Sabine de Witte and Patrick Mulder are curators of cool. Splitting time between Amsterdam, Barcelona, and other hip cities around the world, they represent the quickly growing number of young, creative “mobile citizens” made famous by citizenM. Although our schedules caused us to miss previously scheduled meetings in Barcelona, Amsterdam, and New York’s JFK airport, the fourth try was a success, and I finally caught up with them at New York’s Ace Hotel to discuss trends in digital content creation and curation.

We began talking about the citizenM digital magazine, one of the projects Sabine is involved in…..

Curating lifestyle content with a digital magazine

“Instead of having a blog, we created a digital magazine to share brand information and curate lifestyle content for everyone,” citizenM’s digital strategist Diego Sartori told me. CitizenMag uses themed issues to connect with the brand’s core audience.

“It had to be something different – something that could be read on your mobile phone while waiting,” Sabine said. In just a few issues, the publication has covered topics such “Beautiful” “Tasty” and “Social”. Content ranges from short-form interviews to video clips, and is very visual.

Engaging top talent

When the magazine first launched, it was easy to gather content from writers and media producers. Everyone wanted to contribute.

But the dynamics of encouraging participation always changes with time: “When it’s not brand new, you need to get creative.” With a rapidly growing subscription base, magazine contributors now receive significant visibility for their businesses and projects.

Once the theme of the issue is established, Sabine approaches writers she feels would be a good fit for the issue. Tapping into her network is important for finding the best talent, and she also encourages citizenM ambassadors to reach out to their own networks to find top talent.

Content that connects

Deep articles that go beyond “where to go, what to buy” seem to resonate best with the readers of CitizenMag. An example was an in-depth interview with the CTO of Amazon, where he shared his experience in developing the internet.

There’s a strong interest in hearing about trends – and the people who are shaping those trends. “Our readers loved our ‘day in the life’ profile story of a very famous 23-year-old fashion blogger in the Netherlands. People want to hear about more than the superficial: they want to know about other people’s lives.”

Detailed articles work well for the magazine, but for other digital publishing projects, spontaneous content seems to work really well. Patrick shot a quick video of the 5th Avenue Apple store re-opening with his iPhone, uploaded it to YouTube – and it’s received over 115,000 views to date via Huffington Post and other sites. “Sometimes something you’ve worked on for weeks will get less attention than a quick photo or video. It seems people often don’t like the over-planned content as much as the spontaneous.”

“You must live the lifestyle”

How do you identify the best topics to work on, pieces of content to use, and people to engage for your publication?

“If you’re living the lifestyle, you’ll know what type of content will connect with your audience, because it connects with you.”

Sabine began working with citizenM because she was “living the lifestyle.” This is critical if you want to create truly amazing and engaging content. Hire people living the lifestyle.

Format preferences are changing

Preferences for content consumption have changed dramatically over the past few years. With multiple screens and an exploding diversity of distribution formats, selecting the right way to display content has become crucial for maximizing the visibility of that content.

“This era of ‘there’s an app for that’ will become history,” said Patrick. “Content inside apps is not searchable and visible elsewhere on the web.” Apple and others are developing one ‘umbrella’ app to include all types of magazines and digital content, instead of every publication having an app on its own.

Zite and Flipboard are other services that provide great user experience. Distribution and coverage here will become increasingly important.

“You must promote your content”

The biggest mistake people make when publishing online? Failing to promote it.

“You can have very good content, but you still need to sell it. You must promote your content to attract readers.”

Thanks, Sabine and Patrick!

As a die-hard music aficionado, wannabe DJ, and devoted fan of chillout music, probably the hardest part opening my hotel will be creating the playlist.

That’s why when I heard about Ambiance Radio – a company co-founded by Bradley Newberger that turns background music into a science – I knew I had to learn more. His claim?

“It doesn’t matter whether you personally like the music or not”

“We’re building a 21-st century solution for background music. The fundamental way the industry thinks about music is wrong – it’s too often based on personal tastes. Personal tastes are so subjective. When you play to what the manager thinks guests should hear, the result is rarely what it could be.”

Bradley’s story begins when he was a senior student at Cornell University, working as a new manager for Taverna Banfi – the restaurant attached to the Statler Hotel (Cornell’s teaching laboratory for the hotel school). A few years ago, they completely renovated the restaurant to feel like a Tuscan-style bistro, and it looked fantastic. But the music was left untouched: a 5-disc CD changer played random tracks from Italian opera CDs. Consistently, the comment cards showed earned lower scores than any other element of the customer experience. So when Bradley became a manager, one of the first tasks was to fix the music.

