Continental Airlines Leads way for Customers with Disabilities

With several airline companies still struggling to stay afloat and desparately trying to figure out ways to save money, Continental Airlines has learned the value of marketing to customers with disabilities and is considered the leader in today's disability market. The reason for this is the recent creation of the Customers with Disabilities Advisory Board (CDAB). In 2008, with the help and dedication of Bill Burnell, the manager of Customer First & Regulatory Programs for Continental Arlines in Houston, the CDAB was born with a goal of improving the overall airport/airline expereince for its guests with disabilities. By taking better care of these special needs travelers and catering to thier needs, Continental hopes to attract more of these cutomers. The CDAB has met three times since its inception and has already made great progress, attracting the interest and praise of airport managers, airline administrators, and federal agencies such as the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). The entire board, made up of people with a variety of disabilities from vision impairment to paraplegia, is excited about the future of airline travel and the prgress made at Continental. With any luck, other airlines will follow suit in the near future. And with Continental, now the top rated airline in customer service for people with disabilities, leading the way, they hope to see the progress spread thorughout the entire airline industry.

Brag About Your Access

So we have talked about a lot of things pertaining to people with disabilities and marketing to PWD, but we have not talked about businesses that are already accessibile and maybe are not seeing the benfit of it. The number one reason for this to happen is because people will spend a lot of time and money on being sure they are up to code but then they don't tell anyone. If your business is accessible or you have recently made the effort to be accessible, the first thing you should do is start bragging about your great access. IF you donlt tell anyone, how will they know? You can even start advertising as such. It's as simple as adding a wheelchair symbol or a few extra words to your current print advertising. Remember that PWD spend about $35 billion annually on dining out.

For more on how to market to people with disabilities contact me anytime (970) 846-9859
craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com

Consumers with Disabilities - Did you know?

So i have given you a lot of information on how and why to market to people with disabilities over the past fewe months and i would just like to remind everyone a few important things about this consumer market that is the fastest growing and largest untapped consumer makret in the world today.

1. People with Disabilities (PWD) spend $35 billion annually dining out and dine out at least once per week
2. PWD (55 million in the US) are very brand loyal customers
3. 69% of adults with disabilities (21+ million people) have traveled at least once in the past two years
4. PWD = over 18% of our population. That's 5% more than our Hispanic population which is our largest ethnic, racial, or minority group
5. The total travel market in the United States amounts to more than $1.2 trillion. PWD spend $13.6 billion per year on travel. That's almost 10% of the entire travle industry!

If you already know these things and are not marketing to PWD we need to talk!

CK Consulting offers a FREE accessibility quiz, affordable accessibility planning & ADA Inspections, and disability marketing development http://www.ckconsultingonline.com

Website Accessibility

Today i want to talk about Website Accessibility and why it is good business to be accessible. But first, there are a few important statistics out there about people with disabilities and the internet that I would like to share with you all:

1. People with Disabilities purchase 95% of their goods and services ONLINE!
2. 4 out of 10 people with disabilities spend an average of 20 hours per week conducting business online
3. Even people who cannot move their arms or legs and are paralysed from the neck down can operate a computer

With that said, let's think about Website Accessibility. When i ask you if your Web site is accessible to people with disabilities, I am asking two different types of questions.

1. Can a blind person or someone with low vision use your site? An accessible site will offer larger font options and will work hand in hand with a screen reader program. This type of program allows a blind person to hear what is on the page in front of them.
2. If your business is accessible and you have information about your building's access (ramps, parking, wide doors, etc...) online, is this information easy to find?

And what do you do about this if you answered "no" to these questions? The first thing to do is tell your Web master that you want to make your site accessible to blind people. They will know what to do. And then you should create a separate page with all of your access information and create an icon (the universal blue/white wheelchair symbol works great) on your main page that people can click on that takes them directly there. Too often this information is buried somewhere in the sight and people will often leave your site frustrated before they even find it.

