Posts Tagged ‘marketing’
Is “Luxury” a Dirty Word?
Posted by Michele Clerici | Filed under Advertising, Media, Tips and Trends Series
lux·u·ry (n.)
1. Something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort.
2. Something expensive or hard to obtain.
3. Sumptuous living or surroundings.
Consumers’ pennies and purses are kept under tight lock and key these days—which is why, for the moment, the dictionary definition of “luxury” is unlikely to draw a good consumer response and, therefore, has become somewhat of a “dirty word” in marketing hospitality and travel. But what is the true meaning of luxury, and have we begun to redefine its terms?
Lavish vacations at extravagant resorts are not high on the priority list when people are scrimping just to keep a roof over their heads, put food on the table and gas up their vehicles. In a down economy, consumers are in no state of mind to spend frivolously on things that are not essential to their everyday lives. So what does this mean for the luxury hotel and resort industry?
It means taking a look at people’s redefined values and repositioning the concept of luxury itself. It means evolving the way the industry approaches and sells the idea of a luxury experience. No longer is luxury about glamour, glitz and having expensive “stuff”—now it’s about precious time with family, meaningful experiences, authenticity and genuineness. Luxury is less about materialistic, flashy lifestyles and more about personalization—finding what truly matters to the consumer and providing them with that “luxury.”
The hospitality and travel industries can offer this new concept of luxury in a number of ways, and it begins with strategy.
According to the March 15th release of The Wealth Report, “The onslaught of economic recession and the inevitable changes in customer values and behaviors during 2008 and 2009 caused luxury brands to embrace the concept of customer-centric, data-driven marketing. In 2010, marketing and communication budget dollars are being reallocated to more measurable and highly profitable customer-centric initiatives to deliver short and long-term brand growth and profitability…Luxury brands are now looking to understand their customers and adapt their marketing strategies to best serve their interests.”
“This all means that luxury brands are looking to gain a complete understanding of their customers across all sales channels. This includes key insights on customer profiles and purchase behaviors by channel, value and loyalty, seasonality, gender, product affinities, and cross-sell/up-sell links. With customer data in hand, they are able to implement differentiated communication treatments to identified customer segments, personalize the customer experience and increase revenue.”
Hope is not lost for luxury brands even at the hands of a recession, so long as they remain dedicated to understanding and catering to their audience at all times. For more information on how to position and sell your luxury experience in today’s economy, contact jzech@danacommunications.com.
Out of the Bunker and into the Black
Posted by Julia Zauner | Filed under Advertising, Dana News, Golf, Hospitality News, Interactive, Tips and Trends Series, Travel
Dana recently attended the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida. The Orange County Convention Center was all a buzz with vendors, pros, golfers and media—what a great event! We had the chance to talk to industry insiders and were impressed by their upbeat outlook for 2010. Of real interest to our team was a study released by PGA Magazine, which showed the impact of PGA Professionals on travel decisions…
About 70% of PGA Professionals travel with groups annually. Almost half take three or more trips per year, and their groups average about nine golfers playing about three rounds of golf when they travel together. 75% of these trips are booked more than two months in advance, which is welcome revenue in this era of short-lead bookings.
We were intrigued by the amount of influence PGA Pros have on determining where their groups travel. 86% of golf professionals either select the specific golf destination or narrow the choices to a few on which the group can decide—and more than 70% make all of the travel arrangements. What’s more, the vast majority is asked at least once a week for recommendations on places to stay and play golf.
We’ve all seen the number of golf resorts in the U.S. grow in the past decade, creating a very competitive marketplace. Meanwhile, the number of golfers remains flat, and bookings for corporate group outings have sharply declined. Reaching the 28,000 PGA Professionals who are key influencers on travel is a smart play.
Dana Communications has partnered with Hunter PR to analyze this study’s findings and show how to leverage the influence of PGA Professionals. To see more on these results and learn about getting out of the bunker and into the black, visit www.danacommunications.com/bunker2black.
A ‘Worst-Case’ Case Study
Posted by Charisse Gallagher | Filed under Advertising, Media
Google shows off their marketing tools by selling the “virtually unsellable”: a pet stick.