He looked at the options that were available. Everyone’s first reaction is to program an iPod themselves, but this takes a really long time to do. Plus, it gets repetitive if this list never changes. A few high-end boutique firms specialize in creating playlists that reflect the personality of the hotel, but their approach is still based on personal tastes and preferences. They ask “What do you want the room to sound like or feel like,” and then a DJ will create a playlist based on these preferences.

This started Bradley on a quest to find more a more objective way to program music, which a couple of years later became Ambiance Radio.

Music can achieve business objectives

“In developing our company, we applied the findings of decades of academic and scientific research into how music affects the way people feel and behave.  Time after time, researchers found that music has a profound business effect on the environment. The right music could increase F&B revenues from 5 to 20%, depending on the time of day and music tested. In a lobby, music can make waiting in line feel shorter than it actual is – or reduce the time is seems it takes to retrieve your car at the valet. Music triggers a chemical reaction in the brain that changes perceptions.

Perhaps as importantly, music plays a big role in employee performance. The brain gets most engaged when it hears different types of music back to back. Productivity can be increased with the right mix.

The missing element until now: Technology

Technology is a key part of the Ambiance Radio platform. “We looked at what types of music achieved desired effects in the hospitality environment. We developed an algorithm that factors in who is in the room, what are the psychographics – and what the business objectives are there and created a series of proprietary processes that can deliver the Right Music for each venue, varying it day by day, hour by hour as needed. We capture data for each property in an interview and then the technology take over from there. Our system creates and delivers customized feeds for each site and updates them hourly.”

Surprising opportunity: Limited service hotels

I love talking about experience design and experience marketing on this blog, but sometimes get pushback from the owners of limited service hotels. “We can’t afford to spend money on things like that!” But as I wrote in Why Hotel Design Directly Affects The Prices You Can Charge, design and experience elements are what separates a $49 hotel room from an $800 room. Music is another key element in experience design.What’s interesting is that Bradley has seen a lot of initial traction with limited service hotels already.

“Music is something you can instantly put in and change the feel of the room. People walk in and when you see their expressions, you know they had a different experience.” Many limited service hotels play TVs in the lobby – but TVs are a poor way to introduce your guests to the hotel. “Guests come from all walks of life, and when you think about the political environment of today (for example), so-called centrist news organizations can lean one way or the other, and this can cause people to be emotionally involved. Changing the soundscape to music can affect a profound change on the environment.”

“There’s a profound difference between the music you play in the foreground in your home or office and the music that is best to play in the background of a hotel. In the foreground, you’re thinking about whether you like the song. But for background music, it’s not about what you personally like. It’s about what experience is best for the demographics and business objective you want to achieve in the space.”

“Music is for the guests in the room, and not your personal enjoyment.”

–

Thanks, Bradley! For more information, visit AmbianceRadio.com

In the past 2 years, Indigo Pearl Resort witnessed a clear shift in its market mix: Growing from a heavy reliance on tour operators to direct bookings and online channels. Micheal Nurbatlain and the team at Indigo Pearl led this growth by developing a presence in a variety of channels, with Facebook emerging as one of the biggest successes. In just one year, Michael grew the resort’s Facebook fan page to more than 8,000 followers. This case study shares the lessons learned from this process.

First, a little background

The Indigo Pearl Resort is an independent, luxury design property located in Phuket, Thailand.  Michael joined the resort as a sales manager, but this role quickly expanded to include managing digital marketing, e-commerce, and social media.

While Michael is running a number of interesting projects right now, we decided to focus on his work in Facebook for this case study . “While Twitter is beginning to gain popularity here in Asia, Facebook has nearly complete market adoption with our customers.”

Indigo Pearl Resort’s Facebook page

The Facebook page for Indigo Pearl Resort uses a mix of custom design and standard pages. Note the little details in how they engage with their fans:

But what really makes their Facebook presence stand out is their approach to special promotions.

Facebook contests: the key to growth

“Last September we wanted to give something to our Facebook fans,” said Michael. At the time, they had about 3,000 fans, and decided to create a photo contest around what symbolizes Indigo Pearl.

Fans were asked to post pictures, and then vote on their favorites. But Facebook contacted them, saying the contest setup violated terms and conditions. This forced them to setup an independent voting scheme allowing their fans to vote, which worked even better in the end. The contest generated great interaction among existing fans, strengthening their online community. Additionally, the contest generated a couple of hundred of new fans – which was a considered a great success at that time.

