Travel industry marketers have created a marketing collective called Llama to offer support and expertise to established and new brands in the sector.
Described as a ‘pro-sultancy’, Llama has been founded by Andrew Shelton and Heath Heise, who between them have held senior positions at British Airways, Virgin Holidays, American Express and Amex Travel, STA, Dnata and metasearch platform Cheapflights.
They are working with Dean Harvey, Lisa Edwards-Webb and Phil Bloomfield, who have experience with more than 15 travel brands including Kuoni, Saga, Titan and Dnata Travel Group encompassing Travelbag, Travel Republic and its B2B collection.
Their inhouse and agency experience ranges from digital start-ups to established high street names. Further names joining the collective will be announced in the coming weeks.
They aim to provide chief executives, chief marketing officers, marketing directors and other senior marketers with access to “unrivalled experience, expertise and insight”.
Together the ‘herd’ has 150 years of marketing experience across brand building, creativity, measurement, and data-driven strategic development.
More: Dean Harvey to step down as marketing director of Kuoni
Andrew Shelton to step down as managing director of Cheapflights [July 2017]
Shelton, whose experience includes roles at British Airways, Virgin Holidays and Cheapflights, said: “Having been in the position of leading the marketing for several travel brands, I would have found it invaluable to be able to validate my thinking or stress-test my options with an objective expert.
“In that role, you’re acutely aware that you’re responsible for one of the biggest cost centres in the business, and there are multiple stakeholders invested in how that budget is used, and what the outcomes need to be.
“A fragmenting media landscape, a skills shortage, and an ever-changing number of external factors over which you have no control, make the job even more challenging. It can be an isolating experience.
“The terrain of the travel industry has changed in recent years and will be constantly reshaped by developments in technology and changing customer behaviour – and marketers find themselves tasked with reading and understanding that new landscape.
“We call ourselves a ‘pro-sultancy’ because our aim will be to always add value to ensure their brands not only survive but thrive in that landscape.
“Our purpose is to ensure that our knowledge is used proactively and with intent for travel brands, to deliver solutions that make a difference.”
Co-founder Heath Heise has experience from his roles at British Airways, Amex and STA Travel among others.
He added: “In this challenging and highly competitive environment, travel brands can’t waste time hoping to find the right direction to take.
“Like our namesakes, we’re agile but reliable, considered yet creative in the advice we give, and will use the combined strength of our herd to guide clients to the richest grazing.
“Llama will help them to sharpen their marketing, to get where they need to be.
“The Llamas have all operated right in the heart of the travel industry, and guided brands and teams through every challenge to achieve real success.
“We now see an opportunity to use the unrivalled expertise and insight gained over those years to help travel marketers to navigate the new terrain ahead of them, and to get to where the grazing – in the form of acquiring, retaining, and providing value to their customers – is best.”
Llama will operate as a networked collective, to tailor the support and maximise the investment from the client.
Pictured: Andrew Shelton (left) and Heath Heise.