Hospitality Marketing Blog.com

Any question we are in a recession?  Let me tell you a little story.

Last  weekend I was reading the Sunday paper and saw a local grocery store ad offering double coupons Sunday only.  A $1.00 coupon would receive $2.00 purchases. With a paper full of inserts I decided to see just how much I could save.

Now Williamsburg is a fairly affluent community.  Nevertheless, with scissors in hand I clipped coupons for only things I knew I would use.  Armed with an envelope full of coupons I headed for the double coupon grocery store.  Here’s what I learned:

• When I got to the store I found the parking lot so full finding a parking spot was difficult
•  Next I discovered there were no shopping carts available and had to wait 5 minutes to secure one
• The aisles were jammed with shoppers holding coupons and searching for products on sale
• Many of the products for which I had coupons were Sold Out!  Bisquick, Lipton Onion Soup and several others
• In the end my bill was $176, however my double coupons saved me over $40.
• I saved 25% on items I was going to buy anyway.  Half the savings paid by manufacturers and half by the store

So what does this mean to hotels today?

• Even if you cater to an affluent clientele, many will most likely be looking to save money on their next vacation
•  A good offer (not necessarily one designed to break the bank) is needed to motivate cautious consumers these days
• Look for partners to help share the burden (the grocery store contributed 50% of my overall savings.  Manufacturers paid the other half).  Can water sports operators, local car rentals, etc. share the cost of value-added packages you can use to attract guests?

Now is the time for creative thinking and action.  A hotel doesn’t need to offer 50% off or 5 nights for the price of 3 to attract business these days.  In fact, going it alone and offering steep discounts to attract customers is a sure way to destroy RevPAR and the bottom line.  It will also help destroy your brand name making it harder to increase rates following this recession.

What do you think?  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, marketing to affluent guests, Recession lessons, small hotels luxury clientele, value-added packages

I was just getting ready to recycle my newspapers when an article about the TV ratings for this year’s World Series caught my eye.  It was an AP story with an interesting title:

 Baseball:  Thrown a Curve, Audience Walks

While the article does say the Series was entertaining, it went on to say with a TV rating of 8.4 this was 17% below the previous record low! Ouch!   FYI - one rating point is the equivalent of 1% of all US households.

How bad is it?  The last time the Phillies won the World Series (1980) the average rating was 32.8.   So, the 2008 World Series rating was only 1/4 of what it was 28 years ago.  Of course that was before the Internet.

Yet another indication that TV and Advertising are both dying.  Does anybody remember seeing this year’s Series?

What do you think?  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: advertising, television, TV, world series

As a small luxury hotelier you know the story - nearly every guest who comes through your door will have checked past guest reviews on TripAdvisor before coming.

That’s why yesterday’s announcement that TripAdvisor now has over 20 million reviews is so important to you. Last April TripAdvisor had 15 million reviews and two years ago the figure was just 6 million.  Growth is accelerating and will continue to do so as travelers become more concerned about value for money in pressing economic times.

The importance of TripAdvisor in the hotel selection process can not be underestimated.  As a small luxury hotelier you know the most effective marketing tool you have is Word-of-Mouth advertising - having your own customers “sell” you property.”  Well TripAdvisor is almost as powerful as first hand WOM.

You see, people believe reviews they read online.  This fact was highlighted the research posted last January.

You just can’t ignore TripAdvisor!  There are strategies you should follow to manage this powerful marketing resource for maximum benefit.  We advise our clients on how to do it and can help you too.  But only if you contact us.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Safe travels,  Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, loyalty marketing, online reviews, small luxury hotels, TripAdvisor, WOM, word of mouth

Companies sure seem to be falling all over themselves to be the first on the web 2.0 social networking bandwagon.

• YouTube
• MySpace
• Facebook, Etc.

But there are many land mines that than can implode your marketing program before your very eyes.  Before your ad agency launches you into the great unknown ask yourself.

• What are the goals?
• Does it fit my brand and my specific target audience
• How do I measure success?
• What are the potential downsides to my brand?

I came across an insightful article on the subject entitled, “Does your company need a Facebook page?”  Here’s a particularly poignant paragraph you need to read before you leap.

If your business isn’t the kind of organisation that people are passionate (or at least mildy enthused) about, creating a social network around yourself will only serve to highlight that fact. At best, you’ll get a few staff members and cousins join, at worst, you’ll quickly find out no-one actually cares, which can end up looking rather embarrassing.  If you honestly can’t envisage your clients or customers starting a Facebook group for your brand all by themselves, you probably shouldn’t have one.

Just because a medium is available doesn’t mean it is right for you.  The marketing scene is littered with poorly executed web 2.0 strategies gone bad.  Just ask some of thet op PR firms.  The potential for creating a marketing nightmare for your hotel is just too great to “experiment” in new media.

Start with a clear plan.  Think it through carefully.

What do you think?  Safe Travels, Madigan Pratt

Tags: Facebook, hospitality marketing, hotels, luxury hotels marketng, marketing small hotels, Myspace, samll luxury hotels, travel 2.0, web 2.0, YouTube strategy

Here’s the situation:  You’re the GM of a small luxury hotel.  Demand is soft in your market and your chief competitor started offering huge discounts.  How can you compete? (Sound familiar?)
Matching discounts won’t stimulate demand and you’ll end up in a lose-lose situation (see Hotel Discounting - Part I ).  On top of that, deep discounting will diminish brand integrity making it harder to achieve premium pricing in the future.

To weather the storm you take a page from marketers of other luxury products such as Lexus, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

• You offer a modest price reduction letting travelers know you’re sympathetic to their current situation and are willing to give them a break.
• You offer some value added amenities with a high perceived value but a relatively low out-of-pocket cost.