Latest Facebook contest: Ultimate holiday package

This year’s idea was to setup a new system. Rather than just asking fans to submit pictures, they wanted to add another layer of involvement. Michael and Indigo Pearl Resort asked fans to design their dream 3-day holiday package. What would they like to do in Puket? They were not very strict with the guidelines, so that if someone wrote some poetry about the perfect holiday – for example – it was still accepted as an entry.

“I imagined Mercedes running a promotion around designing your dream car. Although I’m a big fan of cars, I wouldn’t know what horsepower to put in or the details of the engine. While our guests travel a lot, they are not hoteliers, so it would be somewhat difficult for them to come up with a breakdown package of all the amenities – so we left it very open.”

They didn’t buy any Facebook ads or spend much time promoting the contest. Micheal worked a bit with the local media to get mentioned on their websites, and sent out some tweets to promote it. But no other PR or press releases – everything was done though Facebook.

“Within days we had 10-15 entries, and then we started to get a snowball effect from there.” They asked fans to send in their pictures, screened them, and placed the photos in the album called “Ultimate Family Package.” Once the photo was approved, the contest participants could ask their friends and family to vote on their entry.

This is what created a viral marketing effect for the resort – one photo had over 1,000 likes. “It surpassed our expectations and we could hardly believe it!”

Lessons learned from the contests

It’s all about planning. “Have a solid plan when it comes to Facebook, and create an editorial calendar. Be very strict about creating and following deadlines.” Too many people just wake up in the morning and try to create content on the fly.  “If there is no solid plan for 3-12 months, it’s difficult to consistently deliver good quality results.”

Always respond and interact with your online community. Don’t get arrogant and forget to thank fans. “I think you should thank every single person who contributes to your Facebook page or Twitter account – whether than have 5 friends or 5,000 followers. Each fan is an immense asset to your community.”

Have more than one prize. Last year the prize was a 7-night stay in a suite. “But if one guy in the contest has 1,000 votes for his entry, other people could be discouraged from participating.” This year, having two good prizes encouraged more people to enter the contest.

An “economy of photos” and additional thoughts

• Photos are the lifeblood of Facebook. As Guy Kawasaki says, Facebook is a pictures economy. “Often I just put a picture of our sunset or property, and it gets me a few hundred Likes and 30-50 comments. A few times I’ve spent hours creating a huge post, and it doesn’t get nearly the same levels of feedback as that beach picture gets. Sometimes the easy route gets the best results.”
• Avoid constantly bombarding fans with Facebook promotions. For every 20 posts, put only one promotional post if you must include sales messages.
• “Instead, develop the art of soft selling. Create and share images, experiences, smells, and tastes that represent your brand.”
• Act as an online concierge on Facebook and Twitter, helping people by providing answers and suggestions.
• Try to reflect the hotel’s personality without being too flamboyant. There has to be class, but presented in a very accessible way.

Thank you, Michael!

Become a fan of Indigo Pearl Resort on Facebook, follow @_IndigoPearl_ on Twitter, and connect with Michael on LinkedIn here.

This week, Josiah and I discussed the best ways to promote a hotel’s eco-initiatives and exceptional service with Chris Syvertsen, General Manager of Mosaic House – the first hotel in the Czech Republic to use 100% renewable electricity and 100% biogas. Planning an eco-overhaul of your own? Focus on these eight strategies:

1. Skeptics are (rightfully) wary of properties that appear to be “greenwashing.” Stick to specific, meaningful improvements. Guests can tell the difference.

Chris: For Mosaic House, it’s relatively easy to promote our property authentically. The eco-initiatives we have incorporated are industry-leading and complex, making it easy to distinguish our efforts from those who have merely “greenwashed.”

We have a sophisticated water recycling system with heat recuperation, which is only the second of its kind in the world. This system recycles all the waste (or grey) water from showers and sinks using an eco-friendly bacterial filtration process, and then sends the recycled water to all of the toilets in the building.

The water savings is tremendous. The system simultaneously recaptures the heat energy from the warm waste water, and then uses it to pre-warm the fresh water used for showering. The heating of the fresh shower water is also aided by the solar panels on the roof of Mosaic House.

2. Strive to become the best property in your niche.

Chris: We are the only hotel in the Czech Republic to utilize 100% renewable-source
electricity and 100% biogas, making our energy consumption 100% sustainable.

