Case Study - Center Parcs gets personal

by Kim Benjamin, Marketing Direct 01-Apr-08

Center Parcs gets to grips with its customer profiles and behaviour

CHALLENGE

Each year, hundreds of thousands of guests walk through the doors of resort operator Center Parcs, which boasts annual occupancy rates of around 90 per cent. Its four UK locations, known as villages, are set in woodland in Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, Cumbria and Wiltshire.

Brochures, pre-arrival packs and reminders of previous bookings are generated by a central marketing database. This provides the company with a single customer view based on millions of data strands, covering details such as booking information, spend, activity and campaign response.

Center Parcs, however, wanted to increase its understanding of its customer base at an individual level. It asked Database Group (which built and hosts the single customer view database) to segment the company's data. It also wanted to understand the relationship between booking behaviour and what guests did once they arrived.

"We have four UK villages open all year round, and wanted a clearer understanding of guest behaviour, by looking at factors such as frequency of visit compared with value," says Jeremy Colston, CRM manager at Center Parcs.

EXECUTION

Center Parcs wanted a segmentation system that would offer a simple framework for the amount of data it generates. Database Group took a snapshot of Center Parcs' existing database to examine potential variables and came up with 50 that could be applied. "This ranged from those who had pre-booked activities to those who opt for top-end or cheaper accommodation, for example," says Richard Carpenter, head of insight at Database Group. "With the number of visitors Center Parcs caters for, it can be a challenge to divide its customers into meaningful groups."

Variables were grouped into three areas, covering activity and spend, booking behaviour and party profile. These segmentations were based on tree names. Redwood represents guests that visit often, but who do not spend very much. Cedar signifies customers with a high spend, but who do not visit the resorts on a regular basis. Oak describes Center Parcs' most loyal customers. Birch is for those guests whose spend and value is low, while Saplings denotes people who have booked a short break but have not yet visited.

RESULTS

The segmentation was launched last autumn and results are still being gathered. "We're making our guest communication more relevant and targeted in a way that is not over-complicated," says Colston. "We have been able to refine the targeting of our off-peak break campaigns, improving ROI."

Center Parcs now has an in-depth understanding of its customers, enabling it to create both bespoke communications and tactical messages catered to recipients.

Brand: Center Parcs
Brief: To understand customer profiles and behaviour
Target audience: Existing customers

Supplier: Database Group

POWER POINTS

- Center Parcs wanted to segment its database into groups based on factors such as frequency of stay and amount of money spent

- It enlisted Database Group, which named the segments after trees in Center Parcs villages.