Listening to Consumers

Georgina Dee (center); photo: The Bookseller

To make sure that the relaunch of DK Eyewitness Travel would best serve travelers, the company opted to do some extensive consumer research that publishing director Georgina Dee calls "worth it a thousand times over."

The consumer research had several components, the key of which was the focus groups held across the U.S. and U.K. markets. These were devised to include as broad a representation as possible. While the company found that "our DK Eyewitness travel guides were well loved and it was very reassuring to hear that printed travel guides were absolutely still what travelers wanted," Dee says, it was clear that "the look and feel of our guides needed updating."

The company followed up with some of the consumers, showing them early relaunch designs. "The reaction was overwhelmingly positive," Dee said. "Listening directly to what our consumers had to say has been a wonderful experience and what was the best surprise was the passion they still had for travel guides."

The company has also found that some of today's travelers do like digital copies of travel books, so with the relaunch, for the first time, DK Eyewitness Travel is offering e-book versions of its titles. Dee notes, "The majority of travel guides are still bought in print--it is hard to get away from the benefits of this tried and tested format--but ultimately we want our consumers to have the choice."

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