An article in the June 21, edition of the New York Times Magazine outlines a new promotional plan by Hyatt. The campaign aims to build loyalty among the hotel chain’s best customers by having hotel staff perform “random acts of generosity.” The idea, of course, is that those customers on the receiving end of these acts will experience the feeling of gratitude and reciprocate by booking more stays at Hyatt properties. The article nicely backs up the notion of loyalty building by citing a paper written by University of Washington professor Robert Palmateri entitled, “ The Role of Customer Gratitude in Relationship Marketing,” the will appear in the July 2009 edition of the Journal of Marketing.
In addition to being a loyalty builder, this promotion is also an MPR campaign. It is particularly interesting because it has potential for great success, while facing some classic MPR challenges. Hyatt is faced with handling a couple double edged MPR swords. First is that of media coverage. Mainstream media outlets like the NY Times and USA Today are covering the story, and the blogosphere is chattering with posts appearing on the Economist’s Gulliver blog, several hotel/travel industry blogs, and even posts on personal blogs and Twitter accounts. The potential downside, however, is that all of these otherwise excellent media mentions can serve to take the “randomness” out of the campaign, thereby diminishing its authenticity and credibility.
The campaign’s generosity is also targeted all Hyatt customers regardless of how often they use the chain’s services. This is a good idea because it will not make any particular class of customer feel left out, and will likely help spread word-of-mouth across a broad cross section of Hyatt customer types. It can be argued, however, that most customers are not the “road warrior” types and, therefore, don’t have a large circle of influence among frequent travelers. In light of this fact, would it be reasonable to suggest that Hyatt concentrate on the high frequency and high luxury (that is- high profit) customers? As there is a standard set within the travel industry for treating good customers better than the average ones, this sort of segmentation can increase the effectiveness of the campaign without alienating too many customers. We’ll be able to judge Hyatt’s success by how long they keep this up, and, perhaps, by the number of imitators this campaign spawns.
If any readers experience this treatment at a Hyatt, please post a comment to this blog entry or shoot me an email.
Reflection:
What MPR opportunities is Hyatt missing?
Is there anything in particular that Hyatt can do to allow them to maximize their use of MPR without diluting the fact that they are truly performing random acts of generosity?
Is a broad segmentation approach best?
In Burrell Luce’s June 2009 newsletter (http://www.burrellesluce.com/newsletter/) they give five tips for conducting “Twitterviews.” That is, conducting an interview via Twitter. The tips are simple but demonstrate the impact MPR can have as well as pointing out the ability for social media promotion to cross over into mainstream media.
Reflection:
Select a person you’d like to interview for a specific purpose, and plan a Twitterview using the five tips. (Obviously, the purpose is to contribute to reaching an MPR goal.)
Here’s an interesting debate starter. Sarah Palin, or at least some folks claiming to represent her, have started an MPR campaign to attempt to get veteran talk show host David Letterman fired. The Palin camp has accused Letterman of making indecent remarks about Palin’s 14 year old daughter. In retaliation to Letterman’s comments, the pro Palin people have created a website , distributed a press release, organized a rally outside the Ed Sullivan Theater where Letterman tapes his show, and created a Facebook page. The website even includes tips on how someone can use their power as a connector to further the cause. The tips are:
1. If you are on Twitter, send out tweets now asking people to go to http://www.firedavidletterman.com and sign the letter.
2. Write blogposts identifying the sponsors! (see the far left column for the list) {They also mention writing to the sponsors}
3. Call your local talk radio program today and promote the site http://www.firedavidletterman.com
4. Join the Facebook Group "Fire David Letterman" and message all your friends on Facebook to join the group.
5. Call 3 friends tonight and ask them to sign the letter at http://www.firedavidletterman.com
6. Email all your contacts and ask them to sign the letter at http://wwwfiredavidletterman.com
It is not my place to say who I believe is right or wrong on this issue. It is my business to point out that even those with limited mainstream media experience and a limited budget can take on the big established media players. Almost anyone can employee techniques of media relations, social media, and word-of-mouth (MPR-that is) much the same way these Letterman lampooners have.
Reflection:
What is the motive of the Palin camp?
What are the Palinites doing right relative to using MPR?
What could they do better?
Does Letterman or CBS have something to gain or lose? How should they respond, if at all?
.
Hello all.
Some of you may be familiar with my blog “Out of Control Marketing.” This blog will be taking its place. Since the publication of Marketing Public Relations: A Marketer’s Approach to PR and Social Media, my focus has changed to assisting those teaching and studying marketing. Therefore, I will be posting my observations of the current events in the worlds of PR and social media, as well as offering thoughts for starting a discussion on the topic at hand and offering some useful links.
While the blog is targeted at marketing and communications faculty at colleges and universities, marketing practitioners and business owners will surely find this information valuable. I encourage all who read this blog to comment on the posts and to offer their own observation of the world of marketing public relations.
Also, you can check out my del.icio.us linkroll located on the right hand side of the blog to see some of the things I find interesting, but don’ t have time to comment on.
Thanks.
Gaetan
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