"Customer Engagement". It's a term you've heard about quite a bit over the last couple of years - and one that should be at the forefront of your marketing efforts. But what is customer engagement? Is it satisfaction? Is it loyalty? Is it recommending your brand? It's all of these - plus more. Engagement is all about strengthening the emotional connection between the customer and the brand by consistently delivering (if not exceeding) the brand promise at each and every touchpoint. Customers that feel this emotional connection are more satisfied, more loyal and more apt to become ambassadors for your brand. READ MORE

Choosing an agency for your hotel should be viewed in exactly the same way that you would a business partner, and done with the same scrutiny, due diligence, inquisitiveness, proof of performance, honesty, candor, humor and affection. So where do you start? READ MORE

To consistently get great work from your ad agency you need to understand how to be a great client. It's not about giving in to your agency--rather it's about giving them the direction, feedback and opportunities to become one of your hotels most valued partners. READ MORE

We live in a world that's all about image. Where people make snap judgments and buying decisions based solely on the way something looks. Putting on a good face is no longer a figurative imperative, it's a literal one. Consumers are bombarded by over 3000 marketing and advertising messages per day and everyone is competing to be noticed in a world that's increasingly built around sound bites and brief flashes of photography and video tantalizingly sliced to capture your attention. If you believe "a picture is worth a thousand words" then you can only imagine how exponentially more valuable a really great picture is worth, especially as you think about a networked society that's taking these images and effortlessly distributing them to every corner of the world and sharing them on mediums ranging from computers to PDA's to phones. How you depict your hotel has never been more critical and the role that photography plays has never been more important. READ MORE

Choice proliferation has overtaken the hotel industry. As marketing guru Jack Trout quipped, "Like an amoeba dividing in a Petri dish, the marketing arena can be viewed as an ever-expanding sea of categories." So whether your hotel is a limited service, a full service, or a bed and breakfast, your guests have more choice than ever before. And there is no end in sight. This means that your property needs to compete by standing for something; i.e., you have to own a position in the consumer's mind. You, like Disney, Southwest and Wal-Mart have to get it. You have to do more than have a better product, service and value. You have to been seen as different. In other words, if you own it, flaunt it. READ MORE

Concept clarity is a lot like deciding whether or not you need an extreme makeover. You look in the mirror, you see a lot of warts and blemishes, and you have to decide-am I going to put on a lot of make-up and try to make it work? Or am I going to go under the knife and become that person? Translated to the hospitality industry, if your concept is not clear-from the confirmation email you send, to the doorman who greets you, to the pantyhose at the concierge desk-then all the make-up in the world is not going to cover up the warts. The minute a customer sees that your marketing concept is just a clever make-up job, you run the risk of alienating them and losing loyal brand advocates. READ MORE

It's easy to see how a legitimate news event is the most logical route to securing national broadcast coverage. But how does one best approach national broadcast? How does one capture the attention of the major morning shows, feature programs like "The View", and other high profile broadcast opportunities? Here are a few useful tips to get you there. READ MORE

If there's one thing we know about a successful hotel brand it's that it will attract copycats. And if there's one thing we know about copycats it's that they commoditize the market. That's not good for anyone. The initial response to copycats usually manifests itself in some form of hand-to-hand combat. After all, who are they to invade our space? But whether it involves expensive branding campaigns or inefficient loyalty programs, competing with a copycat is a drain on the bottom line. If you can't win the battle in the trenches it may be time to reinvent your brand, or at least explore new concepts that can be both exciting and profitable. READ MORE

The role of advertising in independent hotels can be full of conflict. In the right circumstances, it can be effective and drive business to the property and it can create awareness in the marketplace creating future demand. If not effective, then a lot of money was just pored down the drain! We know the challenge for independent hotels is to evaluate the best use of its marketing budget, ensuring the greatest return on the investment. Therefore, for owners and operators to ensure that money is spent wisely and that any advertising ensures the greatest ROI, a few basic pointers are in order. READ MORE

Searching the Web the other day, I came across one of those funny little articles that give you a "list" for something or other. You know the kind. The 10 best.... The 5 worst...101 things to do with... In this case, it was 15 Things My Kids Taught Me. As I'm chuckling down the inventory, I came across No. 13 which claims that, in all of human history, the three most important inventions are string cheese, Velcro, and swim diapers. Now, I don't know about the string cheese or the swim diapers, but I'll have to agree with the Velcro. Just think how this odd hook and loop tape has made our lives easier. Jackets...gym bags...shoes...marketing messages. READ MORE

Okay. Take out a pencil and paper. Draw a horizontal line across the page. At the left end of the line, write the word advertising. At the right end of the line, write the phrase word-of mouth. Now ask yourself the following question: As a hotelier, if you have the choice between running an advertisement for your hotel in the newspaper, or having the newspaper run a story on your property as an article, which would you choose? Of course, you would go for the article. After all, it would be free, right? But there is a more important reason for choosing the article. It carries far more credibility than your ad. READ MORE

Shower curtain rods, new beds, special pillows, free breakfast buffets-all are nice features, but none offer sustainable differentiation. Sure, they can offer tactical advantages for a period of time, but like any successful innovations they will be duplicated if they can't be patented. And even if they are patented they can usually be matched by crafty imitations. So what's a hotel brand to do? How can it achieve differentiation that is real, meaningful and sustainable? The answer lies not in pursuing left-brain benefits but in fostering right-brain connections. Successful differentiation takes place not in the minds of your target, but in their hearts. READ MORE

Have you ever asked your guests why they are visiting your city? Beyond just casual conversation at check-in, are you actively documenting the specific activities that bring your guests to town? If you're not, you should be. Marketing your destination as an attraction is just as important as marketing your hotel. If you do document guest activities, is everyone trained on how to enter the information and how to utilize that information to market to that guest for a future visit? READ MORE

It is hogwash! It is baloney! It is a lot of hooey! Somewhere along the line, we have been sold a bill of goods that all it takes to generate great word-of-mouth (that is WOM, you know) advertising for your hotel is top service quality. We have all seen the figures: A happy guest will tell six - or seven - or even eight others about your hotel. While that may have been true back in the '80s and '90s, good service is not enough to produce WOM today because good service is just expected (though not always received). It is poor service that produces word-of-mouth advertising in this era of savvy guests and strong competition, but that is another story. And it is certainly not the kind of WOM that any hotel needs or wants. READ MORE

For some, it may mean Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn. To others, it may mean blogs, chat rooms, YouTube, Twitter, and Wikipedia. However you think about it, in essence, social media is simply a cluster of online tools that people can use to share information - their profiles, opinions, perspectives, insights, and experiences. And they are changing the dynamics of a hotel's marketing and communication more quickly and forcefully than any other technology since the invention of the printing press. In this issue's column, explore some of the points every hotel brand should consider as social media becomes an integral part of your hotel's marketing lexicon. READ MORE