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Industry Commentary, Luxury Travel

Luxury Travel in the UAE

It’s certain to say that a trip to the United Arab Emirates is not complete without a little hotel hopping. A regional treasure, guests can expect the luxury hotels of the UAE to offer a superior level of hospitality and facilities. With celebrities like Usher visiting The Ritz-Carlton Ras Al Khaimah, Al Wadi Desert for a getaway and performers like Alicia Keys and Rita Ora arriving to Dubai for RedfestDXB, it’s clear the UAE knows how to do things like no other.

From Dubai to other surrounding cities, there is no shortage of travel consumers who are willing and able to spend significant amounts on luxury. With over 14 million tourists visiting Dubai each year, luxury hotels feature an international main dining restaurant. So, no matter which part of the world their guests are from or which part of the world they’d like to taste – it’s all made available to them. Dubai is a foodie’s paradise, with brunch being a favorite for both tourists and guests.

In other parts of the world, brunch is known as a meal between breakfast and lunch. However, brunch in Dubai doesn’t come close to fitting this definition. Simply put, it’s a dining indulgence taken to new heights and definitely not a breakfast or lunch. Each hotel has a different style and vibe, from family oriented to mid-day party, fine-dining experience to a day of entertainment, but what’s consistent is an all-inclusive feast of food and drinks, including luxurious champagnes and wines. Brunches kick off the weekend and usually run from 1- 4pm on a Friday – the first day of the weekend is Friday in the Gulf and this is the day where the drinks are really flowing.

Dubai is full of iconic experiences and a lot different than the touristy camel riding and desert safaris people expect to see. Dubai’s culture has adapted to the influences from around the world. With over 200 nationalities in Dubai alone, it’s truly a melting-pot of culture and experiences. Locals, residents and tourists are encouraged to share their experiences to create a digital story of the city by using #MyDubai.

If your brand is looking to reach the UAE market on social, we have extensive experience in the region and are here to help. Reach out and let’s chat.

Sources: Government.ae, Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), 2012 and Dubai Statistics Authority, 2012

February 27, 2019by Nadia
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Industry Commentary

2019 Travel Trends

Here at Pandemic Labs, 2019 travel trends are extremely important. In an age where trends set and change rapidly in almost every industry, the hospitality industry is worth taking a look at. Travelers are continually evolving, and their priorities are shifting fast. If you are in the business for travel or just curious about new trends, here is a tip: customers are seeking more than activities to busy themselves and just a room to sleep in.

Two consumer groups that will heavily influence the hospitality industry by 2020 are Millennials and Gen Z. Now, let’s take a deep dive into what these groups expect from their travel adventures:

  1. Experience – Turns out these groups will pay extra for services that will buy them local experiences at the destination. Another curious trend emerging is “Dark Tourism,” which is something as dark as it sounds. These groups like visiting places with unfortunate histories, such as the towns near Fukushima or Tuol Sleng in Cambodia.
  2. Conscious Travel – They’re about eco-friendly travels and maximizing their positive impact on the environment! So, if you are a business that still serves iced coffee with plastic straws, you might want to reconsider that decision.
  3. Wellness – Spas, massages, therapeutic anything! The trend is to take care of one’s self, especially on vacation.Not only do they want to pamper themselves, they’re interested in learning techniques and ways to further integrate wellness into their daily lives back at home. Experiences that pull through teaching wellness will be a big hit with these groups.
  4. B-leisure – Remember the times your parents went on a business trip and came back without even sightseeing? Those times are over. Nowadays, people like to mix up business and leisure – B-leisure! Business comes first, then travel.B-leisure is something Pandemic Labs employees participate in. Have a property site visit to Atlanta Buckhead that finishes on a Friday? Stay over the weekend to explore the area and take in the sights!
  5. Instagrammability – If you think we’re joking, you are wrong! People are literally planning and picking their next vacation with Instagramable locations and experiences in mind. They would instead go to an authentic spot which they can proudly Instagram over a perfect-but-cliché one.Think about how many pictures you’ve seen on Instagram of friends at the Ice Cream Museum or posing in front of the Angel Wings in LA? Case in point.

All of this is can be seen as extra hard work for businesses to make sure they stay relevant and trendy, OR as we like to think of it, as an opportunity to tap into creativity and push the limits. We’re all about setting and breaking new trends on Instagram, so if you’re looking to break the mold – reach out!

February 20, 2019by admin
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Industry Commentary, Social Networks

Turn Back Time in Facebook’s New ‘Remove Message’ Feature

“If I could turn back time

If I could find a way

I’d take back those words that hurt you…”

Cher may have said it best, but it’s been the cry of our Internet-obsessed generation for ages.

