Karen Osman investigates the collective buying phenomenon and some tried and tested promotional marketing platforms.
Fact: even the most moneyed among us cannot resist a good bargain. I’ve been known to drag hordes of my friends out to a little known and majorly suspect restaurant to redeem a 15% voucher which is due to expire the next day.
Because everyone has a little Scrooge in them, we, as hoteliers, know that we can reel in customers if we have the right bait. That’s the easy bit. What may be a little trickier is delivering that bait to the right target audience while still managing to maintain brand integrity.
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As Sasha Bartz, general manager of Park Rotana in Abu Dhabi, comments: “From the brand perspective, the hotel should give thorough consideration to the offer itself, to the way it’s formulated and communicated to the market in order not to jeopardise the brand.”
A number of other factors also come into play when looking at how promotional marketing should be included in a communication strategy.
Positioning, timing, objective, seasonality and type of vehicle should all be dwelled upon. Doing your homework is crucial and with this in mind, many would agree that this method of driving business can be effective.
“I believe if used correctly with the right offer, it can be beneficial as long as you have researched and looked at both the positive and negative effects,” explains Derryn French, director of market communications at Le Méridien Mina Seyahi and The Westin, Dubai.
She continues: “One of the benefits is the tracking mechanism of these types of offers or deals.”
From a long-term perspective, hotels also have the opportunity to turn offer-driven customers into loyal guests.
“It encourages a whole new set of customers who may never have entered your property otherwise, and this is the best way to ‘capture’ new guests and turn them into repeat customers,” explains Aftab Sayed, cluster e-commerce manager at Dubai Marriott Hotels.
However you choose to fish for new business, whether it’s by offering a loyalty programme, discount scheme or an internet based offer, there’s a lot to consider. So, what options are available?
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