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

10. The disability community, although considered a very tight knit group of consumers (yeah, we are like one big family), is very diverse. Always be sure that your new product ideas, accommodations, and marketing efforts reflect the diverse needs of the disability community. Don't assume that one modification will work for everyone.

To get started on your new marketing plan or to get a closer look at how to more accessible, while attracting more business, please email me at craigkennedy@ckconsulitngonline.com or visit me at www.ckconsultingonline.com

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

9. Reach out to customers with disabilities through main stream advertising. One in five people in the United States has a disability. And their "Entourage" is ever bigger. The Entourage is made up of friends, family members, souses, care givers, and even acquaintences. These people support disability issues and are sensitive to the needs to people with disabilites in general. Every time a member of the Entourage sees an opportunity for the person they know with a disability, they tell them about it. It's that simple! For more information on the Entourage and how you can tap into this market, email me at craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

8. Creat advisory committees including people with disabilities to evaluate compacy-wide accommodations, facilities, and adaptive devices. This gives people with disabilities (PWD) a say in what happens and a chance to fix problems before they arise. This also provieds and avenue for PWD to voice their problems and concerns to a person with a disability rather than some other company official that may not be as sensitive to their needs. For instance, there are two major airline companies that work with a disability advisory board and they consistently have the highest ratings from consumers with disabilities. To learn more about the entourage and the potential of the disability market visit http://www.ckconsultingonline.com/ or email me at craigkennedy@ckconsultingnline.com

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

7. Reach out to customers with disabilities through any number of disability publications (Sports & Spokes, Venture magazine), radio shows (Blog Talk Radio: Access Anything), and the internet. There are dozens of disability related magazine and Ezines that go out to hundreds of thousands of People with Disabilities around the country. And with the power of the internet and social networking, you can reach even more of these customers than ever before. Remember that there are 55 million people with disabilities in the US alone and more than 800 million world-wide! To learn more about disability publications and avenues for marketing to this rapidly growing market visit http://www.ckconsultingonline.com/.

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

6. Employ People with Disabilities (PWD). Be sure that your company knows the current statutes and regulations regarding Equal Opportunity Employment of PWD. This is a very hot topic right now, and often times PWD are just as qualified as non-disabled applicants. And with the unemployment rate among PWD at an all time high, they may also be more appreciative and dependable than other employees. Be aggressive in your recruiting efforts and be sure to include a variety of disabilities in your work force. With a simple disability awareness and sensitivity training session included for all employees, they will fit right in with everyone else. And remember that it has been proven that people with disabilities are more likely to patronize a business that also employs people with disabilities. (source: UMASS Center for Social Development & Education). For more info on how to meet employment requirements email me at craigkennedy@ckconsulingonline.com OR visit me at http://www.ckconsultingonline.com/

Top Ten Ways to Market to Market to People with Disabilities

5. Know your customer. Know your customer. Know your customer! The basic building blocks of advertising and marketing make it essential to know who you are marketing to. Until recently, there were no statistics or demographics available on what people with disabilities (PWD) spent their money on, where they traveled and how often they traveled, or how much money they spent. Thanks to the Open Doors Organization we now have some demographics to work with. Open Doors has conducted two groundbreaking studies on travelers with disabilties, discussing how often they travel, how much money they spend (airlines, lodging, food & beverage, & retail), and what types of problems they most often encounter. These studies have really opened the doors for businesses to learn about this HUGE untapped market. For more information or to learn how to become more accesssible, visit me at http://www.ckconsultingonline.com/ or send me an email to craigkennedy@ckconsulingonline.com.

