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Skift
an hour ago
- Skift
Industry Insights: 4 Questions With Wunderkind
With digital privacy tightening, identity resolution is becoming essential for travel marketers. Wunderkind's Ronen Kadosh explains how smarter data strategies can help brands drive direct bookings and build lasting loyalty. This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner. This edition of 'Industry Insights' features an interview with Ronen Kadosh, head of travel and ticketing at Wunderkind, a performance marketing platform. Kadosh sees identity resolution as a game-changer for travel marketing, helping brands move from broad targeting to real-time, personalized engagement. As travelers expect more meaningful connections, Kadosh shares how Wunderkind's performance-driven approach helps brands build loyalty and drive results across the entire journey. Here's our conversation. SkiftX: What are the biggest opportunities in the industry right now? Ronen Kadosh: The biggest opportunity is to capitalize on converting anonymous web traffic into known customers — at scale. It's something our retail peers do really well. Travel and hospitality brands have some of the largest first-party data sets due to really effective loyalty programs, but most visitors browse anonymously and remain unidentified. This presents a massive opportunity to leverage customer relationship management (CRM) data to drive acquisition and increase lifetime value (LTV). Tactics like abandonment retargeting are some of the highest-converting marketing touchpoints, but they remain super challenging to scale since it's so hard to identify site traffic. By focusing on real-time identity resolution, brands can build persistent, cross-session profiles that power better personalization and enable them to retarget far more site abandoners. This could mean thousands of additional direct conversions. Pair that with AI-driven triggers and dynamic segmentation, and you can deliver timely messages across email, onsite, and paid media — based on real-time behaviors, not guesswork. The brands that win will not just know who's booking — they'll also know who's browsing, abandoning, and re-engaging. And they'll use that insight to deliver high-performance experiences across the funnel. What are the biggest challenges or watch-outs? The main challenge facing travel brands today is the dominance of online travel agencies (OTAs), which capture significant market share and customer loyalty, often at the expense of direct bookings. Additionally, increasing privacy regulations and the declining reliability of third-party cookies are making traditional digital marketing channels less effective. Travel brands must proactively shift their strategies toward utilizing identity resolution and first-party data to maintain effective engagement with their customers. Navigating this shift effectively requires thoughtful investment in technologies and partnerships that support compliance and deliver genuine customer value. How does your brand push the industry forward? Traditionally, it's been tricky for brands to recognize and reconnect with anonymous website visitors, leading potential guests to book through third-party OTAs. This not only increases acquisition costs but also limits the opportunity to build strong, direct relationships. Wunderkind tackles this challenge head-on with advanced identity resolution technology, turning anonymous visitors into known, engaged profiles in real-time. This means brands can deliver meaningful, personalized messaging at exactly the right moment, greatly boosting direct bookings. By shifting bookings away from OTAs and into brands' own channels, we help them capture more owned, direct revenue — ultimately increasing margins and profitability. By capturing valuable first-party data, we empower travel brands to create exceptional guest experiences, build lasting loyalty, and drive sustainable revenue growth. In short, Wunderkind helps brands transform unknown visitors into known, loyal customers by recognizing up to 10 times more site visitors and enabling them to scale abandonment retargeting to drive brand-direct, incremental bookings. What's your secret travel hack? Less of a hack, more of a tip. Often, when we travel, we all end up eating at the same few restaurants based on what we see online. If you know someone who lives where you're going, ask them for the authentic recs. When there's no reliable source, go to the local coffee shop, ask the baristas, the shopkeepers, or the locals for the real recs. It might be a bit out of our comfort zone, but it's resulted in some of the best meals of my life. For more information about Wunderkind's work with travel and hospitality brands, click here. This content was created collaboratively by Wunderkind and Skift's branded content studio, SkiftX.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Marriott completes CitizenM acquisition
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. Marriott International completed its $355 million acquisition of lifestyle hotel brand CitizenM, the company announced Wednesday. The move brings 37 open hotels, or more than 8,700 rooms, into Marriott's portfolio. Two more CitizenM hotels, totalling more than 300 rooms, are also in development. "As travelers continue to seek innovative lodging offerings that blend technology with genuine, people-first hospitality, the citizenM brand is the perfect addition to our portfolio," said Marriott President and CEO Anthony Capuano in a statement. Plans for the acquisition were announced in April. Marriott now begins the process of integrating CitizenM hotels into its systems and platforms, according to the announcement. They will remain bookable via CitizenM platforms until the integration is complete, which Marriott expects to be later this year. According to Marriott, there are 'more details to come' about how CitizenM's subscription program will work following integration, but the program is currently still live. The CitizenM acquisition is part of Marriott's broader strategy to build its select-service portfolio globally, per the announcement. In his statement, Capuano pointed to other select-service lifestyle brands the company is currently growing, including AC Hotels, Moxy and Aloft. Earlier this week, Marriott opened its largest AC Hotel in North America in Arlington, Virginia, following a multimillion-dollar renovation of the former Crystal City Marriott. Competition for talent and resources in the lifestyle space is heating up as hotel players expand in the increasingly popular segment, hospitality industry leaders told Hotel Dive earlier this year. On the heels of the acquisition announcement, however, industry experts warned that Marriott would need to be wary of cannibalization as it integrates CitizenM into its portfolio of similarly positioned lifestyle brands, particularly Moxy. Marriott CFO Leeny Oberg, however, told Hotel Dive in April that the company has 'a proven track record of being able to acquire brands and then grow them as part of our overall system, but at the same time, preserving what makes them unique and attractive to the guests.' The Federal Trade Commission granted Marriott approval for the CitizenM acquisition last month. Recommended Reading Choice-Wyndham merger could have 'frightening' consequences: AAHOA president Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
