more sports and leisure
facilities to guests - boosting revenues by £1m - by accurately
predicting individual customer needs, said Richard Verhoeff,
director of e-commerce at the company.
Customers are only contacted if they are likely to respond to a
campaign, Verhoeff explained, reducing mailing costs by more than
50%. These campaigns are now followed by several small, but highly
targeted campaigns to sell remaining accommodation or cross-sell
additional facilities.
The DataDistilleries software has made Center Parcs marketing
campaigns far more dynamic, Verhoeff said.
"Time to market is crucial to the success of our marketing
campaigns," he said. "For example, we may find out on Monday that
accommodation for the upcoming weekend in one of the parks is not
fully booked. Using the software we can run a quick analysis,
targeting potential customers and approaching them in the same
week. This results in numerous additional bookings and an increase
in revenue."
Center Parcs is now considering implementing the DataDistilleries
software across other channels, including its call centre.