Top Ten Ways to MArket to People with Disabilities

4. Intergrate People with Disabilities (PWD) as models, actors, and spokespersons in your advertising campaign. Stats tell us that 1 in 5 people in the United States has a disability, but 1 in 3 people know someone with a disability. By placing a person in a wheelchair or a blind person with a seeing eye dog in your advertising materials, you are speaking very loudly to the disability community. This doesn't even have to cost extra money. Simply replace certain people in your advertising with people with disabilities and you are saying that all PWD are welcome at your business. For more information on these marketing tools and how we can help you, visit http://www.ckconsultingonline.com/.

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

3. Affiliate your company with a National disability organization. There are hundreds of organizations that support people with disabilities such as the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, March of Dimes, and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Pick one of these or a local organization to align your company with and be sure that your employees get involved too. Whether through an annual fundraiser or a yearly donation, your help will encourage the organization you are supporting to give your company recognition through their Web site and other channels to bring more exposure to your brand. For more information on hoe to market to people with disabilities, email me at craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

2. Make sure your company or business shows local community support for any accessibility efforts in the works. When i started my business, i began going to city council and city & county planning commission meetings to make sure they were looking at accessibility when starting new projects. I was amazed to see how many were already in the works! By finding out what community projects are happening, such as a new community center or a new playground at a local school, and lending your support to make sure they are accessible, you are playing a direct part in a more accessible community for your disabled residents. And by supporting these efforts in your own town, you can create a positive image and reputation for your business that says you care about the people with disabilities in your community. For more information on marketing to people with disabilities, send me an email at craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com

Top Ten Ways to Market to People with Disabilities

1. When developing or redeveloping your initial marketing strategy, be sure to include people with disabilities (PWD) on your marketing team. The best way to market to any demographic is to first understand your market, then implement a plan. And who would know best what PWD want and need? That's right, People with Disabilities will be able to tell you what is important to their niche. If you don't include PWd on your marketing team you can be sure of one thing, that you will MISS this market all together. For more information, send me an email at craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com or check me out at www.ckconsultingonline.com

Hope for Rental Car Companies

So i know that rental car agencies are among those who are struggling the most right now with our recessed economy. And when these companies struggle, the first things to go are the auxiliary programs and the marketing budget. For instance, i recently heard from a friend who is connected to one of the larger rental car companies, and he told me that the mobility/access program is practically gone for now, with no plans to expand or grow it.

With that in mind i took another look at our Open Doors Organization (www.opendoorsnfp.org) study and sure enough found some god stats.

• 20% of adults with disabilities (6.2 million ppl) are likely to rent a car or van when they travel and spend $40 per day on average
• 50% report they would be more likely to rent a car if it were delivered to and picked up from them
• OVER a third said they would rent a GPS System
• OVER a third also said they WOULD PAY MORE MONEY to rent a car if it were delivered to and pick up from them

It seems to me that in a tight economy, that these companies would spend more marketing dollars to reach the untapped markets????

PLEASE send your thoughts to craigkennedy@ckconsultingonline.com

Baby Boomers and DIsability Marketing

So one of the hottest topics in marketing right now is of course the Baby Boomers. Anyone who was born between 1946 and 1964, is one of about 70 million people in the US and part of one of the largest consumer groups ever assembled. And as they get older and head toward retirement, with (in many cases) a large retirement fund, they will be looking to travel more. And as they age, they begin the onset of the largest jump in disability statistics to date. Thanks in large part to the Baby Boomers, our disability population could swell by more than 25 million people. So not only will they be looking to travel, but htey will be looking for accessible travel options.

So NOW is the time to start thinking about accessibility. Hire a professional to assess your business and get you on the path to better accessibility so you can take advantage of the fastest growing and largest untapped consumer market in the world, PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

FREE ACCESSIBILITY QUIZ at www.ckconsultingonline.com

Online Marketing KEY to Disability Market

Someone once told me that people with disabilities buy/acquire almost 95% of their goods and services online. Seems hard to believe until you start to think about the fact that even people who can't move their hands can use a computer. Computer technology is one of the great equalizers wehn it comes to disability and these people depend heavily on computers for their every day lives. Even many people who can move their limbs don;t leave the house very often due to some other severe disability.