Further, we have a sophisticated climate management system which continuously
monitors and adjusts the temperature in every room, based on numerous variables, in
an effort to minimize energy use.

3. Don’t think you need to be “traditional” to appeal to a wide variety of guests.

Chris: We’ve never been the ‘traditional’ type. Between us, we find it a little boring. Mosaic House was dreamed to be as a unique environment in which all kinds of people from all different places, cultures, and backgrounds (a ‘mosaic’ of guests, if you will) could come together and share their stories and experiences.

Through offering affordable, design-conscious private and shared room accommodation, we’ve learned it is possible to appeal to a wide variety of guests.

It’s important to point out, however, that it’s a challenging concept to make work successfully. We work hard to create an environment which ensures all of our guest’s experiences are completely satisfactory.

4. Improve your online feedback and reputation by exceeding expectations.

Katie: So far, Mosaic House has earned 97% positive TripAdvisor feedback; it looks like you’re changing a lot of online reviewers’ preconceptions about hostels.

Chris: Our goal was to incorporate the positive elements of what defines a ‘traditional hostel’, namely a relaxed, friendly, and fun environment, while striping out the stereotypical
negative elements (i.e. stale design and cornflake breakfasts) and blending with four-star, environmentally-friendly offerings.

Based on guest feedback, so far the concept seems to be working. For example, in one recent TripAdvisor review, a guest mentioned ‘being pleasantly surprised at the quality of the accommodation and at the ambience’. Another guest review describes Mosaic House as having ‘a modern-yet-classic vibe that’s both hip and relaxed’.

In addition to the atmosphere and design, guests also comment positively on our service, international staff, green features, cleanliness, and breadth of offerings (such as the gourmet breakfast, Prague customized maps provided upon check-in, and daily entertainment at our own Belushi’s Bar & Restaurant).

5. Set the stage for storytelling and engage locals with in-house entertainment and social spaces.

Katie: You mentioned that Mosaic House likes to create experiences that inspire guests and staff to spread news and stories; could you share a couple examples of these stories?

Chris: Yes, we like stories… and providing a stage (figuratively and literally) for their creation. Not only was the space – which is 100% smoke-free – designed to bring guests together, but we also pay focus to our in-house entertainment. Karaoke nights, themed parties (such as Australia Day and St Patrick’s Day), as well as live music on our theatre stage and sports on the big screen, are on for guests (as well as Prague locals) almost any night of the week.

6. Tell stories with photos.

Chris: Take a gander at Mosaic House’s Facebook page to catch a ‘storybook’ glimpse of what’s ensued over the past year, including our Green Gala event early last month; we were celebrating the announcement of our newest green announcements: utilizing 100% green electricity, gas, and our new fully electric car.

7. Think long-term. It’ll take years of research and adaptation to fine-tune your ecological efforts.

Katie: Which of Mosaic’s features make the biggest environmental impact? Which do your guests most appreciate?

Chris: We’ve taken a big step, but we’re certainly not experts. While we do have projections as to the benefits, it will take years before we are able to truly realize the impact of our eco-initiatives. We’re reluctant to offer advice at this stage, except to recommend performing as much research and analysis as is feasible.

In general, guests really appreciate the overall initiative. They admire that we’ve taken such bold steps towards sustainability and actively work towards minimizing our impact on the environment.

They also appreciate the tangible concepts. For example, our electric car, which is plugged into the side of Mosaic House. The low-flow raindance showers are beloved, perhaps as they also have a bit of a luxurious feature.

8. Find creative ways to measure guest satisfaction for specific initiatives.

Chris: We’ve actually just begun a program which will help us measure guests’ true
appreciation. Because the additional cost of using 100% green electricity and gas is
fairly significant (roughly an additional 40,000 Euros annually), we are asking guests to
consider donating their 2 Euro key deposit towards helping Mosaic House to continue
to afford green energy.

Through measuring how much guests donate, we will get a more accurate picture of how willing people are to actively participate in our effort to make a difference. You might consider checking back with us in six months to see how well the program has performed.

Thank you Chris, and a special thanks to Mosaic House’ enthusiastic Experience Manager Shannon Maroney for reaching out to us!

Over the past month I’ve been working with Diego Sartori to understand how the strategy he helped build at citizenM Hotels helped them:

• Increase Facebook followers by over 400% in the past year
• Double Twitter followers in 3 months
• Reach the top of review site rankings like TripAdvisor

…among other accomplishments. In a new case study on the ReviewPro blog, you’ll read interesting insights, such as….

