THE BULLETIN
Is the hospitality industry too nice ?
I
watch a good amount of TV . Regular TV , which still runs irksome commercials . What ’ s worse than an episode of “ Friends ” getting interrupted by an ad for Mr . Clean Magic Erasers ? I see commercials for Airbnb . The latest crop is slick in appearance , using animation . Each spot pokes holes in the hotel experience ; mainly , how a hotel stay is limiting depending on circumstance .
Exhibit A . One commercial opens on a family of three in a hotel room , with the voiceover : “ When you share a hotel with your kid , you also share a bedtime with your kid .” The hotel room morphs into a two-level Airbnb : “ But if you get an Airbnb , you get to pick your own bedtime .” The couple is now downstairs , child asleep upstairs , as fireworks pop outside the window looking out on the Eiffel Tower . The strapline : “ Some trips are better in an Airbnb .”
Exhibit B . In another ad , a hotel room unfurls , as a derisive voiceover plays : “ When your hotel room is your bedroom , and your living room , and your dining room — maybe you need more than a hotel room ?”
Exhibit C . A third depicts a group of friends on a trip together . Cue the V . O .: “ Why pay for four hotel rooms to stay apart ? When you can get one Airbnb and stay together .” Cut to four friends partying on an Airbnb patio to Cardi B ’ s “ I Like It .”
These spots spotlight the supposed weaknesses of hotels . Never mind that hotels have connecting rooms , suites and communal areas . Advertising is never about telling the complete truth ; it ’ s about telling your truth .
Hotel marketing machines are way too nice , usually staying above the fray .
They never truly took on the OTAs , laying bare their deficiencies . Where , then , is the countermove to Airbnb ? The jab at Vrbo ? Marriott promotes its breadth of options through Bonvoy . Choice Hotels likes to feature personalities that are goo-goo over free breakfast . Best Western rolled out an ad showcasing multigenerational travel . All are well done ; all are innocuous . Hilton has some chutzpah . “ Hilton for the Stay ” started off trading on its most famous Hilton , Paris . Then it got dark . In a nod to “ House on Haunted Hill ,” a family of three shows up at what the app describes as a “ charming Victorian rental .” Only it ’ s not . Inside , a creaky staircase gives way to a dark , fuggy room where the real horror lives : a talking doll . Cut to an Embassy Suites , where the stuffed animal on the bed is inanimate . Tagline : “ When you prefer a dream vacation over a rental nightmare .” Score one for Hilton .
The travel landscape is becoming more fractured by the day with more options . Marketing has never been more crucial than it is now and while promoting one ’ s own product matters , pointing out its distinctions from and weaknesses of other product types is a further way to differentiate and , ultimately , generate more business .
I once asked a hotelier why his hotel didn ’ t charge to store a bag . Because we are in the hospitality industry was his reply . True , but can you afford to be nice
David Eisen all the time ?
Editor In Chief
EDITORIAL David Eisen Editor In Chief
Kathakali Nandi Editorial Writer
Tatiana Valenzuela Editorial Coordinator
Juan Cruz del Val Designer
Contributing Writers Harvey Chipkin , Derek Herscovici and Stefani C . O ’ Connor
PUBLISHING Ali Jahangiri CEO
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Gilda Perez-Alvarado Group Chief Strategy Officer , CEO of Orient Express , Accor
Arash Azarbarzin CEO , Highgate
Danny Hughes President , Americas , Hilton
Jeanelle Johnson Partner , PwC
Raj Chandnani EVP & CDO , WATG
Mike Deitemeyer President & CEO , Aimbridge Hospitality
Cindy Estis Green Co-founder & CEO , Kalibri Labs
Raúl González CEO EMEA , Barcelo Hotels & Resorts
Alan Fuerstman Founder , Chairman , CEO , Montage International
Patrick Scholes MD , Lodging and Leisure Equity Research , Truist Securities
ADVERTISING Caroline de Donnea José Sylvester Natali Aun Santiago
ADMINISTRATION Kristi Carlson Kimberly Guidry
EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION OFFICES 2151 Michelson Drive , suite 290 , Irvine , CA , 92612 info @ hotelsmag . com
Copyright Outclick Media . All rights reserved
May / June 2024 hotelsmag . com 5