BE DIFFERENT
THE NEW NORMAL
TRENDING
BE DIFFERENT
New brands must work harder to cultivate genuine points of differentiation in an increasingly crowded field , says Piers Schmidt , founder of Luxury Branding . He offers six ways to do that : 1 . Pinpoint the white space Understand the competition – who they target , their promise , distinction , how much they charge . Find and confidently occupy the gap , and you have the basis for inherent longevity . 2 . Know your customer Too many new brands target millennials . Your customer profile should employ psychographics : attitudes , distinct wants , needs and behaviors . Who are they , where do they live , work , play ? What ’ s the world like in which they live ? Developing “ personas ” richer than demographic statements helps develop a concept that genuinely speaks to customers . 3 . Uncover unmet needs A brand should meet needs that others do not or cannot . With your customer defined , interrogate your findings for fresh insights into the unmet needs of your personas . 4 . Determine your purpose Your brand purpose should relate to your customer ’ s unmet needs . What is your raison d ' être and how will that change your customer ’ s world ? Aspects such as interior design or programming should be the product of a clear governing purpose . 5 . Make a promise What will you offer the guest , and how will it help you fulfill your purpose ? What will they experience if they stay with you ? Your promise is a simple statement of what your customers can expect from you . 6 . Operationalize Activate and animate your brand across hardware ( architecture and design ), software ( guest experiences and programming ) and service ( people and behavior ). The more each encounter is consistent with your purpose and promise , the greater the chances of establishing and sustaining equity and returns .
THE NEW NORMAL
Moves by Marriott International and Hilton to increase to their cancellation policies to 48 hours from the industry-standard 24 might signal bigger changes for how customers book – and re-book and re-book – rooms .
“ This is a start ,” says Chad Crandell , managing director and CEO of asset management and advisory firm CHMWarnick . “ For us , it boils down to profitability , and the opportunity to be more strategic about the way we sell our inventory and optimizing pricing power . In a climate where expense growth continues to outpace revenue growth , rate is the single most impactful lever to improving bottom-line margins . This may only shrink the cancellation window by one more day , but the impact could be meaningful if properly managed . We ’ re optimistic and have already been strategizing with our operating teams on how we can move the needle in light of these changes .” What took so long ? “ I think it may be more of a herd mentality ,” says Michelle Russo , CEO of hospitality asset firm HotelAve . She thinks a 72-hour policy could become the norm in major markets where short-term discounting is pervasive .
The most immediate impact might be the ability to better manage occupancy . “ Right now ( revenue managers are ) spending so much time managing short-term , if you have a really high cancelrebook issue , even 20 %, even 10 % is big one or two days out , or the day of ,” Russo says . “ I think this will enable them to spend more time strategically versus scrambling to try to fill the rooms for the night of .”
The endgame is bigger , and it looks a lot like booking an airline flight . “ This would therefore eliminate all this cancel-rebook nonsense that has become a real challenge ,” Russo says . While hotel accounting systems can ’ t handle that change right now , “ they ’ ve been working really hard to overhaul their accounting systems to be able to take prepayments .”
16 hotelsmag . com September 2017