Spreading The Word

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Boutique

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Pool_party


My friend, Chris Cavanaugh at Magellan Strategy Group, just sent me this link (subscription required) to a WSJ story about boutique hotels. In a nutshell, the article paints a picture that boutique owners and operators face a dilemma in serving multiple audiences in their properties. The subject hotels like the Hollywood Roosevelt, Mercer (NYC) and Gansevoort (NYC) have become popular hang-outs for celeb gawking clientele interested more in “being seen” and alcohol consumption than a “hotel” experience. Of course, that strategy (and, it is a planned approach) is bound to annoy those that are looking for a quiet respite along the lines of a more traditional hotel stay as is clearly indicated by the complaint accounts documented in the story.

This brings out a couple of thoughts. Number one, not all boutique properties have this concern. Most are not catering to the “hip and loud” crowd. Boutique is often a misunderstood term, especially in the world of hotels. Here’s Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word boutique: a small company that offers highly specialized services. To me, that doesn’t necessarily mean pool parties and crowded bars. On the contrary, I think it’s better to say that boutique properties are characterized as small, uniquely designed with a mix of traditional and non-traditional services making you feel special.

Number two, these particular properties (and many others) are trying to spin and sell too many stories. That gets very confusing to those of us paying the bill. You can’t be all things to all people. If you’re going to be the hip, loud, pool frenzy kind of place in downtown Hollywood, then don’t sell rooms to people looking for a quiet weekend getaway. Of course, some of the blame probably falls on the guest. If the hotel has a clear reputation for being one thing, and you’re looking for another…don’t go! Usually, it’s the property though that’s to blame for sending mixed signals of some sort.

You’ll do better to find your niche, design everything about the place (product, service, people, PR, etc.) to support that identity and let your guests take care of the rest.
I think Mr. Klein of The Argyle Hotel makes an excellent point at the conclusion of the article… "Word of mouth is the buzz I want, but not by creating a fake scene. Consumers will be fooled by that for a couple months, but eventually you need to deliver good service, good food and good beds -- and you just can't mask it with ridiculousness."

Attention

You’re opening a new property, launching a new restaurant or perhaps just changing an existing one up a bit. In any case, you need to get people interested…you need attention.

First, start with something that’s genuine and remarkable. That’s more than half the battle. If it’s remarkable to more than a handful of people, you’ll get interest. If it’s real, it’ll last.

Then, to speed up the attention getting process, use relationships and trust. There are no shortcuts and no substitutions to this approach, unless you have a whole bunch of cash and time which most of us don’t. If your PR firm is any good, they’ll use relationships to get the right people to your door. If they’re not, they’ll send out batches of press releases and media kits to lists of editors which anyone can buy. If your sales team is on top of it, they’ll use the trust they’ve developed with past clients to get them to listen to the story about your new place. If they’re not, they’ll order up cold calling campaigns and “sales blitzes” which are largely ineffective and a tell tale sign that you are working with an inexperienced group. Worse yet, someone will try to convince you that a well financed advertising and media plan will get people in the door pronto. This is the ultimate con in our business. Build an average project, buy a bunch of advertising and people will come…and like it. Give me a break. I’ve never seen this work, ever. And when someone tells me it does, it’s usually easy to illustrate that it wasn’t the ad campaign at all…more likely it was design, care and the story which got people’s attention and compelled them to spread the word. The ads just made some marketer feel good.

Again, there are no shortcuts. Memorable experiences, just like great ideas, take time to spread. So, start early, way early…Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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Stories Through Process

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People love what goes on behind the scenes…they love process. Biltmore Estate makes part of its keep from its “behind the scenes” tours. People visit the Boeing factory to see how airplanes are made. More and more, people are interested in “how” and “why” something happens. Anything that enriches our understanding of “the experience” makes it that much more meaningful. Cocktails and meals taste better when we can see them come to life. That’s why bars and exhibition kitchens are so popular. Wine seems to taste so much better when we get to taste it at the winery with the wine master explaining the intricacies of the fermentation and aging process with every sip.

Creating stories through process is an extremely powerful tool, especially in the F&B side of our business. Let’s face it, it’s much more interesting to tour the kitchen and learn about new ingredients than to tour the hotel laundry and see some soap in a washing machine (yes, I know, big ironers and folders are pretty cool to watch). Hells Kitchen, Iron Chef and the Food Network didn’t pop-up by accident. People like food, and they like the art of creating it even more.

I’ve been at Keyah Grande for about eight months. And, with very few exceptions, our kitchen and the Chefs are the highlight of our guests’ stay. It helps that we have an open kitchen policy (come in anytime to learn and raid the fridge for leftovers) and that Aki and Alex are so passionate about their trade. But, it’s the combination of intrigue, the possibility of learning and our openness and informality that draws people in to explore the process of cooking. In any case, it makes for some very memorable experiences which lead to a lot of storytelling…a relatively inexpensive way to spread the word.

So, the next time you’re racking your brain about how to add value to your guest’s stay, try opening the kitchen door.

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I Was There Factor

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I like Hugh's thought.

