Download - Dajon Luxury Apartments Case Study
CASE STUDY
Establishing a brand in a crowded market The owners of a new development on the island of Skiathos were
entering the lodging industry in Greece at a difficult time.
Insight. Strategy. Implementation.
Lucidity London Inspiring Growth
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LEADING WITH DIGITAL IN GREECE’S LODGING INDUSTRY
Executive Summary
Digital marketing has been a consistent income and profit generator for Dajon Luxury Apartments (DLA). With a
limited budget for brand development and sales generation, Lucidity’s team delivered an ROI of 476% in the
first year (2009), and have continued to help grow the business’s top and bottom line ever since. Dajon Luxury
Apartments are now firmly established in the highly competitive lodging sector on Skiathos Island.
About Dajon Luxury Apartments
Dajon Luxury Apartments (DLA) is a relatively new
development in Skiathos, Greece comprising eight large
self-catering apartments and two studios. It is quietly
located five minutes’ walk from the centre of the popular
and lively resort of Skiathos Town.
Situation
Dajon’s management were entering the lodging industry in
Skiathos at a very difficult time. Over the previous 10
years, the number of rooms available for rent on the island
had increased dramatically, so they would be competing in
an over-supplied market.
Furthermore, competition was beginning to intensify as
previously reliable markets in Britain, Germany and
Scandinavia started to show signs of decline. The global
financial crisis recession was beginning to affect the plans
of holiday-makers throughout Europe.
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Task
Lucidity London was commissioned by Dajon’s owners to
devise and implement a marketing plan to achieve the
following goals:
1. Raise awareness of the new apartments among
holidaymakers and regular visitors to the island
2. Stake out a position at the top end of the lodging
market in Skiathos, Greece
3. Achieve an occupancy rate of 70% in the summer
season (Jun to mid-Oct)
4. Make effective and efficient use of the budget and
deliver an annual return on investment of 300+%
Action
A review of competitors in Skiathos helped us identify
space for the newly christened Dajon Apartments at the
top end of the mid-market, and informed the creation of
a brand name and identity which positioned Dajon as an
‘affordable luxury’.
Now we needed to find a way of placing the brand
among the choices of accommodation that the island’s
visitors see and actively consider. But who were these
visitors? And how would we reach them?
With the start of the first summer season approaching,
we selected independent travellers as our primary target
audience; secondary research revealed more than 60%
of European holiday-makers arrive on the island without
the assistance of a tour operator.
For this group of visitors, online was a key research tool
for lodgings and a small number of online directories
were highly influential in driving traffic to the websites
of service providers. We created a high profile presence
on each directory to guide potential customers to a new
website designed to reflect the luxury attributes of the
Dajon proposition and produced in 3 languages; Greek,
English and German.
Visitors to the site were able to download brochures,
price lists and maps for circulation among decision-
makers, and designed to boost consideration and
preference for Dajon. Photographs of the modern,
spacious accommodation were interspersed with images
from around Skiathos to promote the island as an idyllic
holiday destination.
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Communication Materials
Website (www.dajonskiathos.com) House Banner Ad
Brochure (English) Promotional Banner Ad – Jan 2010
Guest Satisfaction Survey (English) Rates – Summer 2009
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Results
Digital marketing works well for Dajon’s management,
comfortably exceeding their targets each year. By
tracking room nights booked following an online
enquiry, and then calculating the total revenue
generated by these room nights, they have found that
online marketing is a reliable, consistent income
generator delivering an ROI of over 400% a year.
Over the past 5 years Dajon’s management have
consistently achieved an occupancy rate over 70%, an
incredible performance given the heightened level of
competitive intensity at the time and the initial
inexperience of the team in the lodging industry.
Results from Guest Satisfaction Surveys have revealed
consistently high levels of approval with the lodging -
Dajon averages over of 8 out of 10 every year for the
overall experience, while qualitative feedback from the
surveys help management continuously improve the
customer experience.
All the experience gained from early digital campaigns
has been fed back into an annual planning cycle which
informs tactical changes to the marketing plan for the
following year.
With a high profile presence firmly established on the
key online directories in Skiathos itself, Dajon have
shifted their focus to reach out and develop a digital
presence in key country markets (Serbia, Italy and the
UK) to stimulate advance bookings and help them
towards their occupancy target for the season.
Every January, an ‘Early Booker’ pay per click campaign
is created for each country market which produces more
than 60 bookings a year. Today Dajon’s websites attract
more than 1,000 unique visitors each month, with each
in-market visitor spending an average of 6 minutes
spending time browsing around.
Source: Dajon Luxury Apartments, Jan 2014
11,558
15,138 12,370 12,426
9,586
23%
7% 5% 5%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Annual Performance: Sales & Web Visitors
Annual Web Visits Revenue Growth on LY
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