The growth of social networking has shifted hotel PR strategies, according to experts at a Hotelier Middle East roundtable.
The growth of social networking by consumers and the use of social media by hotel marketers have resulted in a dramatic shift in hotel PR strategies, according to marketing and PR experts debating the trend at a recent Hotelier Middle East roundtable.
“The value of the term ‘customers come first’ now really applies,” said Raffles Dubai director of marketing and communications Dima Ayad.
“Whenever we develop campaigns or start anything, social networking or otherwise, it is completely different, because PR as we know it has gone, burned, done, finished. [The days of] sending a press release or a photo caption — it’s over. That era has officially changed and it’s made our job more tactful and less polished,” said Ayad.
The PR experts agreed that not only had PR changed, but that it needed to change.
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Ayad explained that Raffles Dubai found this with the recent relaunch of its Fire and Ice restaurant and had sent different press releases to trade, consumer, lifestyle and fashion media.
“They are different target audiences that want to hear different things and we were flat out honest with what we are doing. Why were we modern European and now we are a steakhouse? [The answer is] fusion can be confusion and the fact that people love steak and there are carnivores in the market. Be real and you notice that you get exposed better,” said Ayad.
Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates assistant marketing manager Sanaz Ghahremani said that it was true that PR strategies had to shift but that in the Middle East many traditional methods would remain.
“Arabic media prefer the traditional ways, the photo captions, they like printed press releases,” said Ghahremani.
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