On the traveler of today

“The traveler of today travels in jeans, a cheap t-shirt, an expensive watch, drinks champagne, and takes public transport” – Michael Levie

On involving others in the content creation process

“We invite bloggers to our hotels that share the same lifestyle. And then we ask these people to share something that represents the lifestyle of our brand.”

On creative publishing

“Instead of having a blog, we created a digital magazine to share brand information and curate lifestyle content for everyone.”

On getting guests to share their experiences online

“People only share online if they have a terrible experience or if they have a very good experience. If it’s just ‘okay,’ they see no value in sharing with anyone. But our rooms are very innovative and our concept is very different. We try to always exceed expectations creating a WOW factor that gets guests talking.”

“You have to deliver good service and create clear expectations of what people can expect. This is what encourages more reviews. We get people saying, ‘I usually don’t write a review, but my stay at citizenM was so special because you did this specific thing that made me think WOW.’ So that’s why we always try to set the right expectations, deliver excellent service and then surprise guests with something unique.”

On setting expectations with guests

“We respond and say we created a specific hotel concept that is not for everyone. We are honest with what we offer. Other people will read about our amenities and say, ‘Wow – this is really special!’”

On why they chose ReviewPro

“I started looking for tools, and came across ReviewPro among others. I had demonstrations from many different tools, and ReviewPro was the one that fit our needs best: it is the most complete and has shown more reliability than the others. That’s the reason we started working with ReviewPro. It’s a great product that offers exactly what we need, and has some helpful features like social media tracking, task assignments, and so on.”

I’m fascinated by the citizenM brand on many levels – including their product development, design, service, and approach to social publishing. I think you’ll enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

[Download my full case study at the ReviewPro blog]

In this interview, James Kinney – founder of James Kinney Live – shares how hotels can improve their content strategy and increase social currency through music and live events.

Josiah: Your marketing materials say you created James Kinney Live to “create intimate experiences that successfully communicate the culture and feel of a particular brand.” What does this mean?

James: What I see from a macro standpoint is that brands – if they have a million dollars to spend on marketing, advertising, external communicates – say, “OK. Let’s throw half of it at Google and half at Facebook, and maybe we’ll spend a little bit on mass media i.e. TV, billboards, radio, etc.” But what I’ve found through my research is that people really don’t want to be spoken to that way. People want to be wooed. People want to be romanced by a brand. When that happens, you turn ordinary people into extraordinary advocates.

You can use a shotgun approach out to a million people, but your ROI or your ROE – return on engagement – may only be one to five percent. However, if you make 50,000 true believers, those 50,000 people tell 50,0000 people, and then you’re in a whole new ball-game.

Josiah: Your tag line is “Increasing social currency through music.” What role does music – especially live music and live music events – play in creating these unique brand experiences?

James: Music, as you know, is one of the most powerful mediums that we have in the world, and live music, specifically; there’s a human interaction that exists within live music that is in no other form.

Since we started the Forty Four Live Music Series for Morgans Hotel Group – literally Josiah, every night – we see brand engagement at its finest. We see everything from small children on vacation with their families to businessmen in their 50s and 60s staying an hour or two extra at the Royalton.

Josiah: Do hotels have a unique opportunity to host live music events?

James: Absolutely. Hospitality companies are in an extraordinary position because real estate is king and most established hotel brands have real estate throughout the world. And when you look at the state of the music industry as a whole, it’s lost about half of its revenue. So a lot of amazing talent is looking for a way to market, generate income and gain new fans.

Hotels have an extraordinary opportunity to become mavens of culture, which increases their brand impressions and their bottom line. In the case of the Forty Four Music Series that we have at the Royalton… we’ve had Grammy Award nominees, Grammy Award winners – literally the best in New York City – play right in the lobby of the Royalton and people absolutely have that WOW factor, like, “Wow, I never expected this to be here.” We’ve seen an increase in sales and in their social media and digital assets as well, because the artists are tweeting about the property.

Josiah: How do you match music genres to hotel brands?

James: My content strategy is to first meet with the Director of food and beverage and the Director of nightlife to get a sense of what they think that their brand is and how they want it to be communicated. Then it goes into everything from the cocktails on the menu to the food that’s served, to the actual ambiance of the room.

For example, I know that in Midtown Manhattan, the demographic is very different than it is at Mondrian Soho or at Hudson. The music I program at Royalton is based on how the room feels to me; for instance, if you’re drinking a sazerac or a scotch, that is much more conducive to a warm jazz or soul sound than rock and roll.