For example a $100 drink certificate will only cost you around $30.  Depending on your spa arrangement a free couples massage which has a very high perceived value may not cost you much at all.

One of our hotels offers guests a free one-day car rental.  The rental company gives it to the hotel for free in hopes of getting guests to take it for several days.

Put yourself in your guest’s shoes.  You’re a luxury traveler and you have a choice between two hotels.

• One is offering 5 nights for the price of 3 (a 40% discount).
• The other is offering a 10% discount along with a free couple massage, a free one-day car rental and a $100 drink certificate.

Our experience with affluent travelers leads us to believe some will opt for the 40% discount.  However many others will wonder what’s wrong with the hotel that it has to discount so much.

By providing not so costly value-added amenities you compete effectively, maximize RevPar in a down environment, maintain the integrity of you brand and attract quality guests you can grow into loyal customers.

What do you think?  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, hotel discounting, luxury hotels, RevPAR, value-added

In times of slack demand companies with perishable product (hotels) are often quick to offer discounts in an effort to stimulate occupancy.  But is this the right marketing strategy?

Large hotel chains with sophisticated revenue management systems can surgically modify pricing months in advance to minimize the disruption discounting can cause on the bottom line.  But what if you are a small luxury hotel?

The biggest problem with discounting is that it is the easiest strategy to copy.  Your competition discounts and you follow suit.  It’s a lose/lose situation.  Hotel rooms are only one part of the travel experience and discounting may not stimulate the added demand need to offset the price reduction.  In the end RevPAR suffers.

What do you think?  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, hotel discounting, luxury hotels, revenue management, RevPAR

The world’s largest travel community conducted a survey of 2,200 travelers worldwide recently and just announced the results.  They wanted to know what travelers say makes hotels great. Interesting results indeed - here are the 3 most important factors:

• When asked what makes a hotel great, 30% of respondents said location is the most important factor.  Implication - if your hotel has a great location (a magnificent beach, overlooking a beautiful bay) flaunt it!
• A total of 29% cited comfortable beds make a hotel great.  Implication - Starwood hit the nail squarely on the head with their Heavenly Bed.  Maybe you can’t call your beds heavenly, but your marketing sure as heck should communicate they are.
• Another 24% said hotel staff/great service help make a great hotel.  Implication - training is very important.  (I would have thought this would have been more important - what do you think?)

The research also had an important nugget of information for small luxury hoteliers in these difficult economic times.  When asked what type of hotel promotion offers the greatest incentive to book, 73 percent of travelers said it is a reduced room rate.

The world’s largest travel community is, of course TripAdvisor, which claims 32,100,077 Travelers from 190 countries planned trips there this week.  According to the research - 92% of respondents said they are planning to stay at a hotel or B&B in the next 12 months.

That’s a lot of trips - and a lot of hotel rooms researched and booked.

What do you think?  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: great hotels, hospitality marketing, hotel research, luxury hotels, travel research, Trip Advisor

How is this for telling it like it is?

“Businesses today exist in an era in which it’s nearly impossible to escape the likelihood of being evaluated.” said Linda Shea, senior vice president at Opinion Research, in a statement, “There’s nowhere to hide.”

Like it or not consumers have taken over control of hotel comment cards. And where management use to keep results to themselves, today consumers are sharing results with the world. There is no where to hide!

• And guess what! Consumers are loving it. According to a Opinion Research Corporation June 2008 report 61% of people surveyed indicate they check online reviews, blogs and other online customer sources before buying a new product or service. That number is even higher for travel products at 82%.

• Wait - there’s more! People who shop online value the reviews of fellow consumers more than those provided by professionals in the field. That’s according to a 2008 study commissioned by InQuira.

The implications for small luxury hotels is clear - you have to be at the top of your game with everyone you talk to on the phone, send an email to or who enters your lobby.

You also need to have a clear strategy designed to monitor, manage and respond to comments made about your hotel online. It is just too damn important to ignore. Where is your TripAdvisor strategy?

What do you think? Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, online reviews, small luxury hotels, TripAdvisor

Advertising Age Magazine has a great article on the changing demographics of American households that every hospitality marketer should read - it titled “The Changing Face of the American Consumer.”

In addition to outlining how demographics are changing the article adds insights in marketing tactics and messages to use and to avoid when talking to different demographic segments.

Did you know the average U.S. head of household is now nearly 50 years old (49.5, to be precise)?   Did you know that using the trite expression “60 is the new 40″ is not an approach you should use when marketing older demos?

There is good news and there’s bad news for the small luxury hotel marketer as the demographics of Americans evolve.  Knowing how to exploit the good news to build occupancy and revenue will be key in the years ahead.

While not a definitive read on the subject the article provides valuable insights on what you should be doing (or at least planning for) now.  Well worth a read.

Let me know what you think.  Safe travels - Madigan Pratt

Tags: demographic insights, hospitality marketing, Marketing Strategies, small luxury hotel

New information published in April by Jupiter Research confirms that the ranking of your web site on Google is critical to being seen. Search Engine Optimization has never been so important!

Today nearly 30% of web searchers confine their searches to the first page - only. This is up from 15% in in 2002.

There are two possible explanations:

• People are more impatient than ever before
• Search is producing better results and people don’t have to look much beyond the first couple of pages

The truth most likely is a combination of the two.

As a small luxury hotelier make sure your site is being updated and optimized on a regular basis - the search engines are continuously adjusting their algorithms.

If your site does not come up on the first page for key words like “luxury hotel” in your destination, the chances are you’re at a severe disadvantage vis-a-vis your competition.

The Goal - Page #1 for keywords.

What do you think? Safe travels, Madigan Pratt

Tags: hospitality marketing, hotel web site, search engine optimization, SEO, small luxury hotel