Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, at least crystal fly from Scotland.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Bloody hell, that's embarrasing.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Nice to see a bit of personality in advertising. And at least it doesn't stoop to O'Leary levels.
Hope Crystal respond in the same spirit!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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What a pity, I was looking forward to them having a pop at some other regional group such as the Welsh, Scots, Cornish or people from Croydon (it was Geordies last time)
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Very cheeky, but funny. Directski really aren't on a par with Crystal yet, they might be a few quid cheaper here and there but don't offer enough to get Crystal worried just yet.
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Their offers for a single traveller to Austria are quite good but France is another matter!
They only use 2 English Airports, Gatwick and Manchester, and only go to 3 countries. They certainly don't have the means to compete with Crystal, nor Inghams, Neilson etc!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I certainly had a chuckle at that...
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A marketing agency clearly made a nice meal out of that spin but doubt it will work. Not worth wasting your money getting the lawyers out Simon Cross, they will only make a bigger meal of it...
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Crystal must be delighted. Full page ads mentioning their brand for free. Direct Ski may as well have said "this is the company we most fear, go check 'em out"
Amateurs.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Bode Swiller, shame we can't put 'Likes' on Snowheads (yet )
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Simon Cross, So did you really Phone them?
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You know it makes sense.
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10 % ????
Had a few mins to spare so ran through the booking process on both sites.
Inc. flight (london), lift pass and equip
Half Term week
Avoriaz
Residence Douchka
Direct ski is still cheaper but not 10% (it's really 1.7%)
On average (over all appartments) crystal is cheaper, but only by a very small %
eg, in the Electra (same resort/week) crystal is cheaper by 2.7%
Basically they both charge about the same
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I like it - it's in the style of the current marketing faves.
Would never use either mind...
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Poster: A snowHead
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seems a bit dumb, firstly if your seeing the ad you're already at their page and thus browsing, this just tells you to, once finished go to Crystal and compare, maybe this is Crystal's Ad campaign.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Boredsurfing wrote: |
Simon Cross, So did you really Phone them? |
Ha ha, you would be surprised how often we are in touch with all our competitors...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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How odd - my initial thought on seeing this was that you'd have to be pretty desperate to call up the parents of a competitor to complain, but then I wondered if there's more to it than that...
So - Directski.com has Anthony Collins as the CEO, and his brother Neal as the sales and marketing director. The ad says nothing about any links to their father Tony, which is a bit disingenious given that he's a shareholder and also the MD of TopFlight ( http://www.topflight.ie/FNS/about.aspx ) which is a major travel company in its home market and which has a large share of the ski holiday market in Ireland:
http://celtar.ie/blog/tag/directskicom/ wrote: |
(August 2008)
Meanwhile, Topflight has captured the lion’s share of the ski market, while its sun holidays prove popular too.
Ski holidays now account for about one third of Topflight’s business... While skiing has proved popular, Collins (who likes to head for the piste in Austria and Andorra) admits that, in respect of the Irish market, the level of business is probably heading for a plateau.
His sons, Anthony and Neil, also run a separate online business, Directski.com, in which Collins has a small stake. |
Anyone care to bet on there being some fairly involved dealings between TopFlight and TUI (Crystal's parent company)? TopFlight have "accommodation on arrival" deals advertised, which suggests to me they may hoover up the leftovers from people like Crystal and try to sell them on, but there's no direct evidence to suggest a link so I may be barking up the wrong tree here.
Looking at their flights to Salzburg as an example, here's the official airport charter list for 2012:
IRLAND
Cork ORK Aer Lingus - Topflight, Panoramaholiday.ie,Crystal Ireland 24.12.-17.03.
Dublin DUB Air Contractors - Crystal Ireland 24.12.-24.03.
Dublin DUB flybe - Crystal Ireland 24.12.-24.03.
Dublin DUB Aer Lingus - Topflight, Panoramaholiday.ie 24.12.-24.03.
So they share an Aer Lingus flight from Cork, but compete from Dublin. Panoramaholidays.ie is in fact Thomas Cook - but oddly their website shows no availability for any ski trips from anywhere in Ireland at any point in January-March 2012.
So all is not as it seems - the (admittedly limited) research by Wayne above suggests that they're not cheaper by 10%, and in some cases aren't cheaper at all, while I'd be amazed if the MD of Crystal wasn't calling the MD of the largest ski travel agent in Ireland from time to time...
Competition? In some senses, but it also appears that the competitors may also be partners
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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ousekjarr, Topflight is whollyl owned by Tony and the sons started this as a cheap spin off during the celtic tiger to sell on un - sold Topflight rooms at a discount without diluting the brand.
The reps in resort for Direct ski and Topflight are one in the same. In Fairness Direct ski are not bad for 4 * on arrival last minute deals if you pick the right resort. Places like Saalbach where they only do 3 4* hotels so you know you are safe etc.
The parent company Topflight, makes Crystal look like a pleasent experience. They are seriously overpriced and the service in resorts is average at best. They are all ready advertising 100 Euro off all prices in their brochure!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Fattes13, also known as "Daddy will set you up and provide you with business at zero risk", or in some circles, as a succession strategy...
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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ousekjarr, In fairness to Tony clever marketing ruse shifting un sold rooms through a budget brand without impacting his higher cost business model and therfore protecting the business and creating cash flow form un sold beds.
Personally I would never use topflight or reccomend them but would for Direct ski as the cost better matches what you get.
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Hmmm, that's possibly taking it a bit far... In that interview he does rather come across as dad of two young entrepreneurs, taken aback by a phone call from a Goliath company. If what Fattes13, says is true then it's rather misleading to fail to mention his Topflight company and the link between the two
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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But then the marketing campaign wouldn't work nearly so well . . .
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nice campaign, well executed I reckon. Creative, and probably inexpensive
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I have to say the ad made me look. I was laregelly underwhelmed but then I don't live near anywhere near any of their airports.
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