Tomorrow is his wedding day. As he takes a moment to catch his breath in the hotel bar, a mysterious woman in red steals it away.
Would you believe Ritz-Carlton Hotels, once renowned for its formal approach to hospitality, is now reaching out in dramatic fashion to a video and story-driven generation?
Bruce Himmelstein, Sr.VP Marketing/Sales: “We made a conscious decision
to put the brand in places that consumers wouldn’t ordinarily see it.”
And the return on all that? “It has exceeded expectations as far as the
number of people who have watched the films.” Himmelstein says, and he
adds that “a pretty incredible number” of viewers have clicked on links
underneath the videos to book packages or other special deals at
Ritz-Carlton properties.
Here are the facts, according to the hotel company: “In association
with American Express, The Ritz-Carlton produced three short films that
subtly weave exceptional and unique guest experiences into their story
lines, demonstrating how The Ritz-Carlton has been able to elevate
service to an art form.” Mirroring the themes of the films are a
variety of unique experiential packages and offers, all available
exclusively for American Express Cardmembers.”
The films – available on Ritz-Carlton’s own site and in its hotel rooms
– as well as MSN, Yahoo and Youtube – are, in a word, surprising.
Though shot on location at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey and The
Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, the brand’s name is spoken once in each
10-minute video. More – and we’re not movie reviewers here -- the look
of the films is edgy, occasionally dark.
“We are saying,” says Himmelstein, “that you may have a preconceived
notion of what Ritz-Carlton is, but this is stuff that actually happens
in Ritz-Carlton.” He confirmed that Ritz-Carlton, in partnership with
American Express, “invested a significant amount” in the films – though
he wouldn’t say exactly how much.
Will Ritz-Carlton invest in more such films? “We’ll see,” says the
executive; “. We will keep exploring different ways to talk to current
and new customers.” Conclusion, says Himmelstein: “People love watching
the brand have fun.”
We began our recent report on ‘Family Travel Rising’ with the following:
“All the evidence -- whether you are looking at the Amex-Harrison Group study we reviewed in our last issue, or the Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluence Report completed in September, -- shows Family First when it comes to disposable dollars.
We believe family focus is going to be front of mind for a long time to come, long after the punishing economic climate has subsided. Provider brands will be hard pressed to provide much more than kiddie or junior, or young adult activities. Smart travel agents will have to rise to higher levels of creativity and performance on the family front to sustain customer loyalty and earn the benefits of word of mouth in the neighborhood.”
And last week we caught our favorite global traveler-editor-writer-commentator during a quiet moment at home in England, the home of The Gostelow Report. She shared these thoughts:
• The hotel industry has been very slow to realize that this big expansion in family travel was going to happen. We’ve had “connecting rooms and you can put the kids next door”. They moved on to two swimming pools rather than one. One was kid friendly and one was not. But we really haven’t had anything more than that.
• We are seeing more and more bigger family groups. Operators are having a real challenge coping with such groups because it’s not a group per se, but they form their own groups. They want to be private. They want their own thing. .They tend to do their own excursions. They suddenly want a bus to take them all out. So it’s a real, real challenge. And so far the hotel industry has not realized this is happening. Now, it’s not only families. We’re also seeing more and more groups of friends traveling. And the hotel industry is not incentivizing enough – say a pair of DINKs come- Double-Income-No-Kids. There’s no incentive to them at the moment to bring along two other friends or even four other friends. And there’s big potential on the marketing side there.
Everybody knows her, but her bio is worth repeating.
Mary Gostelow, president of Gostelow Travel: Hottest Hospitality News Worldwide, is an inveterate traveler on the road more than 300 days a year. She owns and publishes the definitive Gostelow Reports, monthly market intelligence briefings to the top levels of the hospitality industry. She is the editor of KIWI's online Wow! Magazine, and also sends out a monthly update to top travel professionals worldwide.
At the same time, she is contributing editor to such publications as Elite Traveler, enRoute, Hotels and Le Magazine.
Nat Ives, in Ad Age Online Sept 6, cites new data from Ipsos MMR which assures that well-off readers read print publications just as much now as they did 5 years ago.
Also, survey respondents making more than $100,000 annually said their average hours online had grown to 22.1 each week from 10.7, while the time they said they spent watching TV sunk to 18.6 hours from 23.7 in the 2003 survey. Read the full Ives story at http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=130685. Lux 360 attended the client briefing this week and will provide additional perspective in our Sept. 30 issue, interviewing Ipsos MMR President Bob Shullman.
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