From unstructured marketing to a scalable growth engine
Feb 16, 2024 | 08:59pm EST
For expedition travel brands, the destination is the product. But in a competitive market, a world-class destination isn't enough. Without a strong digital strategy, even the most unique experiences struggle to find their audience.
Our client, an expedition operator in Greenland, faced this exact challenge. They offered a compelling product in one of the world's last great wilderness frontiers but had hit a revenue ceiling. Our work was to build a digital and commercial system to unlock their next phase of growth.
The Diagnosis: A Great Product, An Underperforming Market Presence
The client had a clear goal: grow revenue from $600K to over $1M by capturing the high-value US market. However, unstructured marketing efforts and limited digital presence created significant barriers.
Market Competition: They were positioned against established rivals in Antarctica and Svalbard, making it difficult to stand out and build brand awareness.
Missed Digital Opportunities: Key channels were underutilized, leaving the brand without a commanding market presence and a clear path for growth.
Manual Operations: Slow, manual inquiry handling created friction for potential customers and limited the brand's ability to scale.
The challenge was to move from unstructured marketing to a data-driven growth strategy that could compete on a global scale.
Tourist Overnight Stays Growth (CAGR) vs. Average Overnight Stays by Country (2023), Bubble Size Reflects Number of Tourists
The Strategy: A 2S Framework for Growth
Our approach was built on a 2S Framework: mapping a data-driven Strategy first, then implementing a Smart Concierge to manage the resulting demand. This created a connected journey from first click to final booking.
1. Strategy & Implementation
We started by designing a comprehensive digital customer journey, built around three distinct personas: the "Arctic Adventurer," the "High-Net-Worth Explorer," and the "Bucket-List Dreamer." This allowed us to tailor our content and campaigns to their specific motivations.
The strategy was phased across a full year to align with seasonal demand:
Phase 1 (Jan-Apr): Capture the Peak Season: We launched high-intent paid campaigns to attract travelers planning their summer Arctic vacations, focusing on unique experiences.
Phase 2 (May-Sep): Sustain Momentum: We used real-time content from the camps and user-generated stories to capture last-minute bookings and maintain brand visibility.
Phase 3 (Oct-Dec): Beyond the Peak: We shifted the narrative to winter experiences, tapping into the growing "astro-tourism" trend by promoting Northern Lights tours and seeding interest for the following year.
2. Smart Concierge
To convert this new demand efficiently, we deployed an AI-powered concierge as the central nervous system for all inquiries.
Seamless Engagement: The system provided 24/7 engagement across time zones, moving customers from initial discovery questions to a qualified conversation without friction.
Lead Qualification: The concierge filtered and qualified every inquiry before handing it off to the sales team, ensuring they spent their time on conversion-ready conversations, not manual follow-ups. This improved both efficiency and customer confidence.
The Results: A Digitally Strong, Growth-Ready Brand
The implementation of our 2S Framework transformed the business, moving it from a capped-revenue operation to a scalable, digitally-powered brand.
Revenue Growth: The business scaled from a $600K revenue cap to over $2M through the new organic and performance marketing engine.
Strengthened Digital Presence: The brand's digital presence was amplified, with key content pieces like an organic reel hitting 61K plays, demonstrating a newfound ability to capture audience attention.
Transformed Inquiry Handling: The AI concierge provided 24/7, personalized, and conversion-ready engagement, solving a critical operational weakness.
A Scalable Future: The brand is now positioned as a digitally strong, growth-ready polar destination with a clear path to continued expansion.
Key Takeaway: A Great Product Deserves a Great System
This case study highlights a common challenge for unique travel products: a world-class experience is not enough. To compete in a crowded market, brands need a sophisticated digital and commercial system to support their product.
By integrating a data-driven strategy with smart technology, we built a scalable growth engine that allowed a remarkable travel experience to find its global audience.
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