Waldorf-Astoria Takes Advantage of its History to Make Impressions and Sales

With New York’s Plaza Hotel converting to condos (with a much smaller hotel remaining), the Waldorf-Astoria is probably the most iconic hotel in the Big Apple. And Matt Zolbe, the hotel’s director of marketing, has undertaken bold initiatives to take advantage of its position as a tourist attraction. Among them:

• Creating five podcasts about the history, design and other elements of the Waldorf that will accompany lavish window displays all along 49th street. The displays feature historic photographs and copy describing them.
• Creating a “mini-museum” in the hotel lobby with glass cases containing exhibits on: famous people who stayed or lived oat the hotel, food and beverage, behind the scenes activities, and style and architecture. The museum, complete with curator ,  is placed  in a section of the main lobby.

    The cost of all this, including a $100,000 video to run continuously on lobby screens?  $200,000.     And the payoff?

From a revenue perspective, Zolbe said he is using the exhibits and materials as a tool when dealing with banquet and group planners. As he said, “When a meeting planner walks up the steps for the first time we want them to feel they are entering a very special place.”
    Zolbe said that while the Waldorf competes with more commercial hotels because of its extensive meeting space, it wants to distinguish itself by its architecture, history and tradition. “We want to trigger an excitement in these planners by making the hotel feel special.”
        The Payoff? There is certainly a public craving to visit the Waldorf’s history. “There is far more demand than supply,” says Zolbe, who is restricting the tours to 10 or 15 a day to insure that they are not disruptive. So far, they are free but he may charge a nominal fee  -- “not for revenue generation but just to keep the numbers under control.”
    The bigger picture is making a statement for meeting planners and group organizers “who will feel pride when they come here that they don’t feel at other hotels. By bringing the historical significance of the hotel to life, I can define that feeling for them.”
    In the end, says Zolbe, “It’s a branding mechanism.”
 
 
Harvey Chipkin