How Briggs & Riley Built Luxury Travel Luggage To Last
The Essential 22" Carry-On Expandable Spinner in Black is engineered to outmaneuver baggage fees. This carry-on expands up to 34% with Briggs & Riley's patented CX™ compression technology—then zips back to size with a satisfying snap. Durable enough for international mileage and refined for first-class. Briggs & Riley To the seasoned traveler, the kind who knows the difference between a layover and a liaison, a Briggs & Riley piece makes a quiet yet powerful statement. A fixture in the overhead compartments of the well-heeled and the well-traveled, the brand has spent decades perfecting the art of understatement. Form meets function with a wink and a lifetime guarantee. Briggs & Riley didn't so much enter the luggage business in 1993 as it gently quietly rolled in, looked around, and decided the whole thing needed an upgrade. Its calling card? A marvelously unmodern idea: the Simple as that® lifetime guarantee. No receipts, no red tape, and no hemming or hawing over whether you or a baggage handler caused the damage in a foul mood—if it's broken, they'll fix it. Period. In an era marked by asterisks and fine print, the gesture falls somewhere between quaint and quietly revolutionary. Legacy may be the soul of Briggs & Riley, but innovation is its engine. Over the years, the brand has quietly introduced some of the most ingenious upgrades to travel gear since the invention of wheels on a suitcase—most notably, its patented CX™ Compression-Expansion system, which expands your packing space by up to 34% before cinching everything neatly back into place. Enter the collections: the sleek, shock-resistant Sympatico , forged from polycarbonate with the poise of a Bond car, and the perennially classic Baseline , built from ballistic nylon tough enough to survive the baggage carousel and whatever awaits beyond it. Look closer and you'll find the perks that make modern travel tolerable: gliding spinner wheels, garment panels that tame wayward tuxedos, RFID-blocking pockets for digital peace of mind, and handles crafted with the same seriousness usually reserved for performance bicycles. The Briggs & Riley CX™ compression technology expands up to 34% then zips back to size with a satisfying snap. Briggs & Riley The form of each Briggs & Riley product follows its function. After speaking with retailers and consumers, the CX™ system was manufactured around their prevailing pain points. A big one, said Richard Krulik, Briggs & Riley's CEO: baggage fees, and the inconvenience of having to check bags at the ticketing counter. 'We wanted to figure out what can be done to help with packing more in a limited space and getting an expanded bag back to its original size,' Krulik said. 'We constantly look around for inspiration, and in the case of the compression and expansion system, the quick and simple ratcheting mechanism found in ski boots was part of what we realized has a similar type of functionality that we were looking for. It took a tremendous amount of engineering and prototyping to make it work for luggage though, but the result works brilliantly.' The Inspiration Behind Briggs & Riley: Fashion And Automobiles Effortless by land or sea: A Briggs & Riley shoulder tote bag proves that practical can still be polished, whether you're boarding a flight or a boat. Briggs & Riley While other travel accessory brands take their cues from the fashion industry, positioning their products as items to be "seen," Briggs & Riley draws inspiration from precision-engineered automobiles. In that sense Krulik's background is special, if not unique, for a CEO in the travel accessory industry. Among the engineering patents he holds, some might have utility in other industries. That's never been his focus, however. 'I think staying true to the brand promise for quality, durability and innovation has helped us thrive for more than 30 years,' Krulik said. 'There have been many brands that have come and gone with assorted stories and gimmicks. Pushing freshness and being innovative combined with discipline is the cornerstone of any long-term successful brand.' Briggs & Riley's philosophy sets itself apart for what it doesn't include. Its simple wordmark is unmemorable, not the substance of viral marketing campaigns. Compared to other luxury brands, it does not announce its presence loudly. Rather, the quality of the luggage speaks for itself—a signal to others walking the airport that its bearer is a veteran of many first-class flights. Briggs & Riley Luggage Is Smart, Effective And Functional Krulik is an experienced world traveler himself. He's also a pilot, for whom a methodical, process-driven approach is crucial to success. It's also helped guide the Briggs & Riley philosophy. 'I think the Briggs & Riley customer has an unusual appreciation for smart and effective functionality while also expecting a beautiful bag they can be proud of,' Krulik said. 'The CX technology is an obvious example, but even the way we design the tie-down straps so that they stay out your way while you pack is carefully considered. Small details like that aren't noticed until you have a bag that does it wrong.' While the luggage universe is swept up in fast fashion and fleeting trends, Briggs & Riley resists the spin cycle. Its pieces aren't made to chase what's new; they're designed to last. Durable enough to survive years of travel (and aggressive baggage handlers), these bags speak to travelers who value quality over flash. In a market saturated with talk of sustainability, the brand's quiet commitment to long-term use is a remarkable standout, not as a pitch but as a principle. Legacy, after all, isn't built overnight.
