Skift has a fascinating interview with Darren Huston that covers a range of topics. But the one that really got the attention revolved around his views of metasearch. It's not every day that Priceline explains why driving brand value matters and it's well worth your time. Here's the first quote that leapt off the screen:
"Huston is fairly dismissive of price-driven metasearch in general and the now-you-see-it, now-you-don't pricing games that are endemic to lot of metasearch sites."
He continues:
"We'd like to win not through constantly buying customers, but more creating experiences that customers want to have. That's been the belief. I think that across the [Priceline] Group we believe in creating great products that people actually want to use and great customer experiences. That will, at the end of the day, carry the day. That's a more valuable way to create a long term sustainable business than being in the market every year having to re-buy your customers."
And, just to underscore that point, he adds:
"We like selling experience versus selling things. We also believe there's a large body of customers who are looking for value more than just saving a dollar on a hotel room."
Now, remember, this is Priceline, a company originally founded on the idea of travelers naming their own price, a company that owns Booking.com. And here's the CEO suggesting that the real opportunity isn't in competing on price; it's about competing on value.
Read Full Article @ https://www.timpeter.com/2015/02/10/ceo-darren-huston-priceline-explains-why-driving-brand-value-matters-travel-tuesday/
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Darren Huston
Short StoryDarren Huston (born 3 January 1966) is a Canadian businessman was the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Priceline, Currently he is a CEO of BlackPines Capital Advisors. Residence - Amsterdam, Netherlands Nationality - Canadian Alma mate...