I was there when George Vanderbilt's dream was realized and Biltmore first opened it's doors to paying guests.
I was there, on the balcony of the Stephen F. Austin Hotel, watching Lance Armstrong's first Tour de France victory parade.
I was there when Aki and Alex made history with food.

Do you have "I Was There" stories for your property?

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The Lost Liberty Hotel

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Whether you're in favor of last week's supreme court ruling or not (I haven't found one person that is), you'll probably agree that this use of controversy makes for a very powerful story. I just don't know if controversy and proving a point gets people to check-in.

Check out the full story about the Lost Liberty Hotel.

Okay, so this might not be the best tactic to use to develop a story and spread the word about a new hotel. But, it's a great way to prove a point.

Where do I send my donation?

We're Getting Better

A recent PKF study indicates that our industry is beginning to figure out that advertising is NOT where it's at.

"Marketing expenses at U.S. hotels increased 6.1 percent in 2004 as hotels attempt to lure guests back and take advantage of a strongly rebounding lodging climate, according to a recent study published by a leading hospitality consultant. The study further indicates that a growing number of hotel marketing departments are shifting more of their sales budgets to activities that involve person-to-person contact, like trade shows, meals and entertainment, rather than advertising, brochures and billboards. In fact, this marks the fifth consecutive year that hotels have cut their local advertising budgets."

I'm glad we're catching on...better late than never.

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PR

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PR, i.e., public relations. It’s such a misunderstood concept. And, for many companies, especially the super big ones, it seems to be an oxymoron. They don’t have the first clue about building a “relationship” with anyone, let alone their customers. Conversely, their idea of PR and spreading the word is paying big bucks to an agency to “apply the spin” to something inherently unremarkable and sending it out as “news”, thinking somehow we’re going to buy into it.

Try making the experience meaningful with heavy doses of relevant design, caring and honesty. Then, build relationships with people who share your view and are compelled to tell their friends and customers about it. That works much better.

The only time when relationships are less important is when the story in and of itself is overwhelmingly powerful. But, unless you have a concept like global warming, I wouldn’t bet the farm on that approach.

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Wanna Go To Connecticut?

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Ct


By its own admission, Connecticut has a tourism problem. But, they also have another problem...they don't understand why.

According to this news release, they think the bulk of the issue is the result of a declining ad budget. The story is full of misguided thoughts like these:

Connecticut is reworking its tourism strategy to compete with fellow Northeast destinations such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. However, the state is at a disadvantage because of budget constraints.

"Pennsylvania has a budget of $33 million for tourism, while Connecticut's is $4.4 million," said Dombroskas.

Because of the budget, a plan has been in progress to change the structure of the marketing strategy. The state is being divided into larger target regions rather than districts, and the tourism effort unites these regions with the state marketing efforts.

The television ads will premiere in the New York metropolitan area next week, and, judging by reactions from their competitors, the team believes it have a strong product.

"When a nearby state watched our new television ads, the room fell silent," said one tourism executive.

The streamlined ad campaigns will contain one logo that will tie together the new approach to gain visitors.

"People will see our logo on television and in print ads, and it will stick with them,"

Most of us know the real problem lies well within the confines of Connecticut's borders. And, that it's not the advertising. If people from neighboring states are looking past Connecticut for their vacation plans, it's because there are better things to do in other places. No amount of advertising or spin is going to make up for an inferior product. When I lived in the Northeast, I never had anyone tell me to go to CT for a must see or a weekend getaway. I wonder why?

So, my advice to CT...take some of the $4.4M and create something your neighbors are looking for, or better yet, haven't found yet. Then, get some influential people there so they can connect and spread the word.

By the way, the new website is a good start to a new direction, check it out...Visit Connecticut

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Opening Your Doors

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In_line

The key to a new hotel (at least for most of us) is to have business when it opens.

Apart from getting the lights to work, the furniture in place and the staff trained, there is little that is more important than having a stream of guests when you throw out the welcome mat. You can talk all you want about having a great sales team, partnering with powerhouse marketing organizations and developing fancy websites with on-line booking capability. But, it really comes down to two things: desire and anticipation.

Desire is created by offering something meaningful that didn’t exist before. Anticipation follows suit and is driven by the desirability of your new offering and how well you tell the story about it. The combination of the two determines if there’s a line to get in when you turn the lights on for the first time.

Creating something that people want is much more than being on the right side of the supply and demand equation (which is what the bank cares about). Maybe you can hang your hat solely on the economics if you’re lucky enough to find a market running 80%, and you’re the first in line to develop a new project. Most of us, however, are faced with creating some new demand, either on our own or with the help of our neighbors.

A new Comfort Inn (nothing against them, just an example) in a sea of existing budget hotels is born from numbers. It’s not what most people want. And, it’s certainly nothing to write home about. Its success is dependant almost solely on the supply and demand equation. That’s extremely dangerous. One twitch in the wrong direction on either side and they might have trouble making the loan payment.

A better way is to start with something people want. It’s much more fun and interesting. Plus, you get the added bonus of creating some insulation in the event the market starts behaving uncharacteristically.

