Marketing with all the senses

Some hoteliers still cannot get acquainted with modern concepts that have come from the hand of the Internet and that today govern the business. GDS, ROI, Social Networks and CRM, to name just a few examples, are elements that have revolutionized the industry and opened up new options for managers in the hotel sector.

Hotel marketing is the area that has undergone the most transformations, mainly because the structure of the business has changed. Previously, the activity focused on showing the hotel and the brand to a wholesaler or local receptives, negotiating rates and waiting for visitors. With the massification of the Internet, travelers today have the opportunity to explore new offers, compare rates and services offered and even read reviews from previous guests before choosing where to stay.

That means that the hotel must show itself to all customers, offer added values and take care of its reputation. These actions are typical of a marketing department that did not exist before, but that today is an indispensable part of the operation of the corporate structure.

A business without customers
Rafael Mesa, general director of the ISIE Institute of Business Innovation in Spain, explains that hotel marketing is a trend that has not been more than five years in the middle and that has grown in a disorderly way: "We had never had the need to do marketing before, this was a 'business without customers' because those in charge of selling directly were wholesalers and agencies. The hotelier never had a database of guests to offer special rates or loyalty programs."

Indeed, as Rafael recalls, the crisis of the large tour operators and the change in the habits of customers who stopped resorting to wholesalers were the triggering agents of the change in the marketing and sales strategy of hotels. "When a consumer comes to the manufacturer and discovers that they don't need intermediaries, the business chain changes."

Thus, with guests who buy and choose your hotel directly, efforts should focus on reaching that customer and retaining them, so that they choose us again when they return, without thinking twice.

The first steps
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to design and implement specific strategies. One of them is CRM (Customer Relationship Management), a computer system that allows you to create and manage a customer database. This software allows you to store customer contact details, preferences (food, type of pillow, late check in, among others) and have them in a network, so that they can be used by subsidiaries in other countries or cities.

"With a CRM I can save customer preferences and access them at all times. Sometimes you become a constant customer of a hotel, but every time you arrive you are asked if it is the first time you visit them, or what kind of pillow you want, or if you are a vegetarian. When there is a CRM, the hotelier already knows that and the client appreciates it because he feels that they treat him like at home," explains Rafael Mesa.

However, collecting that information is useless if it is not properly managed. According to Rafael, the ideal scenario is that this data is collected at all times while the guest is in the hotel, and for that he recommends that marketing managers always carry a notebook and a pencil, to take note of what customers say or do, and take that information to a CRM. This information should be used for decision-making; that is, to manage a "strategic knowledge" that allows to sell more and better.

"The market for the first time has two distinct characteristics. The first is that now the owners are the customers and the second, that the operation of the business is horizontal. It used to be vertical; that is, I created my product, released it to the market and expected someone to buy it," said Rafael, alluding to the new demands of marketing and adding that "today the medium no longer dominates: the customer no longer expects information but seeks communication."

For that reason, in recent years new marketing strategies that include sensory experiences have gained strength. One of them is olfactory marketing, a system that appeals to the creation of special aromas that associate those who perceive them with a specific place.

That is, it is about creating your own and exclusive olfactory mark (odotype) with characteristics associated with the place where it will be used. This creates a much stronger brand recall bond. Keep in mind that, according to a study by Rockefeller University, the human being remembers 1% of what he touches, 2% of what he hears, 5% of what he sees and 35% of what he smells.

Maxi Ianini, commercial director of Marketing Olfativo S.L, a Spanish company that has had a presence in Latin America for a couple of years, explains that the design of olfactory brands is done according to the visual and graphic elements that identify the hotel. In fact, most hotels that bet on olfactory marketing resort to the creation of a joint strategy in which visual, auditory and olfactory elements are combined in specific places of the hotel.

"All spaces are susceptible to being aromatized for commercial purposes, but for costs the hotels weigh the bathrooms, corridors, restaurants, lobby, hall and conference rooms," said Ianini and added that "some do it in the rooms of higher category at the request of guests."

Many hoteliers tend to confuse olfactory marketing with aromatherapy used in spas, although the differences between the two are great. On the one hand, aromatherapy seeks a sense of health and well-being in treatments combined with massages; while marketing with odotypes seeks to generate a link between the aroma and the feeling of well-being that the guest has in the hotel. Thus, what can be achieved is that when the guest is at home and perceives the smell in a souvenir of the hotel, remember the feeling of relaxation he had while on vacation and want to return to the establishment.

In the words of Ianini: "the hotel sells an experience, and when it is linked to an aroma it is more real. For that reason even the hotels that implement the strategy end up selling or giving away souvenirs with that particular aroma for the guest to take away."

And it is not only about incorporating aromas in the air conditioning and ventilation systems of a defined space, but also a range of products can be developed that allows strengthening the link between the aroma and the brand. Thus, hotels that incorporate olfactory marketing strategies can have ironing water for curtains and sheets, spray for housekeeping, candles, incense and small flavorings; all of them with the fragrance that identifies the brand.

Ianini warns that marketing strategies through smell are easy to implement, but they must be in accordance with a corporate policy: "What is involved is to generate a pleasant effect and loyalty, that customers recognize the aroma and relate it to the brand, and when they perceive it they move to the hotel. But you have to be careful to offer a good service, because if the guest had unpleasant experiences they will also relate them to the aroma, no matter how good it is."

And as an added value, you can take advantage of the power of aromas in the body, just as did an all-inclusive chain, which incorporated a fragrance that reduces appetite and generates a feeling of well-being in the body. They achieved double benefit, as they presented savings of 20% in food consumption and achieved a positive impact on customers, who related the aroma of restaurants with a sense of well-being.

The Virtual Age
The Internet is the last tool hotels use for marketing. Social networks, for example, have become a scenario in which no one can be absent, since they are a perfect scenario to generate communication with new and regular customers.

And with the arrival of tools such as TripAdvisor and Facebook, it is very easy for any user to make public their impression of the hotel. In case it is good, it will be a perfect opportunity to strengthen the image and promote yourself; while if it is negative, it could mean the loss of potential guests.

Digital media experts recommend making a presence in these cases, so that if a negative comment occurs the hotel can recognize and repair your mistake publicly. This conveys to those who read the comments a sense of responsibility for any incident, thus minimizing the effect of the comment in front of the audience.

A matter of strategy
Whatever strategy the hotel decides to implement to generate brand recall and increase sales, it is important that it includes the staff to respond with good service, because finally that is what a guest is looking for.

The follow-up to the clients, the creation of pleasant experiences and the possibility that the guest can communicate with the hotel, are elements that may seem irrelevant, but at the end of the day they are the ones that make the difference.