Josiah: I get the impression that this is a very holistic experience that’s more than just a marketing play.

James: Oh, absolutely. It has to be; a lot of marketers don’t give people enough credit these days. We’re constantly bombarded with advertising and marketing and what we specialize in is creating an authentic experience. I put myself in the place of some guy who’s been flying for eight hours, just got off the plane, just walked into the hotel, and perhaps his room is not ready and he has to sit in the lobby. What kind of experience is he having at that point?

We try to appease all five senses when a guest walks in. If you can hit at least three of the five, they’re more apt to tell 10 people – or Yelp – about a positive experience.

Regarding food and beverage, we’re there to increase sales. At the Royalton, David Sewell is the Director of food and beverage; we meet weekly to make sure we’re not only increasing food and beverage, but rev par as well. So it is a holistic experience, yes.

Josiah: What steps do hotels have to think through as they’re working with you to launch a series of events?

James: At the project’s inception, I would meet with the President down to the Director of food and beverage. On the marketing side – the CMO of the company down to the Director of Marketing, as well as the hotel’s operational and engineering people.

I want to know from them, “What’s the problem? What are you trying to accomplish here? Are you just trying to put on word class entertainment that people talk about? Are you trying to sell more margaritas between the hours of 5:00 and 8:00? Are you trying to sell more brunch items on Sunday from 10am to 4pm?” Once I identify the problem and what exactly they need moving forward, I design a program that tackles that, specifically.

Josiah: Give us an example. Could you tell us a little bit more about your work with the Morgans Hotel Group?

James: Since November 16th of last year, we have had Sasha Dobson, who did a South American tour with Nora Jones. We’ve had Cedric the Entertainer – one of the largest comedians in the world. We’ve had K.J. Rose, who was on BET’s Music Matters. We’ve had Raphael Saadiq – a multi Grammy award winner who just played with Mick Jagger at the Grammys. This week, we have Jerome Bell, who’s Top 40 on American Idol this season.

On the nights that we program entertainment, we’ve seen a 14 percent increase in sales. In addition to that, our Twitter numbers for @RoyaltonNYC are up 308 percent since we began.

Josiah: A live event almost seems like optimal environment for some social media activity to take place, right?

James: You are absolutely right. Content is key, and there’s this big thing around social media where people go, “Oh, if I tweet that ‘you get 25 percent off of your next drink,’ then I’m going to have a herd of people coming over to my hotel.” As you and I know, that’s not the case. Whether you’re doing music or a movie screening or live dancers or whatever you’re doing, the content itself is how you communicate the property’s brand.

We have so many artists that are on the verge and that are famous coming to the property; when they’re tweeting and they’re taking pictures — “Oh, we’re at Royalton NYC at Morgan’s Hotel,” we’ve automatically increased their content strategy and their social currency and, specifically, their digital assets; all these things are very real in the digital world that we live in. But saying that you have a special on pancakes just doesn’t work anymore.

Josiah: No, absolutely not. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?

James: I’ll just say, it’s a very exciting time right now for hospitality brands; there’s this whole celebrity culture. Look at how the chef world has just blown; the hospitality world and hotels are an extension of that. The brands are quasi-celebrities in their own right. It’s not just a place to stay anymore. It’s a place to do a movie premiere from Sharon Stone. It’s a place to do a concert from John Mayer, and it’s a place to launch a new chef menu from Bobby Flay.

If I had anything to say to hotel brands out there it’s, “Take advantage of this exciting opportunity to be the creators of content.”

Josiah: How can our readers contact you?

James: Anyone interested in branding their properties and making more money should give us a call; they can reach my cellphone 24 hours, seven days a week (817-675-3122), or they can email me at James@JamesKinneyLive.com.

Thanks very much, James!

[Click Here to Download the Full Interview PDF]

(And a big thank you to Katie and Alex for turning a Skype conversation into this story!)

Martin Soler told me something that caught my attention: “In my opinion, hotel design is worth at least 40% of a property’s marketing value.” As he is someone who manages the marketing for some of the trendiest hotels in Europe, I value his opinion. In this guest article, Martin explains how he came to this conclusion.

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What are the main factors that increase your sales on the internet and how can you control them? Once you’ve mastered your occupancy what can you do to increase your revenues?

These are classic questions and there are several answers. Some of the first re-actions to increasing revenues (and specifically profits) is to look at how to reduce OTAs and other commissioned agencies. While this is often necessary, increasing the customer experience is sometimes more important.