The Inn on Biltmore Estate was developed to satisfy desire. For over 100 years, people (I mean, a lot of people) wanted to spend the night on Biltmore Estate. Only a select few were ever given the privilege as a personal guest of Mr. Vanderbilt. So, when the plans for the Inn were announced, there was a firestorm of anticipation. The Biltmore marketing team was very smart. They turned that desire and anticipation into one of the most successful PR campaigns I’ve ever seen (about $1 million in free advertising prior to opening). As a result, they enjoyed a first year occupancy of over 70%. That’s virtually unheard of.

The Stephen F. Austin Hotel, first built in 1924, had a storied history including tales of Babe Ruth signing autographs on the front porch, Charles Lindbergh stopping by before his historic trans-continental flight, Frank Sinatra giving an impromptu performance in the lobby and a whole host of political heavyweights calling it their outpost including LBJ. Unfortunately, the energy bust of the late 70’s and early 80’s took its toll, and the Stephen F. closed in 1986. So, when plans were announced to revive her in the late 90’s, you can imagine the heightened level of interest and the increased level of “talk” about the “new” Stephen F. The people of Austin desperately wanted her back.

Do something different. And, get people to talk about it…long before you open the doors. Everyone will be smiling, especially the owner.

More Is Often Less

Picked this up off the news wire. The point of the release is that more and more "boomers" are turning to travel sites like Travelocity, Expedia, etc., for their travel needs, and abandoning travel agents in the process.

But, when you look more closely, it's not the whole group. Here's the key point of the story...

"Hitwise research analysts note that as Baby Boomers begin to retire and have more leisure time, this price-conscious group will become an increasingly powerful force on travel meta-search engines."

The good news for travel agents, and anyone not competing primarily on price (shame on you if you are) is that more and more people are searching for meaningful experiences, are paying top dollar for those memories and rely heavily on trusted sources, i.e., friends, family and yes, travel agents to get them there. People inherently want to do business with other people. And more importantly, with people they trust.

Virtually all of the travel agents I know are no longer trying to serve the "price conscious" group. Besides the lack of return, it's just simply no fun. Instead, they focus on those who need their expertise and are willing to pay for it.

A large buyer segment is very attractive on the surface. But, it's usually best to break it down into manageable parts, and focus on the audience who's right for you, especially when you have something intersting and different to offer. Remember, more is often less.

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Trust Me!

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Trust

Relationships are about one thing…establishing trust. Every time we get to know someone, we move along a line, from skepticism…toward unwavering belief in their commitment to look out for us, and perhaps back again. We don’t always begin or finish at the ends. But, we definitely move back and forth to some degree:

People We Don’t Know (no trust)…………………Our Friends (Unquestionable Faith)

The key to business success is to make friends and keep them by developing relationships perpetuated by trust.

Think about it, buying and selling is all about trust. We listen closely to those we trust about what to buy, and when to buy it. We buy more from those we trust than from those we don’t. We even find ways to forgive when mistakes are made…if we trust them. It’s a quid pro quo world. Show me that you care about me, and I’ll do the same for you.

Strong relationships based on trust enable you to have meaningful conversations. Conversations allow you to ask questions, listen and interact. And, interactions allow you to demonstrate passion, creativity and caring. Together, they make people feel different and special, creating long-lasting memories…and loyalty for your product.

Here’s a good example of what happens when companies are genuinely interested in long lasting relationships with their customers…and, when they’re not…

Brand Investment

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People Power

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Ben and Jackie have done it again over at Church of The Customer...another excellent Podcast.

This one highlights the importance of People...both as evangelists for your product and having really passionate folks on your team.

Check it out for some good advice, excellent stories and even good music.

You can see my related thoughts from previous posts, What's More Valuable? Repeat or Referral? and The Robin Williams Effect.

Communication Relationships

I’ve recently been caught-up in conversation about the power of newsletters, e-mail blasts and blogs as “marketing” tools for our industry.

There are two very important parts to a successful communications relationship no matter the medium: interesting content and permission. Of course, permission usually comes on the heels of interest. So, the focus should be on communicating information the reader (or listener, we can’t forget about the rise of podcasting) finds stimulating. But, if they don’t know it’s coming in the first place, you’re battling something far worse than just getting their attention, you’re fighting negativity related to the invasion of their privacy…curtains for you. See my examples below.

Just this month I have been “violated” by two e-mail newsletter subscriptions. I say violated because neither had my permission to send them. I met both of the offending parties last month on separate occasions, one personally and one via e-mail. We traded some networking “how do you do’s”, contact information and ended on a friendly, “see you around” note. Next thing you know, I’m getting e-mail newsletters from them. This is one of the best ways to really annoy your audience. To make matters worse, I’m the one required to go through the “steps” to unsubscribe. Had they just asked for my okay during our meeting, I probably would have said “yes”. Then, I could have objectively decided whether the content was interesting enough to stay tuned. Sadly, I was already on the defensive when the first newsletter arrived, and barely made it through the first few sentences.