The Hotel Marketing Blog

YouTube takes on Facebook with Live Mobile Video and SuperChat

YouTube has just jumped on the live video bandwagon on mobile, given the growing prominence of the mobile platform and Facebook’s early foray (though not as early as Twitter’s acquisition and launch of Periscope in 2015…or smaller rivals like Meerkat).

The feature has just launched to YouTube creators with 10,000 subscribers or more…what’s interesting though are the added monetization options. Creators already earn an ad revenue share from their videos…with a new feature called ‘SuperChat’, viewers can now jump to the top of the comment queue by paying live streaming content creators. Popular creators who’ve been using platforms like YouNow and Live.me are switching to YouTube, given it’s broader reach and appeal.

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W Doha – Culture as a sustainable competitive advantage

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” says the quote (oft attributed to Peter Drucker). Nowhere is this more true than the W Doha Hotel. The first W branded hotel in the Middle East, the hotel both silenced initial skepticism (how could such an edgy brand possibly survive in a conservative market like Qatar?) and blew away the competition, year after year (be it in terms of market share, food & beverage concepts or social media prowess).

What astounds me is not the fact that the hotel is always on the ball (everyone walking through the doors is treated like a minor celebrity), but that they are constantly pushing the envelope. Five to six years ago, they were the first in the region to adopt a ‘proper’ [in my opinion] approach to dedicated social media talent (called the eInsider, this person reported to marketing but had an equal work relationship with Operations, constantly on the move with service recovery, surprise & delight and influencer engagement).

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Contagious Marketing – The Paradox of Engineered Virality

Ever since the term was first coined, ‘viral marketing’ has become the elusive unicorn of the marketing world, pursued by experienced professionals and self-anointed ‘social media gurus’ alike. And the harder you pursue the unicorn, the lower the likelihood you’ll actually find it. Some have stumbled upon viral fame and tried in vain to replicate their success…a most frustrating experience. So can you really ‘engineer’ virality?

One of my favourite authors and bloggers, Seth Godin (author of ‘The Purple Cow’ and ‘All Marketers ~~Are Liars~~ Tell Stories’) talks about creating something remarkable (i.e. worthy making a remark about) and focusing on doing something so well that you can get at least one person to care so deeply that they can’t get your idea out of their head. They’ll then hopefully share with someone else and the network effect begins, at least within the tribe/s of like minded individuals. This is one great way to approach ‘virality’ and helping your ideas spread. Be so remarkable that you just cannot be ignored.

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IKEA’s Perceptive Banners – Respectful and Effective Marketing

I loved IKEA’s latest display advertising effort. Acknowledging that over 60% of mobile banner clicks are actually accidental, IKEA shows users messages like ‘A slip of the thumb tap? That happens’ and ‘Really, are you sure?’ instead of directly taking users to a site or landing page they didn’t intend to visit in the first place.

Not only is this a better technique for customers (permission marketing 101), but the company also saves money and improves its marketing efforts, thanks to a better understanding of user intent and engagement. Plus, doing something a little creative and different sure helps brand awareness and sentiment!

Watch an overview video here:

The Hotel Of The Future

A short video interview from 2015, where I talk about the hotel of the future, plus how the hospitality industry and brands may add value across the travel experience.

Some inspiration drawn from my 2008 article titled “Back to the future: Meet the hotel guest of 2020“

Hotels and Restaurants on Facebook Graph Search – First Impressions and Tips

Having obtained early access to the beta of Facebook Graph search (currently only available to US English users), I immediately (of course) dived right in to see if I could replicate the funniest Facebook Graph searches that have been making their rounds on the web. While the feature certainly didn’t disappoint, it was also time to test out the more serious aspects of Graph Search for hotels, restaurants and all things local… the power of lasting social recommendations.

Just as Google has been trying hard to put a ‘social’ twist to all things search, Facebook has now put a ‘search’ twist to the social experience. From the standpoint of a local business like a hotel or restaurant, the most irritating thing about social platforms is that they do not offer referrals with any longevity… i.e. it’s not very easy to dig up the best Italian restaurants your friends have been to (or like) in the past few months, without racking your brains and doing some serious timeline stalking (doubt if anyone has the time or patience either). Most social platforms have been trying hard to fix this problem…FourSquare’s interface changes are a great example, with a renewed focus on local discovery and highlighting businesses and specials near you.

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6 Hotel Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2013

As hotel operators and marketers face another fresh, promising new year ahead, many are watching the social media space closely to gauge the level of time, expertise and financial investment that will be required to make it all worthwhile. Having observed the space keenly so far, here are 6 quick (personal) social media predictions for the hotel industry in 2013:

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