In this post I outline key concepts from Chapter 2 of Josh Kaufman’s book “The Personal MBA.” Because I’m looking at a job working on the Capital One Travel Portal, I tried to center my thoughts around how each of these business concepts apply to the Portal. None of the information I post here is private; everything I share is based on my experience as a Capital One customer and an aspiring business thinker.
First, Kaufman explains that to get the initial attention of a target market, it’s most effective to provoke curiosity, surprise, or concern.
How does the Capital One Travel Portal aim to provoke any of these emotions to capture the attention of potential users? Based on my own experience, I was curious about the Travel Portal based on the tagline in the app that says the Portal is “…a smarter way to book travel.” I wanted to know how it was smarter, and I certainly wanted to benefit from it myself! Besides being curious about what makes the Portal a better tool than others, I was also curious about some of the promo deals that were offered to me. Besides that, I don’t think surprise or concern were evoked in me at all.
Kaufman then explains that through product marketing, businesses need to make people desire the product or service, and it’s generally going to be more effective if it’s something that they already want.
What does the Travel Portal offer that users already want? Capital One customers who have the cards that are eligible to use the Travel Portal are generally probably customers who are interested in travel rewards/getting money or points back on credit card spend/traveling in general. Thus, the Travel Portal’s offer of higher travel rewards for travel booked through the site aligns fairly closely with the innate desires of their target population. However, I am aware that there is a limit to how far out of their way customers will go to reap more rewards; spending on a credit card and automatically getting points is low effort, but having to search and book travel through a single portal that isn’t 100% streamlined is a lot more effort. In my experience, the Portal lacks a lot of the search and filtering power that competitors offer, so I think there’s definitely room to explore more here.
Another key marketing concept Kaufman covers is the need to craft a narrative or a hook surrounding a product.
How does the Travel Portal create a hook? How does it craft a narrative? From just my few minutes clicking around the Travel Portal, their main attempt at a hook or narrative seems to be the tagline saying that the tool is the “smarter way to book travel.” That said, from what I can tell it can be deemed smarter only because customers receive significantly more travel rewards through it, not because the search tool actually provides any unique value when compared to other travel search tools. Again, they seem to be targeting a human desire to be savvy with their spending and traveling, but there doesn’t seem to be anything of unique value in the search and booking site itself.
Think of a better narrative for the Travel Portal. In the first chapter of the book, Kaufman explained that products that appeal to core human drives are generally more successful, and I thought that an opportunity for the Travel Portal would be to appeal more to the human desire to feel. Because the Travel Portal is part of Capital One, they likely have access to tons of information about users and how they spend money, and they can lean into that data to personalize the experience of using the Travel Portal in a highly emotional way. Imagine: user enters portal, and is reminded how hard they’ve been working to save up for a vacation; as they browse options, they are prompted to visualize all of the memories they will make on this trip. The Portal leans into the most exciting highlights of any city that a user is considering, helping to get them more excited, and at the end of booking, the tool reminds them to be proud and reassured that they did the right thing.
The last key point that Kaufman touched on was the importance and difficulty in creating a strong brand and reputation when trying to appeal to a target market.
How does the Travel Portal relate to Capital One’s broader brand & reputation? Capital One seems to try to brand itself as a highly accessible bank & financial institution that prioritizes customers’ best interests and financial well-being. They provide many financial tools (CreditWise, credit card pre-approvals, etc.) that help to empower customers financially. The Travel Portal similarly offers a wide variety of financial benefits, aligning with the company’s reputation of looking out for customers.
Overall, right now the Travel Portal seems to be extremely centered around financial benefits and deals, which is definitely something of interest to customers, but which also makes the experience of using the tool feel as sterile and impersonal as any other travel search tool. In my opinion, the Travel Portal needs to lean into the fact that booking travel (along with saving for it, planning it, anticipating it, and it actually happening) is one of the most emotionally fueled and important experiences in modern life. Leverage the data the Capital One already has on these people, and make them feel something.
Works Referenced
Kaufman, Josh. “The Personal MBA.” New York, N.Y. : Portfolio/Penguin, 2012.
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