REPORT FROM THE U.S.—Challenges might abound in the world of hotel marketing, but so do success stories.
For participants of Hotel News Now’s’s marketing virtual roundtable, successes came in a variety of forms and fashions. If there was a common thread, it was simplicity. Whether making a splash with a simple menu change or establishing direct lines of communication to guests via email, marketers tallied wins through tried and true techniques.
Can you share a recent marketing success story?
“Through our annual ‘Flavors of the World’ initiative, we partner with a particular destination and feature their cuisine or local wines throughout our hotels and resorts. This year’s three-month campaign spotlighted the wines of Washington State. ‘Taste Washington’ featured many of Washington State’s best wines in Omni bars and restaurants across the U.S., accompanied by a food pairing menu of Washington-inspired cuisine.
“The campaign was very successful. To build anticipation and create demand for the special menu, Omni held a launch event at the Omni Berkshire Place in New York to introduce the dishes to select media. We released recipes, photo assets, a new menu and a ‘Taste Washington video,’ which was played in our guestrooms and on OmniHotels.com.
“To further support the promotion, Omni hotels across the country created impressive lobby displays to create guest intrigue and interest upon their arrival. The program debuted online at OmniHotels.com, and a specific ‘Taste Washington’ package was rolled out across each of the participating properties.
“More than 60 earned media placements were secured reaching an estimated 128.5 million people over three months. The guest package generated more than 1,000 roomnights booked, and we were able to sell more than 5,000 cases of Washington wine in our hotel restaurants and bars.
“The campaign demonstrated how new offerings as simple as a menu change can help generate demand and create a unique experience for our guests.”
“One simple thing we wanted to do is focus on increasing our email database. Each of our four Manhattan properties contributed a prize of a three-night stay, and we offered a chance to win a quarterly prize to eligible participants who sign up for our eclub. It immediately and dramatically increased the daily opt-in rate, which will allow us to communicate with our prospective guests more effectively, without any significant expense.
“Particularly in light of how Facebook has changed and now only shows your posts to a limited audience, it is more apparent than ever to have a direct relationship with your fans. Email is a great way to communicate directly. You just need to ensure that your communications are ‘help, not hype,’ in the words of Suzie Wotton, VP of marketing at Red Carnation Hotels.
“At the beginning of the year, we also asked all of our managers to identify gaps in communications with our customers. We asked the team members to make a list of what we wished travelers knew that would help them have a better travel experience.
“We called the list our ‘key communication points.’ One by one, we started to create content to address each of those items. We are continually taking data from our guest reviews and the questions sent to us on our chat screen, using that understanding to adapt our communication in social media, on our website and a new blog we created recently for just this purpose called TipsForTravelers.”
“I recently worked with Lux Resorts in Mauritius to develop their new brand platform. The goal was to get internal buy-in from associates for the new brand platform before rolling it out to their customers. I helped organize a three-day workshop to get the top 50 people in the company on the same page as regards the new brand platform. At the end of the three days, we were able to get everyone to embrace the new brand mantra and chart a course for the future with specific deliverables and deadlines.
“What I learned was that, unlike great product brands that are built from the outside in, great service (i.e. hospitality) brands are built from the inside out, just like Isadore Sharp, Bill Marriott, Howard Schultz and Danny Meyer have always taught us.”
“Within the email space we had emails going to loyalty members, consumers, the travel agent trade and all different designs and different content. For the most part, we were operating with each functional area having their respective email goals and templates. We’ve designed this year a more modular approach.
“It’s still tailored to each segment of consumers, with destination-based stuff that’s tailored to the particular region and outbound market it’s coming to. It’s been more efficient for us from the inside.
“The goal was about increasing opens and click-through rate and revenues, and we’ve achieved across all three of them.”