When developing a new brand (or rebranding an existing one), we always advise our clients, “You can’t be all things to all people.” Applying that same wisdom to your marketing efforts, you can’t push all offerings to all audiences. You need to send the right promotion to the right targets at the right time — […]
Since the arrival of COVID-19, a lot has changed. The way we work. The way we communicate. The way we live. And yes, the way we eat—especially at corporate gatherings, meetings and functions which are just now, in 2022, starting to resume to somewhat normal pre-pandemic standards. And while the end-result remains the same—providing meeting-goers […]
As a reader of our blog, you know we can’t say enough about flexing a powerful brand. (Check out this post just for boutique hotels.) But your branding effort has to go deeper than just high visibility external branding—you need to think beyond your website, marketing communications and advertising campaign. So we’re sharing our top […]
These days, reviews are just a few keystrokes away, and an astounding 98 percent of consumers are reading them before giving their business to a company. Yelp, Facebook, Google, TripAdvisor and other websites are hotspots for online reviews and comments that can either dramatically increase or wreak havoc on your business, your brand and ultimately […]
Now, perhaps more than ever before, your visitors are steering clear of cookie-cutter trips. Rather than simply being tourists who tread the beaten path, they’re increasingly demanding to be travelers and to enjoy authentic, experiential opportunities to interact with their destinations and the locals. Even when on the move, wherever they roam, they seek ways […]
Influencers were once the go-to for brand endorsements—consumers saw them as authentic and trustworthy compared to celebrities. But now, influencers have become so popular that many are seen as celebrities in their own right, and consumers aren’t responding the same way as they used to. Enter micro-influencers. There’s some debate about the follower count for […]
For DMOs and CVBs promoting their own corner of the world to travelers, it may sometimes seem like the budget you’re granted just isn’t enough to accomplish all of your goals. Enter…co-op marketing! By creating a program that allows local tourism and hospitality partners to buy into a campaign to co-promote their offerings with travel […]
This past September, Marriott International announced its recommitment to climate stewardship, setting science-based emissions reduction targets with a long-term goal of reaching net-zero value chain greenhouse gas emissions by no later than 2050. While Marriott’s long list of initiatives is truly admirable and aspirational for many hospitality businesses, you don’t need to be the world’s […]
Any successful marketing campaign should explore the place that each channel plays, such as print, email, direct mail, search, TV, radio, PR—and video. As marketers, our job is to design a program that contains a balanced blend of communications tools to gain awareness and drive—ideally—measurable results. Unfortunately, alternatives are often overlooked, which could play an […]
The past two years have taken the travel sector on a wild ride—from brutal decimation in 2020 to the renaissance of the road trip in 2021 to the growing, but guarded, optimism of today. Most experts predict that the industry will not fully recover (read: achieve 2019 levels) until 2024. So we’re exploring where that […]