Interior design may or may not affect occupancy (it can help but there are more factors to that) but it makes all the difference in the ADR.

When we strip it down a hotel is a room with a bed and a place to wash. Now the price someone will pay for that may be enough to pay the rent but that will be about it. The added value of any hotel rests on interior design as the only visual factor. The other factors of location and service do play an important role – but they’re not that easy to display on the internet.

There is a quote from Steve Jobs that I think quite applies to this (and no I am not an Apple fanboy) which may illustrate exactly that relationship between OTA and interior design.

“A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.” - Steve Jobs

Now improving interior design doesn’t necessarily mean shutting down the hotel for two years, hiring a famous designer and spending 10 million dollars. (If you can do that however, I’d say do it!) Hotels like Hotel Albus in Amsterdam or Hotel Taylor in Paris have redone their interiors for much less money by refurbishing the rooms with new furniture, improving the floors, upgrading the bathrooms and that can be done entirely without shutting down the hotel and spending millions.

When I took over the management of Hotel Taylor in Paris several years ago the hotel was just wrapping up a complete refurbishment but spending less than 500,000 EUR for 37 rooms. The result on the ADR was immediate, because with great photos and a brand new website the hotel could present the rooms and show that an excellent experience.

The ADR went from 65 EUR to 110 EUR a night in about 12 months, and we kept the same occupancy rate over the year. Of course there are points like increasing the service, getting a great online reputation etc.

But with internet being the main channel for hotel distribution your biggest asset is images, each great photo of your hotel is worth 1000 words in text and that could even be an understatement.

Try to explain your amazing service in words on your website, it’s just not going to convince people to stay there. But a couple of great photos change everything.

So while you may not be able to pay for Christian Lacroix or Jacques Garcia to come redesign your hotel you most definitely can upgrade the hotel on a gradient, floor by floor and start selling at much better prices.

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Thanks, Martin!

You can see the original post on Martin’s hotel marketing blog.

[Top photo credit: HotelDesign.nu]

La Maison Champs-Elysées has a privileged location in the Golden Triangle area on the right bank of Paris. Situated just blocks away from the Champs-Elysées, the hotel feels like a world away: it’s quiet enough to hear birds singing in the morning.  A complete refurbishment of the property began in October 2010 on this former Sofitel hotel, with re-design led by the renowned fashion house Maison Martin Margiela. The hotel managers hosted me in Paris recently, and shared a bit about what this partnership means for their hotel and the hospitality industry in general.

The goal of the renovation at La Maison Champs-Elysées was to give guests the experience of having a luxurious city home. “Some hotels are places to see and be seen, but the concept of La Maison was to provide a place to get away and have privacy,” hotel director Hugues Godard told me.

The new interiors clearly show the distinctive style of Martin Margiela. A signature pure, white design theme pervades the building. Striking minimalism is balanced with design touches that pay tribute to the heritage of the building. While Martin Margiela has worked on individual hotel suites in the past, La Maison Champs-Elysées is their first complete hotel project.

The advantages of this partnership

By partnering with Maison Martin Margiela, the owners of La Maison Champs-Elysées receive a number of key benefits.

Instant credibility. Partnering with a leading fashion house provides credibility within the industry and for their discerning clients.

Improved guest experience. Experience design is an increasingly important discipline in hotel marketing, and the design of a hotel plays a large role in the guests experience.

Increased word of mouth. This credibility and lifestyle branding leads to more online buzz and media attention. Through this partnership, it’s more likely for the hotel to get attention outside of just travel media: many design, architecture and lifestyle media outlets are also picking up their story.

High fashion enters the hospitality industry

“There are natural affinities between lifestyle hotels and fashion brands.” – Bjorn Hanson, New York University

La Maison Champs-Elysées seems to be a part of a trend we’ve seeing around the world over the past few years. Other fashion houses are experimenting with hotel concepts. Armani opened hotels in Dubai and Milan. Versace has hotels in Australia and Dubai. Even Tommy Hilfiger has begun a hotel project converting a New York building into a luxury hotel.

Great design is a huge element in the guest experience, and for the always-connected customer, experience serves as the new marketing. It will be interesting to see La Maison Champs-Elysées fully open this Monday, and watch this part of the industry evolve even more in the years ahead.

Thanks to Martin Soler and Hugues Godard for their help in creating this story.

