190: Start with Building a Brand. Johannes Reck, GetYourGuide
May 25, 2023
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Johannes Reck, co-founder of GetYourGuide, shares his journey of building a global brand for unforgettable experiences. Topics include starting the company after a failed venture, continuous growth strategies, the importance of training for leadership, and navigating the challenges of the travel industry, including surviving the pandemic. Learn about the key factors in building a strong brand, mastering communication skills for pitching investors, and turning crises into opportunities for innovation and positive change.
Building a brand based on core values impacts consumers' perceptions positively.
GetYourGuide offers a wide range of diverse experiences and ensures a seamless user experience.
Trust in travel experiences is crucial, requiring high-quality service and commitment to customer satisfaction.
Deep dives
The Importance of Core Brand Values and Equity
Building a brand is centered around core equity and values that permeate the company, impacting how consumers perceive it. Establishing a core positioning brings a positive footprint on the world, as seen with Get Your Guide's mission to unlock unforgettable travel memories.
The Unique Value Proposition of Get Your Guide
Get Your Guide's platform offers access to over 70,000 diverse experiences worldwide, enriching travelers' journeys with unforgettable moments like visiting iconic landmarks or exclusive tours. The platform provides a wide selection, search convenience, multiple payment options, and a seamless user experience, distinguishing itself as a one-stop shop for travel activities.
The Trust Factor in Travel Experiences
Ensuring trust in travel experiences involves guaranteeing a seamless and high-quality service, especially with local providers, to enhance customer trust and satisfaction. Get Your Guide stands out for its commitment to quality, offering reliable customer service and digital-enabled solutions in case of issues.
The Evolution of Get Your Guide's Concept
Get Your Guide's journey started from a student trip misadventure that led to the idea of facilitating online tour guiding services. Despite initial setbacks, the founders adapted the concept into a platform connecting customers with local experience providers, transforming it into the global brand it is today.
Navigating Business Challenges and Growth
The podcast dives into the challenges faced by Get Your Guide during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the shift from crisis to innovation opportunity. Embracing authenticity, continuous improvement, and resilience in leadership paved the way for leveraging the crisis period to enhance the company's foundations and drive growth post-pandemic.
How many entrepreneurial journeys have started with a wrongly booked ticket to China? Alone in a hotel room in Beijing, Johannes Reck realised how a city is transformed when you have access to tour guides and experiences.
Two years later, with a failed student tour guiding company behind them, the two university friends took a leap of faith and launched GetYourGuide – a platform that unlocks unforgettable experiences.
Fifteen years later, the app offers more than 70.000 unique experiences worldwide.
How did they continuously grow for over a decade and survive a global pandemic as a travel company?
The answer is hard work, trial and error, patience, and a positive mentality.
The key to unlocking your potential as a leader is through training. By continuing to train himself rigorously as a speaker and communicator, and always searching for ways to grow as a leader and human being Johannes Reck has done what most founders dream of.
GetYourGuide has built a global brand with strong word of mouth, product-market fit in multiple countries including the US, and continues to innovate for the future.
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