Guided tours for travelers of the future.

How we helped invent a practical and innovative approach to new product development.

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Methods

  • Product development
  • Storytelling

The Challenge

An Innovative Approach Appealing to Next-Gen Consumers.

Tauck Worldwide, an industry leader with over 85 years in premium guided tours, wanted to push the envelope and create a new travel concept to meet the needs of a population increasingly comfortable with researching, planning, and traveling on their own. Tauck needed innovative thinking to define and build a new type of tour product—one that appealed to next gen customers and conveyed a unique brand identity while standing out from competitors in the crowded travel market space.

Our Client's goals were to:

  • Research and assess the competitive landscape
  • Identify core travel goals and needs—particularly un-met needs
  • Select top opportunities to focus on

The Results

An Award-Winning Product Line.

Tauck launched the Culturious brand as a totally new product line on-time and with unanimous board approval. The new brand, which consisted of 8 packages and destinations, met customer needs by offering small-group tours geared toward active baby boomers with an interest in active, culturally engaging travel. The brand won several awards, including the 2010 Innovation prize from the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnerships (CQIA).

Our work included:

  • Selecting top opportunities to focus on.
  • Ideating across functions with executives and senior managers, leveraging insight and experience in the market.
  • Researching and assessing the competitive landscape and baby boomers’ core travel goals and needs—particularly un-met needs.
  • Testing alternatives to guide product development and pricing and to identify target guests who are most interested in the new product line.
  • Identifying acquisition targets in the travel industry, new business models, and new product offerings by leveraging core competencies that would create significant value for the company and address baby boomers’ needs.
  • Working with the CEO, CFO, and COO and the New Ventures Group to ensure recommendations were aligned with business constraints and addressed operational challenges and met business goals

We needed a partner that could identify and flesh out high potential growth opportunities for the Boomer market. Our team from CMB was a great match: they were collaborative and the approach was comprehensive and forward-looking. The insights from this project were invaluable as we created Culturious from concept to award-winning brand.

Jeremy Palmer

VP; General Manager TWD Land, Events & New Ventures, Tauck

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About the Client

Enriching Travel. Intimately Sized.

Tauck is one of the first pioneers of small group tours. They small group guided tours are all about discovering local culture through authentic learning experiences, exploring off the beaten path, and meeting the locals. Learn more here.