Pura Vida. Every Day.

A few comments on Cheil and Costa Rica

I. Six Thoughts

II. Current Cheil travel experience

III. Cheil and Costa Rica

IV. Agency Travel Experience

I. Six Thoughts

1. No one goes on a vacation to Costa Rica

2. It’s a recession and an opportunity

3. When is an electronic device like a vacation?

4. Humans count

5. Keep close

6. If you can not bring the people to the jungle….

I. Six Thoughts

1. No one goes on vacation to Costa Rica

Ok, we got your attention. They do go for a “vacation”. But a Costa

Rican vacation is a bit different. It is not your traditional “passive”

vacation.

The first thing that we noted is that anyone who has been to Costa

Rica for a vacation there speaks about the “experience”. One of our

employees took 250 photos and breathlessly described everything

she did. Canopy Tours, Volcano, Horseback on the beach. She then

commented “Amazing all of that in 5 days!

That experience was not singular to her. In fact it was common:

The experience unites them.

It makes them want to tell everyone about it.

And they want to go back. Again and again.

Implications

Harness that passion and keep it alive.

Let them relive the experience.

Let them easily share it with others.

Give them an outlet to express themselves.

I. Six Thoughts

2. It’s a recession and it’s an opportunity

As Americans (and Canadians) spend more time and money on

“staycations” (nesting) the opportunity exists to position Costa Rica

as the active alternative. As a place to go for a real experience. One

that you will remember..for a long time. More to the point, Costa

Rica offers a chance to get off the couch, get away, really away and

do so with few regrets (No huge credit card bill awaiting their

return).

Implications

Put simply “It’s all within reach” in Costa Rica.

And we mean this in any number of ways:

•There are myriad experiences available; from beach to jungle, from

swimming pools to tidal pools, from treetops to mountain tops and

all within a relatively close proximity.

•It’s not a long trip from the US and Canada.

•And frankly it is not expensive.

I. Six Thoughts

3. When is an electronic device like a vacation?

A 2008 Double-Click survey on online buyers found that pre-

purchase recommendations were nearly as important for travel as

for electronics.

• 59% of adult online buyers indicated that they are likely to

consider a recommendation before purchasing a top ranked

electronic product.

•Similarly, 53% would consider a recommendation before making a

travel purchase.

Cheil, with its long time client Samsung (the world leader in

electronics) understands the need to craft media and creative

strategies that take into account the specific purchase behavior of a

target.

For example Cheil noted that the primary destination for consumers

researching electronics was CNET. To keep consumers from leaving

CNET (and possibly visit Samsung’s competitors sites) we developed

an on-line store within CNET, placing Samsung right at the key

decision making point.

Implication

Develop a similar “Store” at key destination sites

I. Six Thoughts

4. Humans count

Travelers are getting frustrated with online websites. There is no

particular loyalty to Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbits. A recent

Forrester Research article noted an increase in offline research for

travel and a decrease in the enjoyment of planning and buying

travel on the internet.

This is not to say that on-line travel is not important, nor do we

suggest that it is going away. Simply that we have found a

significant reliance on the human touch for those booking vacations

in Costa Rica.

Given the “experiential” nature of Costa Rica this is not surprising.

Booking a “passive” all-inclusive vacation to the Bahamas is

perfectly suited to the Expedia’s of the world.

The same does not hold true to a country where you can be on a

beach one morning and in a cloud forest that same afternoon.

Implication

Identify and support travel agents who understand the

“experience”.

I. Six Thoughts

5. Stay close

Many things unite the Costa Rican “Passionistas”, those lucky few

who have already had the Costa Rican experience:

•A desire to go back.

•A desire to get others to go.

•A desire to go back.

We think it is critical that those desires are reinforced on a regular

basis. We would suggest augmenting any traditional direct

(Email/direct mail) efforts by bringing Costa Rica to the

“passionistas” desk-tops and their phones.

Implications

Develop a Pura Vida widget for their desktops providing news,

weather, photos or whatever they so choose on their desktop.

Likewise we suggest developing an App for the Iphone.

I. Six Thoughts

6. If you can not bring the people to the jungle bring…

It is hard for those who have not been to Costa Rica to understand

the true breadth of the experience. But we would suggest

developing a Costa Rican road show that literally would bring that

experience into key markets. Imagine creating a zipline speeding

you through the rainforest…in NY’s Grand Central Station.

While Cheil has not created a rainforest in Grand Central we have

the capability to do so. Our Brand Amplification division (Brand Amp

for short) is up for to the challenge. We’ve handled the Olympic

Torch Relay (especially challenging this year), the Samsung World

Championships (Golf), created the largest booth at the largest

electronic show (the Consumer Electronic Show), and brought the

Samsung experience live to New York City.

In addition we would investigate partnering with a key cable

network (National Geo, The Travel Channel, A&E) to develop a Costa

Rican travel content for TV and the web.

II. Current travel experience

We are currently working with the Dallas Ft Worth Visitors and Convention bureau to increase Asian travel to the Southwest. As noted earlier our role in this campaign is twofold. We manage and execute the DFW campaign in Asia, and we assist in expanding the relationship with DFW International Airport’s carrier partners, primarily Korean Air.

This marketing campaign allows Cheil to utilize its global strength to make a complex, multinational program operate seamlessly.

Here are three screen grabs from the site.

III. Agency personnel travel experience

In addition to our current Dallas Ft Worth work, our personnel have worked on a wide variety of travel and travel-related accounts at other advertising agencies.

“Costa Rica has a terrific combination of outdoor activities (hiking, rafting, horseback riding) with beautiful beaches for relaxing and recharging”

Sarah Horn Cheil-New JerseyFirst trip

“Costa Rica is the perfect place for a honeymoon. You can totally relax at the peaceful beaches but also hike up volcanoes and zip line through the trees.  The things to do are endless.”

Christine Nelson (Grubb)Cheil, DallasFirst trip for her honeymoon

“Such an amazing country, we immediately knew what the howler monkeys were talking about.”

Steve Fanuele & Kimberly McFarlandCheil, NJFirst trip for their honeymoon

“Costa Rica was one of the friendliest carefree places I’ve been. Everyone was smiling, everyone was helpful and the raw beauty of the country (Dominical especially) was astounding.”

David GlitzerCheil, New JerseyTwo Trips (so far)

“Here it is in one country, zip-lining in the rain forest, horseback riding on the beach, white water rafting and then top it off by going trekking to see an active volcano..”

Johanna RustiaCheil New JerseyOne trip, another in the works

“Two trips so far, and still lots to do, and lots of people to do it with.”

Michael Glowaski Cheil New JerseyTwo trips

“Costa Rica is a true experiential travel experience.”

Kelly BrennanCheil New JerseyTwo trips

“Never Bring Food to Manuel Antonio National Park”A first-hand tale of Costa Rican wildlife, photographed by Steve Fanuele & Kimberly McPartland

An observant and clever monkey scopes out the scene on the beach.

Climbs a tree and dines in style…He quickly dashes to safety.

Rummaging through their backpack he quickly finds the yummy sandwich

When the family of four goes into the ocean for a swim, he makes his move.

…with friends.

Gracias