I’m old enough to remember when you could pretty much pack the kitchen sink  for a flight and it wouldn’t cost any more. Budget airlines have changed all that and baggage often has to be paid for sep, Baarately now. I find that annoying, which is why I was interested to hear about Orion, an initiative from the US which allows passengers to avoid baggage fees by having ad’s on their luggage.

Orion is set to launch next year. When the programme is fully running, users will pay an annual subscription fee, buy suitcases subsidised by the sponsors, and then receive gift cards that cover the baggage checking costs of up to 6 journeys per year. Users are given a choice of skins with which to cover one side of their suitcases (ranging from film franchises to presidential campaign hopefuls), offering a level of baggage personalisation. Sponsor advertising then appears on the reverse.

I mention it for two reasons:

1. If this works, there will be opportunities to do something similar in Europe.

2. As an idea generator. What other services, which people currently paid for, could be offset by advertising or commercial sponsorship.

Website: www.oriontraveltech.com

For reasons I can’t begin to understand, having suffered it the first time around, vinyl is making a comeback as a music medium. I just read about London hotel ‘W London’ who are jumping on the bandwagon and offering guests a record player and free access to a comprehensive vinyl collection during their stay.

Now as I say, it’s not for me, but it does offer the hotel two things – an all-important point of difference from its competitors and some free publicity.

I’m not suggesting you introduce record players and vinyl into your business, but I am suggesting that you give some thought to how you might put clear water between you and your competitors and garner free publicity at the same time. As W London have proved, it needn’t cost a fortune, and may not even need to be something directly related to your core business.

www.wlondon.co.uk

According to a recent U.S study, even though 88 percent of home buyers are pleased with the service provided by their real estate agent, only 25 percent actually return to them when they sell their next house. This is largely due to the long  time periods between the two transactions. Homekeepr is a start-up company that enables agents to maintain ongoing relationships with their clients in order to retain their business further down the line. It aims to do this by positioning them as local experts who provide clients with a searchable database of recommended product and service providers.

A lot of businesses face a similar problem – the time period between one purchase and the next is a long one., and so it’s imperative that these businesses find some way of maintaining contact during the hiatus. A good way to do this is to provide regular useful information, perhaps in the form of  a regular email newsletter.

The frequency and nature of contact will depend on the industry and customer relationship, but the principle remains the same   – you want to be at the forefront of your customers mind when the purchase cycle comes around again.

www.homekeepr.com