Martin Soler and his team at WIHP mastermind some of the most successful hotel openings in Europe, such as Hotel Seven. This weekend, I sat down with him in Paris to discuss digital communications in hospitality. Our conversation covered a broad range of topics that we’ll share with you in the weeks ahead, but the focus of this article will be the marketing approach he uses during the crucial months surrounding a hotel opening.

“Know your purpose”

Clarify what you are trying to achieve with your pre-opening marketing. Defining your brand positioning is critical during the early stages of planning. Your brand positioning will affect the messaging and tactics you use at each step.

“Showcase the designer”

Design plays a huge role for the hotels that Martin typically works with. For many hotels, the link between design and revenue is closer than it may appear- which this is a topic we’ll discuss in a separate article. The reality is that if you have a unique product, the chances of people talking about your brand increase dramatically. Great design always generates more buzz.

Martin believes at least 40% of a hotel’s marketing value comes from its design. Because of this, he asks who the designer will be before taking on any hotel opening project.

The bigger concept here is to showcase the inventors, artists, and builders behind the product. What makes your brand unique? Is it the concept? The way in which it was built? Each of these areas can play a role in differentiating your property, making it stand apart from the competition.

“Start early”

It takes time to build an engaged, authentic online community. In order to have a substantial group of fans and followers by the time you open, starting to build this community early is important.

Martin tries to build online pre-opening buzz at least 6 months before opening. With Hotel Seven, this took the form of using Facebook as an exclusive content distribution channel.  The community building approach you use will go back to the positioning goals for the brand, but getting an early start is beneficial regardless of platform.

“Build a next-generation website”

Just as beginning to build an online community early is important, creating a compelling website as early as possible is important as well. For hotels, the website is their professional presentation, while social media acts as the more informal communication channel. Both channels play important roles that complement one another.

A “next-generation” website is comprised of several key elements. Martin believes in the extensive use of photos and rich visuals. At the same time, the website must be fast and accessible on a wide range of devices. The hotel site needs to be “social” – integrated with as many other relevant external networks as possible. And above all, it must sell.

“Guard first impressions”

While some social media agencies have experimented with showing construction in progress as a way to build pre-opening buzz, Martin typically advises against showing the work in progress. Showing an unfinished product could give your community the wrong first impression.

Instead, the primary objective in the pre-opening phase should be to sell the dream of what the property will look like. This is best done through building a prototype of your design or concept, and then releasing previews of that.

“Use social media to get attention offline”

Hotels that generate a lot of buzz in social media tend to be covered by journalists writing stories for offline publications and traditional media. The media is always looking for stories that will interest their audience. If a blog post is generating hundreds of tweets, for example, that indicates strong story potential. For this reason, Martin sees social media playing a key role in obtaining crucial media coverage during a hotel’s opening period.

“Give away lots of rooms.”

Giving away room nights is a key pre-opening strategy that Martin recommends. Letting journalists and bloggers stay in the rooms of a soon-to-be-opened hotel helps them experience the product, which is crucial for building early online buzz and back links.

This strategy is not limited to journalists. The owner of the Seven Hotel even gave away room nights to staff members and other key people involved in the project. Everyone had to experience what it was like to be a guest at the hotel so they could do a better job of selling it and providing service.

Whether you decide to give away rooms or not, the key lesson here is to involve as many media producers as possible in your project at the beginning. Generating some early buzz is crucial for building awareness and your web presence.

“Setup distribution partnerships”

Instead of viewing distributors as adversaries, Martin recommends setting up as many smart reseller partnerships as you can. But there are two things to keep in mind as you set these deals up:

1)     Make sure you only pay a commission on reservations. Avoid websites that charge a large fee up front to list your hotel, unless you know they have the huge potential they are promising.

2)     Make sure you’re generating enough direct bookings through your website. Making 20% of sales through online travel agencies is healthy, but if 80% of bookings are coming through third parties, that could be a danger sign.

“Measure and track everything”

Martin and the team at WIHP make a point of tracking a wide range of numbers: from the website traffic to social media activity to online reputation. Performance metrics are extremely important to guide the direction you take during the hotel opening process. Don’t be afraid to abandon whole sections of your strategy if you see it isn’t bringing qualified visitors that buy room nights.

As the saying goes: If you can’t measure it, you can’t track it, and if you can’t track it, you can’t manage it.

If you want Martin’s expertise to guide your next hotel project, you should visit his hotel marketing website, and learn more about WIHP.

[All hotel photos from the Seven Hotel Paris]