Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008 - (Page 35)

www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition HotelMotel.com | H&MM July 21, 2008 News 35 New brand launches Continued from page 4 shared common challenges they faced during the launch process with panel moderator Stephanie Ricca of Hotel & Motel Management during the New York University International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference in June. How did you build awareness for your new brand launches? William Edmundson, president, Cambria Suites: With Cam- estly it takes a lot of energy and time to build business and global awareness. Not just from our perspective but also from the owners’ perspective. Last but not least, we have a lot of investment into public relations. How does digital marketing shape your brand identity? Abrahamson: At Hyatt, we do have the mass; we do have the revenue. We didn’t do a digital campaign, we did a fully integrated campaign—TV, national airports, digital. I don’t think digital alone is sustainable. It’s just one element of coordinated marketing. It comes down to money. You’ve got to spend the money to get the consumer awareness out there. Edmundson: Digital marketing has been an aid for us, but to [Abrahamson’s] point, you really have to have a backyard sales effort. Get the word out. Let folks know what you are, where you have product and where you’ll be going. We supplemented that with targeted electronic messaging. It does have to be part of an overall campaign. Sacco: We really focused on our group of 25 million Starwood Preferred Guest members as well. It wasn’t just our developers that were asking Starwood to come out with the next wave of brands in that space, it was the end users and our SPG members. Those guests are excited to switch their stays in some of the primary and secondary markets over to Starwood. What are the cost challenges associated with starting a new brand? Abrahamson: There’s a lot more caution, a lot more study and discussion. Before, good multiunit developers would blow right through [a project], assuming they get their permits, they get their ﬁSee Brands | page 37 bria, we were introducing a brand from Choice at a segment higher than where we’ve played before, so we got a lot of questions like, could Choice pull off a launch of a brand that’s not in a segment that’s been our sweet spot traditionally? So we literally separated Cambria from the rest of the company. They moved us next door and built a team from scratch. Paul Sacco, senior v.p., development, select-service hotels, Starwood: Starwood is known to be leading-edge in design and innovation, and aloft and Element have enjoyed that. We had a lot of feedback from end users and developers. The connection to W for aloft and to Westin for Element has been a huge help, and plugging into Starwood’s global systems has been really pertinent. How did you capitalize on your parent companies? Did they help or hinder you? Jim Abrahamson, head of development, The Americas, Hyatt Hotels Corp.: Brand awareness was easy for us. We put Hyatt’s name up front for Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites. It was critical for us to have brand distribution—having 125 Hyatt Place hotels in 32 states creates instant recognition. We didn’t just slap a name on it, though. We did a very intensive study with consumer groups and we engaged with developers and operators. Jim Anhut, senior v.p., franchise development, the Americas, IHG: [Hotel Indigo] is the fifth brand launch I’ve been involved with in the industry over the last 25 years and you have to have three key components to make it work: consumer research, prominent developer support and, last but not least, a spine, if you will— the sponsorship that comes from your parent company. … Hon- A S E A LY F O R Every Environment Learn more about Sealy’s complete selection of hospitality sleep systems. 800.707.3259 . www.sealycontract.com CIRCLE NO. 119 http://HotelMotel.com http://www.HotelMotel.com/digital_edition http://www.sealycontract.com http://www.sealycontract.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

Contents Larkspur Hotels Branch Out with New Brand Starwood’s C.E.O. Maps Out Journey New Brand Leaders Share Hits, Misses Perspective Letters to the Editor Legal FAQ Training Trends Sales Clinic HotelWorld Update Trends & Stats Special Report: 2008 Construction Companies Survey Guest Column Events Technology: Telephones Hotel Operations: Building Exterior Design: Televisions Transactions Awards Hot Products: Mattresses Supplier News Ad/Edit Index Marketplace Classifieds Checking Out Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

Hotel & Motel Management - July 21, 2008

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