SOCIAL NETWORKS: DIALOGUE, MARKETING OR BLACKMAIL TOOLS?

Their use is not clear nor is it correct.  Improperly used by the most part of tourism companies for last minute promotions, social networks can turn into true blackmail tools  in the customers’ hands. The rules of the game and of jurisprudence at  TTG Forum ‘The social networks misunderstanding’.

The conference will  also introduce the results of the research commissioned by TTG Italia on the use of social networks by travel agencies.

Turin, October 15, 2010 – The first rule is using social networks for what they really are, that is, tools to  set up a direct dialogue with the user, so as to be in line with the laws of marketing and, mostly, with those of jurisprudence.

It is no coincidence that the suggestion should come from Gianluca Rossoni, lawyer and expert in b2b tourism law and member of the IFTTA (International Forum of Travel and Tourism Advocates) Board, who will take part in the Forum called ‘The social networks misunderstanding’, scheduled for October 23 at TTG Incontri, the main b2b tourism fair in Italy. 

The proliferation of showcases and profiles set up lately by sector operators to penetrate the social media indeed calls for a consideration of the usefulness of this tool and mostly of its more or less proper use by companies and final users, who very often exploit them to retaliate for the disservices – or alleged disservices – sustained.

But up to what point is it licit to avail of the web 2.0 to dissuade new potential customers from choosing a company? ‘The comments can assume criminal relevance when they incorporate the constituent elements of the crime of slander or attempted extortion”, Rossoni clarifies. ‘Beyond such cases, the right to criticise is protected by article 21 of the Constitution which safeguards freedom of speech’.

But often do the companies themselves use this tool to disparage their competitors. ‘These are instances of unfair competition – Rossoni carries on – where the article 2598 of the Civil Code is involved, which safeguards professional fairness and protects from actions that are apt to damage other companies. The true problem in such cases is finding evidence, since it is very difficult to ascertain the true identity of the user in e-communications in social forums’. 

Clearly not all companies use the social media to damage their competitors. Some operators believe that social media have become a primary marketing and communication tool.  An opinion shared by Stefano Manzi, marketing manager at Trivago.it, the hotel price comparison portal; he believes that ‘social networks are a powerful tool to assess the tourist appeal of a territory, provided that background work be done to organise lists of reference audiences, and that the objective be the quality rather than the quantity of information’. But Manzi also thinks that ‘in the tourist field such approach has been dodged by many operators, certain that opening a fan page or twitting offers every other minute could raise immediate interest. And all this ignoring the most basic strategies of the previous marketing mix’.

It is indeed necessary to pay closer attention to the use and the true potential of this tool, as confirmed by  Giancarlo Carniani, Head Organizer of Bto, specialised event on Travel 2.0.

‘Contrary to what some may think, the mechanism has not broken at all. Rather, this is just the beginning. For instance, how many hoteliers have realised that Booking.com has its pages indexed on Facebook? How many own their channel on Flickr or YouTube? I believe that in the future social networks will be our major working tool and no other platform will exist. It will be the end of e-mails, of faxes and brochures, and everything will move onto mobile platforms such as Iphone, Ipad and many more. And there is already a number of examples of how a social media marketing strategy can be more effective than many other old strategies’.

One of these will be illustrated during the Forum by Qmark, which has carried out a research for TravelPeople, in collaboration with TTG Italia, to understand the use of the internet and of social networks by travel agencies. ‘An updated photograph – as Paolo Mezzina, president of the Slash Agency and director of Qmark says – of the ‘digital’ and ‘social’ attitude of travel agents, a further category called to deal with the new media’.

The TTG Forum ‘The social networks misunderstanding’ will take place on Saturday, October 23 from 4.00 to 5.30 pm

Speakers:

Giancarlo Carniani, Head Organizer BTO

Stefano Manzi, Trivago’s marketing manager

Paolo Mezzina, President of the SLASH Agency and QMARK Director

Gianluca Rossoni, lawyer, expert in b2b tourism law and member of the IFTTA Board

Chairman

Marco Ottolini: expert in the Internet and digital technologies applied to the world of tourism