Don’t forget important lessons!

Motel 6 taught us long time ago how to plan a campaign, you can learn about its process here “The lesson of this campaign is to use a disciplined process that begins with research to learn about consumers' behavior, responds unwaveringly to those insights, and the follows through with consistent creativity and measurement. Marketers working in any product or service category can benefit from these lessons.”

They practiced a marketing research and found different segments visiting their motels. In summary, the empty nest, the salesman, the young couple and the family with small kids. They discovered the problem: There was a hesitancy to admit to stay at Motel 6. They were afraid to be tagged as people who couldn’t afford to a decent accommodation.

So, they developed “The Smart Choice” campaign

“Motel 6 met minimal, though acceptable, standards to the loyal guest: decent overnight lodging that enabled the traveler to save a few dollars. Typical anecdotes revealed that this savings was not hoarded but, instead, was spent (1) by grandparents on their grandchildren (among the empty nesters), (2) on additional vacation activities (among the young family travelers), and (3) on better meals or extra tanks of gas (among the commercial guests).”

Thanks to marketing research you know what it’s important to each one of your segments so, use the power of Internet to customize and syndicate relevant content, commerce and community (what it was called the 3 C’s long time ago!). We can make special alliances (that is to create a chain of value) which help us to add value and get the trust of the customer.

Instead of focusing on low prices we can focus on add value, that means to develop a website with different C’s for each one of the segments and a Facebook page also customize for each segment.

I mean specific website and Facebook pages for empty nest customers, young families, young couples, salesman…with customize information about things really important to them, with commerce of desire services and community with other people with similar or complementary opinions.

At the core of this post we have a simple but powerful idea.

Touristology laws apply off-line and on-line otherwise won’t be Touristology laws!

1) To mark down the price is the last thing that you have to do. It’s not forbidden but it’s the last resort. This law has been forbidden in Barcelona city in the last few years!

Please check out www.hospitalitynet.org (another must to have in the toolbox of any touristologists!) to see the revpar evolution. I attached a summary of my own:

2) To look for specific segments with specific needs and then add value (because you provide something value to them NOT because you provide more!!!) it’s the path to follow. 

Are we or not the leaders on tourism companies?