You’ve heard it before – “what happens on the Internet, stays on the internet…forever.” Once that message is sent, there’s no going back. Until now.

Facebook announced this month that users are now able to retract previously sent messages in Messenger within a 10-minute window. Email service providers like Gmail and Outlook have had this feature for a while, as well as social platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, but it looks like Facebook has finally gotten on board. Thank you, Mark Z.

The process is fairly straightforward. After sending a message – and as the regret starts to set in – simply press and hold the text you’d like to delete (or for desktop, click the 3 dots to the left of the message). Click “Remove” and you’ll be presented with an option to “Remove for Everyone” or “Remove for You”. Choosing the first will delete the message for everyone in the group, the second will only remove the message from your feed, but everyone else will still see it.

Before you go deleting all those drunk mistakes from last night, there’s a few things you should know:

  1. Act fast! You’ve only got 10 minutes to delete the message. After that, you’ll only be able to choose the “Remove for You” option.
  2. The evidence remains. Everyone in the conversation will be alerted if you delete a message, so you won’t be able to delete all evidence of your mistake.
  3. Not for Business Manager. Unfortunately, at this time it doesn’t look like this feature is available for Business Pages users. Once you’ve sent that private message to a customer, there’s no going back. But you’re already proofreading that message before you send it…right?!

So, go forth, giveth and taketh away your messages! Delete mistakes with no limited evidence and stop blaming autocorrect for your errors.

For more information on the new Facebook Messenger feature: https://bit.ly/2MQnkye

February 13, 2019by Michelle Osbourn
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Industry Commentary, Social Networks

Facebook Premiere, now live!

Drumroll, please! Facebook recently dropped Premiere, which is Facebook Live plus all the benefits minus the shaky spontaneity of a live video. Forget about an impromptu stream – Premiere is yet another step towards carefully curated content designed to reap engagement, and that’s always a good thing in our book. With Facebook Premiere, brands can now debut exciting event announcements or videos without all of the stress and unpredictability of a live stream. Of course, you could just post or schedule your video – but trust us, this new feature can be your hypeman. Did we stutter? Facebook is giving you the option to send notifications and countdowns on social in addition to having users tune in and comment versus just posting and hoping for the best (like in the good ol’ days, ha). Why worry about ensuring things go off without a hitch when you can post content that’s pre-approved AND allows users to interact as they watch?

Fidji Simo, Facebook VP of Product for Video, puts it simply: “People will be able to experience Premieres of videos like movie trailers or new content from their favorite creators, alongside other fans together in real time — just like watching a Facebook Live video.”

So spread the word – tell your friends, tell your fam. Who doesn’t want to tune in to see how something plays out? Loyal viewers can subscribe to notifications so they won’t miss out on your Premiere video. Don’t forget, your video should be at least 30 seconds long and scheduled at least 10 minutes in advance. And if you’re into time management, you can schedule your Premiere at most 7 days ahead. When it’s all said and done, the video will live on your page like a published post. Good looks, Facebook!

For a full list of Premiere requirements, click here: http://bit.ly/2KBkxI7

Sources: Digital Trends and Marketing Land

November 26, 2018by Chloe Chow
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Industry Commentary

Putting the “Marketing” Back in Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is an everyday topic of discussion in marketing departments and agencies across the world. The question has evolved from “Why Social Media Influencers” to how to best utilize them. But as industry professionals rush to capitalize on this new strategy, they are struggling to effectively implement successful campaigns. Navigating the ever-changing landscape of our digital social world presents undeniable new opportunities – but without proper thought and planning, all brands are really doing is wasting time, money, and resources.

So, what goes into a successful influencer marketing campaign, you may ask? Put simply – the same thing that goes into any successful marketing effort. Proper planning, execution, and analysis. Now that I have pointed out the vague and seemingly obvious – let’s break it down.

Planning:

Three important questions you should ask yourself before moving forward with scouring the internets or reaching out to the Kardashians are:

  • What are the objectives of this campaign?
  • How are we defining success of these objectives? (AKA your KPIs – Key Performance Indicators)
  • What would our perfect influencer look like?

