MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
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Medina strives to back up all of her marketing initiatives
with hard data on their efficacy; even Carillon’s direct mail is
easily trackable via unique email addresses and phone
numbers. “ROI is always going to be our number one met-
ric,” Medina notes. “You can’t always measure it that way,
but there’s where we’re going to try to start.” Beyond ROI,
Carillon scrutinizes how its customers behave when they
browse its website, attend an event or view an advertise-
ment. Social media and digital ads, of course, come replete
with copious data, all of which is used by Medina and Caril-
lon’s team to inform and shape their creative brainstorm-
ing. “I think it’s important to ideate and be experimental
while using those numbers and data to support your deci-
sion,” Medina says.
Thinking Outside the Box
While traditional forms of marketing are still as essential
as ever, it’s becoming more and more important to think
outside the box and incorporate all types of marketing
into one’s marketing plan.
Hercik and the staff at Hualalai Spa regularly hold in-
ternal training sessions to educate hotel staff on the spa’s
offerings; they also offer spa tours to new hotel employ-
ees. This makes hotel staff more comfortable recommend-
ing the spa to guests. At The Spa at Sun Valley, Harper
takes advantage of the slower shoulder season to offer
treatments to frontline hotel staff. “We’ve seen a huge
benefit in doing that,” says Harper, “because many of
them have never stepped foot in a spa before. We’re giv-
ing them that excitement of, ‘you have to go!’”
Social media is another aspect of the marketing mix
where it pays to get creative. According to Hercik, her spa
works with influencers—such as triathlete Dave Scott and
celebrity nutritionist Harley Pasternek—on “brand pair-
ing.” The Spa at Sun Valley, meanwhile, has chosen social
media as their primary platform to focus on in 2020. The
spa is using different platforms in different ways; Face-
book will be a landing page for day-to-day promotions, ac-
tivity and news, while Instagram will center more on
lifestyle marketing. “We have two trainers this year that
As a new property, brand awareness is essential to Carillon’s marketing.
“We do a variety of different things; we don’t like
to put our eggs in one basket. An integrated
campaign is always the most dynamic.”
— ROXANA MEDINA, Director of Marketing, The Carillon Hotel and Spa
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