There’s a word being tossed around in the industry so much now that I fear it’s lost its meaning. No, that word isn’t “millennials,” but it has to do with them. The word is “authenticity.”
I’ve attended more industry events than I can count in this first half of 2016, and I’m starting to notice and really tire of the volume of time and conversation given over at every event to the topic of “what millennials want and how we’re going to give it to them.”
What it’s resulting in is a sea of sameness on the delivery side of our industry—a manufactured authenticity.
What do I mean by that? Let me break it down for you. On one hand, we have the generalizations about what this emerging group of consumers wants from travel—they want experiences, they want digital connectedness, they want local flavor in F&B and design, they want small rooms and big public spaces. The overarching theme really comes down to authenticity. It’s what they want, so we better deliver.
But on the other hand—and this is the part I’m worried about—we have the ways the collective hotel industry is responding to these millennial wants and needs through product and design.
This is a problem. Look around at the marketing materials surrounding new brand launches, at hotels trying so hard to capture what they think millennials want, and these places are all starting to look the same and become one giant cliché.
I’m so tired of seeing the same images: The Brooklyn hipster wearing chunky glasses and a skinny suit, carrying his smartphone (he’s the elusive millennial traveler everyone wants), sitting with his friends on a trendy hotel rooftop, likely munching on an ahi tuna flatbread (it’s on every hotel menu now), chugging a local craft brew or, better yet, a bespoke cocktail in a mason jar. Look behind him and you’ll see some reclaimed wood furniture, an Edison bulb or two, probably something that’s covered in cork or a chalkboard. Somewhere nearby is a sign (likely on a chalkboard) inviting our hipster friend to share his experiences on said rooftop on social media, ideally by posting a Snapchat showing that mason jar cocktail.
Sound at all familiar? Ugh.
We’ve created a trope, people, and it’s not one that has longevity. It’s a cliché that is alienating and absolutely inauthentic. I’ll go so far as to predict that it’s destined to fail among the very generation of travelers you’re trying to reach with it.
My guess is that these hotels will aim hard to appeal to millennials and end up settling for appealing to middle-aged weary business travelers.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s also not necessarily what you want. What I think it means is that we’re all trying far too hard to reach this group through so-called authenticity, and as a result, we’re starting as a collective industry to try to manufacture that authenticity, one Edison bulb at a time.
And once that happens, poof. Forget it. Mission not accomplished. Authenticity is a tricky thing, and it’s certainly not going to be achieved by trying too hard.
Here’s the best example of this topic that I’ll leave you with as some food for thought: Last week as I was attending industry conferences, likely politely ooh-ing and aah-ing over more of these conversations about how (insert new brand here) will deliver authenticity to millennials, a friend of mine, whom I consider the most millennial of millennials, posted an Instagram of himself eating breakfast during a road trip with his band. His location: A pretty run-down-looking Howard Johnson in Middle of Nowhere, Texas. Styrofoam coffee cup, waffle, ratty napkin. This hotel did not invite my friend to share this photo. This hotel did not purposefully set up an “Instagram corner.” This hotel just was what it is.
Now that’s authenticity.
Oh, and P.S.: This picture got about a million likes and about 100 shares.
Want to complain about inauthentic authenticity with me, or share a story about how your hotel is doing it right? Leave a comment below. Or you can email me at sricca@hotelnewsnow.com or find me on Twitter @HNN_Steph.
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