26 May 2011
Marketing for a hotel company means “planning ahead” and mastering social media to boost customer service. That’s different than marketing at a tech company where “everything was due yesterday.”
Andrea Padilla, a former marketer for tech companies Avaya and Hewlett-Packard and now marketing director for hotelier Marriott International for Latin America, shared insights into hospitality marketing at WorldCity’s Marketing Connections on May 20 to a group of frequent travelers.
For hotels, one key marketing challenge is keeping customers engaged and returning, Padilla said. Marriott relies heavily on its loyalty program, offering its frequent customers such perks as early check-in and room upgrades and steadily evolving the program to distinguish Marriott from its rivals, she said.
Social media also is key to engaging customers and building the brand’s image. Marriott now has Facebook pages for its different brands, including Courtyard and Ritz-Carlton, and it monitors those pages as well as TripAdvisor, Twitter and other sites to respond quickly to compliments and complaints, she said.
“How do you respond to negative comments? Do you take them down and the contact the customer?” asked Elizabetta Bell, growth services manager in Miami for Caterpillar Latin America.
Following best practices for social media, Marriott usually replies online that the company is addressing the issue and then, contacts the customer offline to follow through, she said.
Experts say when receiving negative reviews, it’s best to thank the writer for their feedback and explain how you will react – often sending an email off the site. Don’t take down negative reviews or question the reviewer’s legitimacy. And don’t respond online with an offer for a discount “which could only encourage other negative reviews,” said a primer from Australia’s TA Fastrack hotel consultants.
Marriott now has 60 hotels in Latin America for its varied brands, and “business is booming,” Padilla said. Demand for rooms is so strong in Brazil that rates have jumped in Sao Paulo and other major cities. And Colombia is so hot for business travel that Marriott opened two new properties in Bogota in the past three years, and both are nearly full on week days, said Padilla.
Still, marketing in Latin America differs from other regions.
In the United States, for instance, online travel agencies such as Expedia or Travelocity play a major role, and traditional travel agents are disappearing. In Latin America, traditional travel agents still remain important for hotel sales and promotions, she said.
“Most of us with a Latin American background, we like the relationship part (of working with travel agents),” said Padilla, who hails from Mexico and studied business at Florida International University.
How does Marriott market differently to international travelers compared to domestic ones in Latin America?, asked Marcelo Castro, a director at the Miami-based MarketWise Group and one of the event sponsors.
For international travelers, the company relies more on CNN International and other pan-regional media. But for travelers within Mexico, for example, its works closely with domestic partners such as airline AeroMexico to offer packages. That’s because domestic travelers tend to travel for shorter periods and be more price-sensitive than travelers making longer-distance business trips, she said.
How does the company try to differentiate itself from other hotel chains in general?, asked Luis Alvarado, director of the Miami office for Mexican university Tecnologico de Monterrey.
“Marriott is very much driven by the employee and for the employee. We believe if we take care of our employees, our employees will take care of our guests,” Padilla said. She called the primary differentiator for the hotel company “people.”
“Thank you very much for saying people -- and not human resources,” said Alvarado, smiling.
Frequent business travelers in the group shared their views on what they seek from hotels. The challenge for executives with luxury brands is finding a hotel that offers both the pampering needed to entertain clients as well as services vital for the time-crunched traveler, especially high-speed internet in the room, said Kerstin Sachl, representing Porsche Latin America.
Travelers also want consistent quality and service across the brand, said Leonel Azuela, managing director of interactive marketing specialists Quaxar, a sponsor of the event series. He’s found such wide variations in different countries that he now chooses hotels by his experience with each property, not the brand name.
The Marriott chain seeks to maintain quality and consistency through regular audits of its hotels, said Alberto Najar, director of sales and marketing for the JW Marriott Miami hotel. “Marriott has de-flagged some properties when they are not up to standard.”
Marketing Connections is one of seven event series organized by WorldCity to bring together multinational executives on international business topics. The marketing series is sponsored by Quaxar and Marketwise Group. The next Marketing Connections event is set for July 22.
For a primer on “How to respond to negative online reviews” from Australia’s TA Fastrack hotel marketing consultants, visit http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article.asp?nav=68&id=75408