Skyscanner

Segmenting The Skies

Identifying booking personas and trip types to elevate strategy

Traveller First Strategy

Used by more than 100m people a month, Skyscanner is the heavyweight champ of travel search engines. The (air) space it operates in is getting more competitive, however, and the pandemic has brought about paradigm shifts, shaking up travel norms and expectations.

Looking to progress their ‘traveller first’ strategic direction, Skyscanner briefed Crowd DNA to design a segmentation-led solution that would enable them to better understand planning needs, booking behaviours and travel aspirations. We got on board.

 

Project Design

+ The sample size we worked with was significant: 24,000 travellers across eight markets globally

+ With this scale of data, we were able to create two robust segmentations - one based on booking personas, the other on trip-types

+ We stress-tested our work and identified the most fertile ground for progressing Skyscanner’s strategy, sizing the opportunity in each segment, capturing their attitudes towards travel, their trip experiences and mapping out their booking journeys

+ The segmentation work was supported by mixed-method qualitative research, producing nuance and narratives

The outputs from this project came in two forms. First, the thinking and ideation – a series of workshops with Skyscanner stakeholders, applying the learnings from the segmentation to the traveller first strategy, and identifying the innovation spaces that could be executed against that strategy.

And then the socialisation phase, editorialising aspects of the work in a zine-style report; and producing documentary films to connect the typologies with the wider business.

Our work has enabled Skyscanner to define their target audience more clearly, and contributed to moving the brand towards becoming a destination site that connects with core audience needs when planning and booking trips.

“Crowd DNA were a pleasure to work with, collaborative at each stage of the project, working through solutions together with us. We were impressed with the team’s diligence and how the final report married both the qualitative and the quantitative elements so well.” 

Elle Scotter, global senior brand manager at Skyscanner