Dean Harris is the CMO of Kayak.com, a vertical search website in the travel space. Prior to Kayak, he was the CMO of Vonage, a leading internet phone company; the CMO of CarDay, a bricks and clicks used car exchange, and the SVP of marketing for HotJobs, a well known online employment site. Before going online, Harris founded and ran a full service ad agency in NYC and Connecticut with clients that included Coca Cola, Citibank, Nestle, M&M Mars and Sotheby's. He was educated at The Horace Mann School, Carleton College, the Columbia School of International Affairs and Columbia Business School.
Recently, I chatted with him about the online travel space, search, his move from Vonage to Kayak and more.
Brad Berens: In moving from Vonage to Kayak you've gone from marketing a service that takes advantage of the internet as a technology -- but one that isn't accessed via people's computers -- to a straight internet search service focused on travel. What do you see as the biggest points of contact and biggest points of divergence between the two?
Dean Harris: Both services provide great value to people who are heavy internet users. And both offer superb applications for the internet. Since Kayak.com is a vertical search website, the internet is inherent in our DNA. Kayak.com offers consumers fast, comprehensive and unbiased information in the travel space. Of course, travel represents a significant part of the total ecommerce market, and the challenge for Kayak.com is to become the dominant brand in the category.
Berens: For advertisers in the travel industry, how is Kayak a different kind of media buy than Expedia or Travelocity? Another way of asking this: do you regard those two companies as your most direct competitors, or would that be the search giants?
Harris: We do perceive Travelocity and Expedia as our competition. We are better than those sites for consumers because the information we provide is better. With Kayak.com, the consumer is in control and can choose from the greatest range of airlines, hotels and rental car information anywhere. Since we do not take payment for travel bookings, our results are transparent and unbiased. From an advertisers' perspective, we are a better product because our results have higher conversion rates and thus a superior ROI for our travel partners.
Berens: Under your leadership, Vonage was one of the biggest -- if not the biggest -- online advertisers, so clearly you found the internet to be effective for Vonage. What can you tell us about your plans for marketing Kayak?
Harris: Our plans for Kayak.com marketing include both online and offline efforts. We plan to be among the most innovative marketers anywhere because we believe that consumers will tie our innovative approaches and messaging with the truly innovative nature of our product. Look for Kayak.com to use viral, alternative media and user generated content to advance our brand.
Berens: Online and off, what do you consider the biggest marketing challenges facing the travel industry today?
Harris: The biggest challenge for the travel industry today is credibility. There is such confusion in terms of both product and pricing that it is essential to gain the trust of the consumer before one's message can resonate.
Berens: You talked about Travelocity and Expedia as your competition, but since Kayak.com is a search-driven site, what about Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com? We've been hearing more and more about specialty or niche search... do you worry about the Search Giants and how they might affect your business?
Harris: Yahoo has purchased a competitor in our space, but they don't seem to be promoting it actively. Recently, I was on a panel with the head of the travel category from Google, and she stated publicly that Google was not going to enter vertical search in the travel category.
That makes sense, as does the apparent lack of entry from other major search engines. From what I can tell, vertical search is not a focus for the major search engines today. They have not invested significant resources in vertical search, What's more, they have not directed traffic to vertical search as their existing business models are supportive of the advertisers they have today.
Berens: What question should I have asked and didn't?
Harris: What can we expect from Kayak.com marketing in the months to come?
You can expect difference both in terms of messaging and media choice. Kayak.com is a small company when compared to our larger, more entrenched competitors. So we need to work harder, be smarter, be faster, be more pro-consumer, be more transparent and take more chances. We want Kayak.com to be the poster child for marketing innovation.
Brad Berens is executive editor for iMedia Communications.
