This week, Deem will launch two versions of a new travel booking
and "lite" management suite aimed at the small and midsize enterprise
segment. Deem Emerge will target the corporate directly with mobile and desktop
booking tools, self-service policy configuration and easy onboarding. Deem Rise
will target travel management companies with a technology-first, white-label
solution that offers the same functionality. Emerge aims to enable agencies to
go after SMEs by reducing high-cost personnel resources required to serve the
segment.
With the new tech, Deem is entering a suddenly crowded
market of travel booking tool and service providers reaching out to SMEs.
Startups like Lola, TravelBank, TripActions and Upside started the lite travel
management ball rolling; it has only picked up momentum as traditional players
like Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Concur and Corporate Traveler have jumped into
the mix. New Zealand-based Serko is similarly selling its SME-oriented Zeno
technology to the agency market in North America, as well as going direct to
corporates.
Deem CEO, COO and president John Rizzo suggested that Deem's
new offerings still fill a gap, particularly for agencies looking to tap into
smaller markets and keep the business in house, he said, calling out the Concur
Hipmunk model as a concern for agencies.
"We've gotten feedback from TMC partners that the
midmarket is an untapped opportunity for them," said Rizzo. "At that
same time, while that market is opening, there's some trepidation. … They'd
like another alternative, beyond Concur Hipmunk, that allows efficient
onboarding and also allows agencies to build on additional services and
sophistication as these smaller clients grow into bigger clients."
That's the differentiator Deem Rise brings to the market,
according to Rizzo. Rise is built as a part of Deem's enterprise solution,
which means there's just one set of pipes for TMC partners to install and no
need to reimplement back-end technology as small clients grow. Rizzo also
touted Deem's mobile-first strategy, its full integration with desktop tools
and its overall open expense integration strategy, which holds for both the
Rise and the Emerge products. Rise launches with four agency partners: Acendas Travel, Campbell Travel, Direct
Travel and Ovation. All of these already resell Deem's enterprise solution.
Emerge is built
on the same platform as Rise but is branded as a Deem product and marketed
directly to corporates. Emerge serves content from Google, Sabre and Travelport
and offers personalized search results based on integrated corporate spend
guidelines and user preferences. Deem Emerge uses a TMC partner for fulfillment
services.
Rizzo
also underscored that Deem isn't starting from zero with its new products. Rather,
he said, they are based on a custom tool Deem built about three years ago for
Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of Enterprise and National car rental,
to support smaller, lightly managed travel programs among the car rental
company's client base. That tool, Rizzo said, has served nearly 47,000 users to
date and offered the proof Deem needed to launch a broader SME play. "We
know it works, and we know we can scale," said Rizzo. "The managed
travel market has always been very competitive. That's nothing new."