Lastminute plans lifestyle push
Lastminute.com’s new marketing director Vijay Solanki aims to increase people’s awareness of the site as a lifestyle as well as a travel brand.
Mr Solanki told TravelMole that one of Lastminute’s strengths was its targeted newsletters and he believed that this could be the key for more add-on sales in its lifestyle portfolio.
He told TravelMole: “Around 2.5 million people get that newsletter but we need to drive the conversion [rate] up as it could be better. People come to buy a holiday or flight but we want to say to them ‘Did you know you can buy a balloon trip, a day at the races or some kitchen equipment for Granny?’”
Mr Solanki added: “Certainly part of my brief is to develop lastminute into a lifestyle brand and make people realise that it’s not just holidays.”
Commenting on his recent appointment, Mr Solanki said he was looking forward to the challenge of working with a company which while not a start-up still had “that sort of culture.” Mr Solanki was previously music and marketing director at mobile music start-up Shazam Entertainment. He has also worked in marketing roles at Capital Radio, IPC ignite! and Unilever.
He pointed out that his appointment, along with that of chief operating officer Ian McCaig who was brought in from Nokia, was part of a strategy of recruiting “functional heavyweights” to complement Lastminute founders Martha Lane Fox and Brent Hoberman.
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