Digital evolution
At its annual in-house conference, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts demonstrated that a hotel chain’s digital strategy should be a combined effort drawing on the resources of all departments to ensure its success
The buzz surrounding online marketing, social media and electronic distribution has continued into 2010, with many hotel chains ramping up their efforts in the digital arena. To harness the interest of its staff in this field and address the issues that are bringing working practices of different departments much closer, Mövenpick Hotels and Resorts themed its annual conference appropriately and hosted its first Digital Evolution Conference in February.
The event brought together the sales and marketing, revenue management, e-distribution and communications teams from corporate office, with some full group sessions and other targeted seminars over a two-day period.
Hotelier was there to get the inside scoop and meet with the programme organisers — e-distribution manager Middle East Artour Severinov, vice president revenue management Middle East & Asia Anita Markiewicz, vice president sales & marketing Middle East Toufic Tamim and director of communications Middle East Elaine Nettleton. Here, they outline the rationale behind the conference and the feedback from Mövenpick’s employees across the region.
Why did the four departments team up to organise the Digital Evolution Conference for 2010?
Anita Markiewicz: We all need to work together better for a common “distribution” goal. It is a sad fact that in this part of the world we seem to always be playing catch up with other areas such as the US or Europe who are more advanced and have more adult digital natives than in the Middle East.
But we are surely getting there. This is summarised in the Tom Wilson quote: “Many of us are more capable than some of us . . . but none of us is as capable as all of us!”
Artour Severinov: The reason behind our decision to do this conference as a combined one for all four departments is because digital media has become a driving force in the distribution progress and we have to stay ahead of the industry trends. There has been an incredible development within the digital environment in terms of new technology, processes and e-marketing techniques and we wanted to address those with our hotel teams in order to enhance their knowledge and capabilities so they can utilise it to its full potential.
Toufic Tamim: The digital era is here to stay and we need to embrace it and set future strategies.
In the past 12 months the four departments in the area office — sales and marketing, revenue management, e-distribution and communications — have worked closely together as the boundaries between our roles have become less defined and there is more overlap. This naturally translates into the hotel operation so we wanted to bring everyone together to consolidate skill sets.
Elaine Nettleton: At the heart of all marketing campaigns is a good communications platform and so it is imperative for the communications department to be actively involved with the other departments. This conference was the perfect springboard to bring everyone together for a common goal.
Why is it important for your division to be part of the Mövenpick digital evolution conference?
AM: Revenue management is an integral part of the distribution process, for rates and availabilities, just as each of the other disciplines are equally important, one without the other does not work, so it is imperative for each one of the team to appreciate, understand and support the whole process. One cannot stand alone for long.
EN: The role of the communications manager in hotels is changing. While the basic PR skills such as writing and distributing news releases are still necessary, the focus has shifted to a more active engagement with people in the online arena. No longer can we just talk at our customer, now we have to listen and we have to connect with them in order to get our message across.
TT: Last year 103,000 room nights were generated through our proprietary website www.moevenpick-hotels.com, making it the largest single distribution source. It is therefore important that the sales team continue this momentum by focusing on online content and competitive offers — without losing sight of the other distribution and business channels.
What were the highlights of the conference for your respective teams?
AM: The conference provided an insight as to how more business is done online and if you are not visible with the right information, forget it! The other message was that there is a greater need than ever before to invest in on-line and reduce printed material, invest in qualified people and to work together to complete the whole efficient and successful cycle.
AS: It was great to introduce the “E-Distribution Matrix” to the team, a comprehensive tool that enables them to find more information and learn about the interrelation between the departments.
Another interesting session was the “Seamless Connectivity”, which certainly sparked many debates.
EN: What a lot of PR professionals tend to forget is that online editors are focused on news stories and on the articles that generate traffic to their site and stimulate feedback from readers, and so the workshop on online PR highlighted for the team, the need to grab the editor’s attention through snappy headlines and unusual angles in order to get articles published.
TT: The highlight for the sales and marketing team was definitely the seamless connectivity session. Seamless connectivity is a term used in the industry to refer to emerging technologies, where the connection and flow of information between systems is never broken. Not only does it allow a direct link between hotels and travel agents for rates, availabilities and reservations, it also allows the rates and availabilities to be controlled by the hotel revenue team empowering them to yield more.
What ideas did delegates raise and how you are going to pursue these?
AM: Some delegates highlighted the need for technical training; this will be covered in follow-up face to face and on-line sessions.