By answering these questions, you give yourself a foundation for a goal-driven campaign. Without defining and understanding your objectives, any money or free products given to an influencer is the equivalent of throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks (unfortunate truth: sometimes, nothing sticks…). Whether it be awareness, site visits, product purchases, follower growth or even getting people to come to an event just because their favorite beauty guru is there, start with the end in mind. Once that is established, figure out how much of that thing needs to be accomplished for you and your business to be happy. A million impressions, 200 comments on a post, 27 site clicks, 300 product purchases, 80 event ticket purchases are all highly more acceptable answers than “we want people to talk about our new product” And finally, consider what your perfect partner looks like in order to achieve that goal. An indie music artist with 20,000 followers, mainly between the ages of 18-32 won’t be the best fit for selling luxury watches or denture cream, for example, but could be a perfect ambassador for driving traffic to the launch of a new music blog.

Choosing:

Now that you’re know what you’re trying to do – and have decided that you would like to do it by partnering with an influencer – the next step is figuring out who that person or profile is!

The factors you should be looking for:

  • Follower count
  • Engagement rate
  • Audience (i.e. demographic breakdown)
  • Brand (including content type and specialty, visual aesthetic, tone, etc)

…. and most importantly:

  • How they align to your brand and your campaign objective

While follower count indicates the potential reach of your message, the other factors ultimately will determine the difference between accomplishing your goals or whether you would be better off shouting in the wind in a crowded subway station.

Engagement shows if the influencer’s followers actually connect with what their content. If they don’t care enough to like, comment, or share their posts, then they would be unlikely to listen to a recommendation about your brand. Similarly, you’ll want to ensure that their audience aligns with your target market.

The value that influencers bring, above other marketing options, is that they have developed clout. People are more likely to trust their recommendation because of the relationship they have built with their brand. Users see them as a peer or expert, and that therefore gives validity to something they endorse.

To make sure that this social capital translates to engagement with branded content on their channel, marketers have to ensure their message is presented in a way that is consistent and authentic to the influencers’ regular posts.

Execution:

Once you pick your partner, work together to find out the best way to present your message. Make sure you are on the same page about what your brand is providing, and what they are expected to produce and post – and in what time frame. The more you plan and solidify ahead of time, the better you can curtail confusion and the smoother the partnership will go – but if possible, leave room for flexibility. As the adage goes, “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”; but as my addendum to this adage goes “but if you plan for things to go wrong and how to handle it, when things go wrong, they’ll go right!” (Not as elegant a saying, but you get the point.)

Though it might sound obvious – it is also essential that the type of content agreed upon is positioned to work toward accomplishing your campaign goals. For example, Instagram Story posts and snapchats allow for “swipe up to view site”, while YouTube videos allow for commenting, link in the description and longer form explanations. Choose what will work best for getting across your message effectively, while also giving viewers the easiest path to act on a call to action.

Monitor the posts the influencer is responsible for, and then use your brand channels to support them as much as possible. A simple comment from your brand account on their post, or answering questions that their followers ask about what you are promoting will go a long way. You will showcase the partnership and allow your brand to join the conversation- effectively building on the relationship the influencer has created with their fans.

Tracking, Analyzing and Reporting:

You’ve set your goals, picked your partner, and ran your campaign – you’re done, time to rest, right? Nope! Time to get the goods (aka the performance metrics).

Remember how we were talking about defining KPIs earlier? These goals don’t mean anything if you can’t track them.

– – Whoever invented trackable links should have a statue erected in their honor. – –

Set up any way to be able to see the results of your efforts ahead of time, so you have access to the information when you need it. Include planning for getting the data from your partner. Because the posts are on the influencer’s channel, they will have the access to the native post performance – have a plan and agreement on how and when you would like them to capture and deliver that information.

After the campaign is over – do a postmortem. Analyze the performance of your KPIs and evaluate all the effort that went into your campaign. Return on investment are at the heart of any marketing campaign. A proper analysis is how you figure out how successful you were!

(Now, you’re done!)

Other tips, tricks, and things:

  • Depending on the channel where the influencer has built their social capital – you can ask them to confirm their demographic breakdown before entering in an agreement. (i.e. sharing a screenshot of their Instagram-provided audience breakdown)
  • Make sure that what you are asking from your influencer partner is a plan they are comfortable with, and achievable.
  • Weigh your options for the promotion of your campaign – while influencer marketing has many advantages and is a rising trend, other traditional options might yield better results. First, define what you are trying to achieve, and go from there!
  • Understand that by aligning with an influencer, not only are they promoting your brand, but you are endorsing them as a person or profile with similar views and values to those your brand represents.

If you have any questions – or want professional help in setting up a successful influencer campaign – reach out to us! Pandemic labs has over 1,500 influencers in our personal network and the expertise to help you accomplish your goals!

November 12, 2018by Lori Yogurtian
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