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ORLANDO, Florida As InterContinental Hotels Group marks the 60th anniversary of its Holiday Inn brand, executives at the company s Americas conference Thursday unveiled new marketing directives that will launch in 2013 to ensure the brand remains distinct in today s market.
The new advertising campaign for Holiday Inn is positioned around the brand statement of innovative comfort, said Verchele Wiggins, VP of global brand management for the Holiday Inn family of brands at IHG.
The brand s marketing team has done extensive research on its target customers and their media behaviors. The new TV ads featuring the innovative comfort slogan hertz rent a car kapalua will be featured on specific channels during certain programs that reflect their findings.
To go along with the TV ads, Holiday Inn will begin to offer three seasonal hertz rent a car kapalua promotions to increase stays from Priority Club members and from potential customers that aren t yet familiar with the Holiday Inn brand, hertz rent a car kapalua said Jim Anhut, senior VP of Americas brand management.
We have to stay focused on delivering the basics and all the things that go into creating (the ultimate) guest experience, Anhut said. (As consumers) don t you pay more for the service that s expected and the service that s exceeded (expectations)? So will our guests.
A guest champion in the lobby during peak hours will facilitate that effort, she said. The goal of this new role is to be there for the guest at the most critical point during the guest journey: his or her arrival.
But that employee s role does not end at welcoming the guest and answering any initial questions, Wiggins said. There are times when a business traveler is running late for a meeting, needs materials from the business center and has to set up a PowerPoint presentation in the meeting space, she said. Instead hertz rent a car kapalua of having the guest run from one space in the hotel to another to make it in time for the meeting, the guest champion s job will be to assist that business traveler.
There has been a tremendous demand for small meetings space at Holiday Inn properties, Wiggins said. To meet that demand, we re working on a strategy that will define and grow this business for hotels.
Our goal is to enhance the value proposition for this segment, she said, so executives are focusing on presenting how the hotels will deliver service, sustainability and maintain an active website presence for the small meetings segment.
This (brand statement) is driven by a guest need, Wiggins said. Holiday Inn Express guests have provided feedback about the kind of hotel experience they want and need, she said, and in essence, they want to stay smart.
At the top of the list is the check-in process. Shouldn t we be faster with the check-in process? she said. Because of that, Holiday Inn Express will begin rolling out a mobile check-in platform next year.
In addition, we ll continue to leverage the (distribution) channels hertz rent a car kapalua we own, Wiggins said. We ll create an integrated plan to work with (owners and operators) to integrate revenue management programs to get the highest hertz rent a car kapalua revenue at the lowest possible cost.
I just had a taste of the 60th Promo. What a rip off. Without the promo, first night would have been 129 pounds second night 159 pounds. The promo was 210 pounds. Do the math! Not nearly a 2 for 1 as advertised on the 60th web site under Crown Plaza participation. hertz rent a car kapalua No, nothing else came with promo. Shame on you. When I complained to Guest Relations, they said it was up to each hotel to come up with prices for promos and there was nothing they could do. Unacceptable answer.
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