“ THE MOST VALUABLE CUSTOMER DATA WILL LIKELY BE ASSOCIATED WITH A LOYALTY DATABASE MANAGED AT THE CORPORATE LEVEL .”
“ MID-TIER BRANDS PROBABLY SEE MORE SUCCESS ON MOBILE THAN WE DO . AND VERY U . S . -CENTRIC BRANDS PROBABLY SEE A BIT MORE SUCCESS .”
TECHNOLOGY : MOBILE
“ THE MOST VALUABLE CUSTOMER DATA WILL LIKELY BE ASSOCIATED WITH A LOYALTY DATABASE MANAGED AT THE CORPORATE LEVEL .”
– JENNIFER DESLAURIERS-KNOP , CARLSON REZIDOR HOTEL GROUP
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group , says the answer is to get the most bang for one ’ s development buck .
“ The most valuable customer data will likely be associated with a loyalty database managed at the corporate level . Connecting that data with individual hotel-level applications can be costly ,” she explains . “ But , there are certainly efficiencies of scale if it can be built once and then utilized across a brand , but also on a local hotel level .”
Going SoLoMo The convergence of social media , geolocation technology built on the GPS capabilities of smartphones and the portability of mobile technology is the force behind the concept of SoLoMo , an abbreviated way to say social , local and mobile . Communicating with a guest becomes a matter of capitalizing on both their location and usage patterns , presenting them with geospecific promotions through social channels like Foursquare and Facebook .
The core technology driving the SoLoMo concept is the GPS-based geo-locational functionality inherent in most smartphones . In a hospitality setting , one logical application is to present users with choices for dining or entertainment in the immediate area as well as offer specific targeted promotions within the hotel .
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has already implemented the idea within its own mobile app , which is “ state aware ,” according to Clay Cowen , Starwood ’ s vice president of global digital . Essentially the app recognizes what phase of a trip the user is on — whether it ’ s booking , transit or check-in / check-out — and adjusts its content offerings accordingly , switching into “ stay mode ” once the guest arrives .
“ To us , ‘ when you are ’ is as important as ‘ where you are ,’” Cowen says . “ The information you need at a different moment in time varies . We give the guest what they want when they want it , and prioritize the information that way . We found that to be extraordinarily helpful .”
Cowen says Starwood ’ s mobile app also uses geo-location to fine-tune numerous aspects of how it behaves in a specific location . App functions from call center connecting to displaying driving directions all seamlessly shift based upon one ’ s exact location on the earth .
“ If you ’ re in Greece , and if you were to try to call your platinum support number , the number you ’ d get on the app would be the Greek number ,”
Cowen says . “ We translate the taxi directions to the hotel if you were in China , so you can show them to the cab driver . We ’ ll continue to push that thinking forward .”
Beyond just providing a value-added service , location-specific content and communication can be harnessed for tailored advertising and unique specials , fine-tuned down to which part of the hotel the guest has just entered . Some see tremendous upside in a mobile future where drink specials are automatically offered as someone walks into a lounge , or dinner discounts are presented in real time inside a restaurant .
Other hotel companies remain unconvinced . Robert Cheng , vice president of marketing for The Peninsula Hotels , says his luxury brand still stresses tapping human capital to drive sales and service , asserting that attentive staff is a far simpler and more effective solution .
“ We do it in a more low-tech way , by actually recognizing our guest and knowing who they are ,” Cheng says . “ We have people in our outlets who know our guests and say , ‘ Oh , Mr . Smith , welcome back . We have a great special today : We know you like your whiskey , and we have this 18-year-old scotch .’ That is the ideal . We ’ re looking
“ MID-TIER BRANDS PROBABLY SEE MORE SUCCESS ON MOBILE THAN WE DO . AND VERY U . S . -CENTRIC BRANDS PROBABLY SEE A BIT MORE SUCCESS .”
– CHRISTOPH OBERLI , MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL GROUP
56 HOTELS April 2013 www . hotelsmag . com