I BUSINESS INNOVATIVE MARKETING IN HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE

"A competitive environmentshould be the key to ahotel's marketing plan"MelvinGold

"There are pitfalls •••youcould discount to existingguests, the business might

t "no recover •••Martin Evans

"We put together an offer ofa Champagne afternoon teafor £35, which represented a50% saving for the customer"Nick Stafford

BOOST YOUR BUSINESSThe first Innovative Marketing in Hospitality conference, organised inLondon last week by Caterer and Hate/keeper, was packed full of tips onhow to boost your business, both on and offline. janet Harmer reports

BE AWARE OF YOUR COMPETITIVE MARKETThe number of hoteliers which have a lack ofawareness of competitor businesses is aston-ishing, hotel industry consultant Melvin Goldtold the conference.

"Acompetitive environment should be thekey to a hotel's marketing plan," he advised."It is vital that you have a basis of comparisonas to how the market is doing, and how you aredoing against the market."

Melvin Gold's tips for keeping abreast of thecompetition• Visitand experience the servicesprovided bycompetitors.• Consider the online reviews of competitors- what do customers like and dislike aboutthem?• How does your business compare?• Research feedback on what others think ofyour business.• Benchmark your business against othersimilar operators in the market - read datafrom STR, TRI Hospitality and touristboards.

321 Caterer and Hotelkeeper 19 December 2011

• Segment the market by the product area(rooms, food and beverage, conference andbanqueting, weddings) target clientele (corpo-rate, leisure, conference, weddings), time ofthe day/week (midweek, weekend, bank holi-days, breakfast, lunch, dinner) and by sourceof booking (internet, telephone, contract,agent, promotions) and focus your marketingaccordingly.

DEAL OR NO DEAL?The explosion in the past two or three years ofthe "dealof the day"websites came under dis-cussion during the conference.

Martin Evans, managing director of theTourism Business, said that the growth ofcompanies such as Groupon, UvingSocial,MyVoucherCodes, Travelzooand VoyagesPriveemeant that daily deals were now here to stayand the hospitality industry needed to assessthe benefits and pitfalls of their offers.

"The benefits of discounting via the dailydeal sites include enticing new guests and din-ers when you need them - but look at the costof acquisition and return on investment," he

."

said. "Youcan beat the competition, be seenas innovative, have a direct channel to custom-ers, achieve good advertising coverage and animmediacy which entices customers.

"However, there are pitfalls. There is thedanger of eroding rates, you could discount toexistingguests, the business might not recover,the brand could be cheapened and you mayend up attracting the wrong type of clientele."

Nick Stafford, general manger for Europeof LivingSocialEscapes, advised that any dealsset up between hospitality operators and com-panies like LivingSocialshould "generate newdemand, tell your story and strengthen yourbrand, provide measurable results and protecttotal revenue".

Staffordhighlighted the success of a Living-Social Escapes deal with London's five-starhotel, One Aldwych."Thehotel has verystrongrooms business, but wanted to boost itsfood and beverage offer. As a result we puttogether an offer of a Champagne afternoontea for two for [35, which represented a 50%saving for the customer. A total ofl,292 dealswere done," said Stafford.

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