The Open Doors Organization (www.opendoorsnfp.org) that i quote so often agrees that "The internet is an important resource for adults with disabilities." In fact they found that:

• Half of those who travel (51%) use the internet to book their trips
• Close to half (43%) consult the internet to suppor their disability-related travel needs.
• 57% used the internet to find and/or book hotels
• 47% used the internet to find accessibility information about airlines
• 47% used the internet to find accessible activities, tours, and attractions at their destination

And i want to remnd everyone that people with disabilities in the US have a discretionary income of over $220 billion. And we love to travel with cash!

Don;t foget to take my FREE ACCESSIBILITY QUIZ at www.ckconsultingonline.com

People with Disabilities Travel Internationally too!

For those of you who run international travel businesses, don;t forget aabout catering to your disabled travelers too. There is money to be made in this market. Our friends at Open Doors Organization are proving it again. According to the most recent study on adult travelers with disabilities, the typical international traveler spent $1,600 on this travel.

Which means...the 16% of online adults with disabilities who have traveled outside the United States will spend over $7 billion over the course of two years!

Don't you want a piece of this market? Aren't you even the least bit curious???

If you want to know more, all you have to do is ask me. www.ckconsultingonline.com

You can also follow me on Twitter (craigpekennedy) and Facebook (Craig Kennedy).

People With Disabilities are Diverse Travelers

According to a Harris Poll conducted wtih Open Doors Organization, 69% of adults with disabilities have traveled at least once in the past two years. Which includes:

• 3.9 million business travelers
• 20 million pleasure/leisure travelers
• 4.4 million travelers who combined business and pleasure

IS your business accessible? You might only need some small fixes. Take my FREE ACCESSIBILITY QUIZ. CK Consulting, LLC.

CK Consulting handles:

• ADA Interpretation and Application
• Individual Business & Site Plan Inspection
• Accessibility Planning and Strategy
• Disability Marketing Development
• National & State Scenic Byways Inspections & Ratings
• Speaking Services

Fastest Growing Consumer Market in the World

Right now there are 55 million people with disabilities in the United States, represnting about 20% of our population. Experts estimate that by the year 2030 (that's only 21 years from now) that people with disabilities will represent almost 25% of our population, or 80 million people. With this is mind, your marketing, products and services should ALWAYS address accessibility before any other action is taken.

Basic Disability Marketing Ideas

Now that we have seen some successes in marketing to people with disabilities, let's focus on some basic strategy. Here are a couple of things you can do right now to get started.

1. Improve your overall accessibility. If your business is not accessible, then people with disabilities are less likely to patronize your business. Access starts with four main areas: accessible parking and path of travel, accessible entrance, accessible restrooms, and access to goods and services. If you need to, hire a professional to help you make the right decisions in a cost effective manner. Access does NOT have to cost a lot of money!
2. Improve your Web site. People with disabilities spend much more time and make more spending decisions online than most other demographics. Improving your Web site for people with visions and hearing impairments, and using a universal "handicap" symbol to poiint to your accessibility page are great ways to start!

Cruise Industry Profits from Travelers with Disabilities

It’s been a few months since my last post and I do apologize. Let’s pick it up where we left off last time when we discussed some of the successes that mainstream businesses are already having in their efforts to market to people with disabilities.

Here is a great example of an entire industry that is benefiting from their disability marketing efforts:

Cruise Lines have embraced this market and are seeing huge revenues
Ø 12% of all PWD have cruised in the last year (ODO)
Ø 10% of total population have cruised in last 3 years (CLIA)
Ø 59% of PWD who have cruised plan to do so again (ODO)
Ø 55% of total population who have cruised plan to do so again (CLIA)
Ø Royal Caribbean full ship Deaf Charter in 2007 (3,800) on worlds largest cruise ship – Freedom of the Seas
Ø 32 accessible cabins on 3 of their ships