Authentic experiences for authentic customers

mennessä | Oct 11, 2019 | Blogi, Markkinointi | 2 Kommentit

As we’ve been studying Kotler’s traditional STP-model as part of our Hospitality Management studies, we became eager to learn more about the Finnish travel industry’s customer segmentation. Visit Finland’s main customer segment division caught our eye.   Visit Finland has identified six different main customer segments in Finnish travel industry, as listed below. Even though all the segments are defined separately, they cross and merge and the effects in one may well spill over to another. On a national basis the three biggest groups are City Breakers, Nature Explorers and Authentic Lifestyle Seekers

Customer segmentation and targeting

Nature Wonder Hunters

Nature Explorers

Activity Enthusiasts

Comfort Seekers

Authentic Lifestyle Seekers

City Breakers

All six of these segments exist amongst the travellers coming to Rovaniemi.

However, the current concentration in marketing is naturally on the Nature Wonder Hunters and Activity Enthusiasts – the Northern Lights and Santa Claus being the major attractions of the city. Although we were a bit confused in which category to place the Saint Nick in.  In addition to those obvious points of interests, we started to look into what the other customer segments could make out of Rovaniemi. For Nature Explorers the two beautiful rivers, hiking trails and Devil’s Churns will very likely satisfy the needs of a nature lover. Comfort Seekers are looking for luxury in their experiences and one could probably find the Glass Igloos and the Arctic Snow Hotel being such attractions.    For Authentic Lifestyle Seekers and City Breakers most travel pages seem to suggest the Science Centre and Museum Arktikum, which for sure will give you an interesting overview of the history of the area and northern ways of living. Science Centre Pilke will introduce you to the Finnish forests, and the home of Lapland Chamber Orchestra and the City Art Museum, Korundi House of Culture, is quite well on the map too.        

But what is “authentic”, how do we define it? Not that we want to bad mouth Santa (especially this close to Christmas), but could we perhaps advertise something more down to earth and less winter wonderlandish, at least for those who just happen to be stopping by?  

The beautiful rivers in Rovaniemi are full of possibilities. 

Photo by Iina

 Most of the locals in Rovaniemi seem to think, that the biggest asset of the city is the closeness of the nature. You can live a vivid, even cultural city life and escape to the great wildish forests and hills with your dancing shoes still on.  The two beautiful rivers have so much more potential than what is now made use of, but otherwise the outdoors activities seem to be quite diversely out there for people to reach.

The nature is very close to the city, but is it visible and accessible enough for the visitors? As a non-local and a new in town, we’re not sure. The latter recently met a traveller who, despite of having stayed in Rovaniemi for a couple of days already, hadn’t noticed that the city is located at the confluence of two big rivers. Interesting – and at the same time a bit sad, that one of the most authentic parts of the city can so easily be unnoticed.   As Rovaniemi is widely known as the gateway to the North, we would also be interested in looking into what the town has to offer to those who just stay overnight and head up north in the morning. What would they want to experience? How about the ones who just came back from the wilderness, or are in town just for a business meeting? What would make one leave Netflix and the comforts of the hotel room and go see something real, something that might make them come back for more?   Truth to be told, you couldn’t make the city itself pretty, even if you dipped it in rainbows. The extraordinary reindeer shaped city plan mostly makes you feel like you’re in an escape game – but there is lots of beauty inside to entice different kinds of customers.    

Text by Taru & Iina

Photos by Iina

Except: Aurora Borealis by Jonathan Pie / Unsplash

Wine Glasses by Matt Lamers / Unsplash

References:   https://www.businessfinland.fi/contentassets/f3b843d2ffe643669b359ae52317738d/towards-a-motives-based-segmenting-motivaatiotekijat.pdf?_t_id=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAmY7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=customer+segmentation&_t_tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a53b34a16-7ce7-4ab0-8c7e-f06c83547e28&_t_ip=88.112.30.135&_t_hit.id=Finpro_Web_Features_MediaData_GenericMediaData/_81fe7f78-2839-409d-a5a6-d7ab3749dc56&_t_hit.pos=5   https://thebrandstop.wordpress.com/marketing-frameworks/stp/   https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/227756/Rovaniemen%20houkuttelevuus%20talvimatkailukohteena.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y   https://www.visitrovaniemi.fi/see-do/ 

2 Kommentit

  1. Soikkeli
    Soikkeli 13.11.2019 klo 00:40

    Olette hyvin tuoneet eri asiakasryhmiä käytännön tasolle ja löydetty niitä asioita, joita Rovaniemellä on tarjota heille. Loistavasti otettu autenttisuus erityiseen tarkkailuun, koska se on jotain, jota meiltä ei voi varastaa ja ennen kaikkea nykypäivää kaiken ”muovin” rinnalla. Lisäksi sen tuotteistaminen ja markkinointi on oma haasteensa.

    Kaikkiaan loistava teksti ja paljon hyviä huomioita. Olisin kuitenkin toivonut, että olisitte hieman laajemmin näyttäneet osaamistanne markkinointiviestinnän kannalta, kun sitä vaikuttaa olevan. Kuitenkin nyt tuli todella hyvin sitä, millaisia eri segmenttejä on ja mitä heille kannattaa Rovaniemellä markkinoida. Pohditte blogissanne mm. sitä, miten tiettyjä asioita saisi markkinoitua paremmin esimerkiksi ”netflixin tuijottajille”. Olisi ollut kiva, jos olisi ollut joku ehdotus tähän liittyen. Mukavaa luettavaa ja realistisia ja käytännönläheistä pohdintoja.

    Terveisin
    Heidi Soikkeli

    Vastaa
  2. Minna
    Minna 17.12.2019 klo 12:59

    Thank you for this excellently written blog post! The text had a good flow and it was both easy and enjoyable to read.

    Vastaa

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