AS: I absolutely loved the e-ideas submitted by the hotels for our e-idea competition. The winning idea to feature local events, conferences and functions prominently on the brand website to provide useful local information and drive relevant reservations online was simple really but hugely effective.
Can you explain how the growth of digital solutions for hotels means you now integrate more with your fellow departments than before?
AM: We use e-learning tools for regular training sessions, remote support and conference calls. We also have hi-tech video conferencing facilities that allow us to connect with the other area offices around the world and we have an intranet system where common data can be uploaded and downloaded and be shared easily.
TT: It is important to remember that the digital strategy is not in the hands of just one person. It is a combined effort between revenue management, sales and marketing, e-distribution and communications. Between us, we are, if you like, a digital committee who meet on a regular basis to plan and implement digital strategies and this is how I see our hotels functioning more and more as we move deeper into the world of online.
Are there some departments in the hotel you find it hard to convince of the importance of going digital?
AM: We still have to keep the digital tech talk to a minimum and ensure we explain in simple language as, if you lose your audience due to lack of understanding, you are sure to then lose their interest too. This was step one for a wide audience — to keep them in the loop and know where we are heading. Specific, technical training is given to those who are ready now and we will continue to grow the knowledge base.
TT: Change is always difficult and so any new initiatives must be cascaded down through the hotel so that the whole operations team can grasp the concepts and embrace and understand the changes we are making. The same is true for digital marketing. I would say that the financial department is generally happy with online marketing because it cuts down on things like print costs, which are associated with more traditional types of marketing. However, the most important thing for any department is the fact that online campaigns reach a wider audience and are measurable, so we can see what works and what doesn’t.
In terms of maximising your department’s digital performance, what is your wish list of technology solutions you would like to invest in?
AM: There are so many things to buy — technology, marketing, advertising, positioning, connectivity tools etc. You can buy any of these because it’s new or your neighbours have it, but you have to consider is it always a wise purchase which will give a return on investment and will not be outdated soon after you have bought it? We have all the tools, technology and networks in place to maximise our performance — our teams are what will make the difference — and money to spend on advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) will of course be a bonus.
TT: I believe that more money should be spent on SEM and SEO and the optimisation of our website. Also on my list, although this is soon to be a reality, is the redistribution of our advertising spend into online media and electronic direct marketing (EDM) campaigns.
EN: I agree that more money should be spent on SEO and SEM but I also believe in the power of social media and this is where I would invest. This is probably more of a resource issue though as the whole social media arena is one that requires dedicated expertise — it is not just a ‘nice to have’ add-on to the communications department.
What environmental considerations have come into your desire to further the digital evolution and how will these save energy?
TT: E-marketing will replace traditional printing to a large extent in the coming years cutting down on print costs. We have phased out our newsletter, global directory and meeting planners and are now doing this online.
Similarly, how will some of your strategies save revenue?
TT: I forecast that an efficient digital strategy may increase revenues through the various digital channels by at least 25% year on year. This is a bold statement I know but this has been the trend for the past four years and I believe it will continue. According to PhoCusWright, 2010 will be the first year in which online bookings will supersede the offline bookings in the USA. It will not be long before the same thing happens in our area. I believe that without a sound digital strategy, hotels will not be able to survive at all in the long term.
Can you summarise what you would like to achieve in terms of digital evolution in 2010?
AM: We are expecting to double the online revenues, not only due to cohesive and strategic distribution planning, fair pricing (best rate guarantee), relevant and accurate on-line content but also due to the natural on-line penetration of the Middle Eastern and Asian source markets as awareness of the Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts brand extends its digital reach.
AS: The digital evolution has changed our customers’ pre-booking research patterns and their actual booking behaviour. Adhering to their needs, we are aiming to increase our e-channels production by being more pro-active and efficient in utilising the current and emerging technologies. We will continue to build a solid knowledge base and expertise within our teams, so that they have got the tools to remain on the cutting edge of the industry.
EN: The immediate future is all about creating opportunities for people to engage with our brand and the company will use technology to do this. We will achieve this through social media, interactive email campaigns and through thought provoking online articles. We have already made significant inroads by monitoring our online media and consumer generated reviews and I see us expanding on this in the year to come.
TT: This year the company will be piloting seamless connectivity and we will also be launching a major SEO project. In addition to this, we are planning to improve our online request for proposal (RFP) process – an area that I believe definitely has room for improvement.