New York Hospitality by Vijay Dandapani

Mobile advertising

Zagat's launch of zagat.mobi, the mobile, ad-supported version of its reputed reviews site is in tune with recent trends which reflect a more positive outlook for mobile advertising. The handheld zagat.com aims to be a convenient resource on hotels, restaurants and nightlife along with links and listings.

A recent report on hospitality trends by Jason Price & Max Starkov also mentioned mobile advertising as a promising avenue in the coming years as the handheld becomes a ubiquitous device in US households (70% with atleast 1 mobile subscriber). Companies are still figuring out effective ways to market an offer through a cellphone and mobile advertising pioneers are still experimenting with adformats to monetize "content". The travel industry has more to benefit from this trend than others - using a web-enabled cellphone to look up hotels, maps and directions seems like a natural thing to do and travelers are less likely to be irritated by offers from companies sponsoring useful info like weather alerts, hotel reviews & local events. Mobile advertising is bound to take off as soon as technology delivers the handheld web as smoothly as the Blackberry delivers corporate email.

The "avoid" list

Orbitz list of cities and airports to avoid on Labor Day reported by Travelmole might inspire some folks to do just the opposite (especially the last-minute getaway types). NYC unsurprisingly is the busiest city and the usual suspect, Chicago O'Hare tops the list of stressed-out airports!

Holiday travel is increasingly becoming a stressful activity in the US with spiralling traffic on air and land and the prospect of delays. People have even less time to plan out activities for their getaways - which leads many to choose alltime popular destinations ! Perhaps the need of the hour is a guide to America's undiscovered treasures and unlikely trend-spots and websites offering bundled packages to these places. Try googling a popular destination versus an unconventional tourist destination and the results are less than satisfactory!

Breaking new ground in hotel advertising

Westin's fresh green "emergency exits" are providing new inspiration to Grand Central's rush-hour morning commuters. The new multimillion dollar campaign from the "rejuvenation" hotel brand is making big news not only for its imaginative use of media but also for taking a less-travelled approach in hotel advertising (no pictures of opulent hotel lobbies or flashy amenities - only nature and impactful one-liners). As recently as a year ago, Hilton's "travel should take you places" campaign addressed the new cutting-adventure seeking streak in travel.

The use of non-traditional media like 3-D and Bluetooth billboards, image-shifting lenticulars and sub-media (a giant flip book on train tunnel walls) could indicate that conventional offline media is poised to make a big comeback as the Internet advertising continues its tumultous growth (predicted to slow in the coming years). The theory that consumers must be engaged at every point in their lives just got fresh life with Westin's campaigns.

The use of trademarked keywords

AA has sued Google over its sale of ads triggered by trademark keywords (example AAdvantage - AA's frequent flier program). Though similar suits against the Internet giant have often ended up in Google's favor, it is hard not to see AA's point of view. Why have someone else enjoy the benefits of the careful work that went into making a program a success! If a searcher wanted just another frequent flier program, they would have typed up the relevant keyword. On the other hand, who's to decide what the searcher really wanted. What if they typed up a misspelled version of the keyword; does American Airlines own all versions of the trademarked brandname?

A solipsistic industry?

The hotel industry is not given to solipsism - the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist. Most lodging owners and operators are acutely aware of their external environment even if many don't react appropriately or swiftly enough. While not necessarily a leading indicator despite room rates falling like dominoes when things appear to go wrong, the industry tends to get buffeted by the larger economy as surely as most others. The current roiling in the financial markets has pundits of all stripes turning on a dime and reworking their prognoses to a very bearish from a decidely bullish forecast less than a month ago! No revised forecast has, as yet, come about but given the turmoil it is a question of time before there is an arresting of the development cycle including in principal cities like New York (Manhattan). That may not be a bad thing given the forecast of nearly 14,000 rooms in the pipeline in a city where the current inventory is an estimated 72,000 rooms.

Walter Bagehot, one of the first editors of The Economist, in the nineteenth century noted that credit cycles like what we have in the housing market are an intrinsic component of the economic picture and are basically about two primeval emotions in humankind - fear and greed. Like the Utilitarians who measured anything in a dichotomous pain or pleasure fashion, dispassionate arbitragers sense fear as the dominant emotion in today's times and likely will exploit it to their advantage.

When a full "repricing" occcurs of the credit markets occur, it is possible that many of the development deals in the pipeline will be pulled back on that account. When the "excesses" of the cycle are flushed out, there may yet be plenty of upside to the industry as the fundamentals of the economy, unemployment, inflation and productivity growth remain on target.

Unhealthy fallouts from limited vacation time.

A new report in Forbes on the vacation habits of Americans highlights the health issues involved in skipping breaks and embracing a workaholic culture! Expedia's aptly named Vacation Deprivation survey notes that 35% of respondents will not use their full vacation time (already among the lowest in the world at 14 days a year), leaving an average of 3 days unused. Reasons include job insecurity and the emphasis on productivity. The article notes that vacations help people to decompress and combat stress, a common cause of dangerous diseases in both men and women. The hospitality industry is as vulnerable to the ailments and as needing of the remedies as any other but, nevertheless, lags many other industries in addressing the issue fully.

What the report does not mention is that the workaholic culture is strongly promoted by the media! In an age of 30 something Internet billionnaires, Average Joes and Janes turned celebrity bloggers and hard-driving, million-dollar CEOS, working hard and long is a given - it's not about juggling priorities anymore as it is about getting ahead and getting there first! Success in the workplace has become an important aspect of all-round happiness. Add to this, the blackberry warriors and Treo addicts for whom staying connected equals staying in control! Nevertheless, as in most things in life, striking a balance (which may vary with each individual) between vacation time and work is the best course to pursue for an optimal outcome.

The China syndrome & hotels

People who recall The China Syndrome, a three-decade old thriller with an all star cast, know that it had nothing to do with China, the country. The plot about a cover-up at a nuclear plant jokingly referred to how a meltdown would go all the way to China. Cover-ups of a different sort - only this time they are for real and from China - have resulted in a spate of recalls in a variety of industries and have finally hit the hotel industry.

Reuters reports on upscale hotel supplier of toiletries Gilchrist & Soames "recalling toothpaste made in China -- that it had distributed to hotels in more than a dozen countries --after discovering the product contained a chemical used to make automobile antifreeze. Independent tests showed some samples contained diethylene glycol, a kidney and liver toxin and a central nervous system depressant. The recall involves 0.65-ounce tubes of toothpaste made in China by Ming Fai Enterprises International Co. Ltd. and distributed under the Gilchrist & Soames name. The company said it stopped shipping toothpaste made in China after it received an alert from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on June 1 about tainted product. At that time, it suggested to hotels that they stop offering the toothpaste until testing was "complete."

The article notes that a " fifth round of independent lab tests showed the presence of diethylene glycol in some samples from the Chinese supplier at levels exceeding FDA guidelines ", Gilchrist & Soames President Kathie De Voe said in a statement. Unsurprisingly, a spokeswoman for Gilchrist & Soames would not release the names of hotels affected by the recall nor would she say how many of the small tubes of toothpaste were involved.

There were other branded toothpastes including Colgate that had recalls and the FDA has posted a list of those at it website. Individual hotel companies ought to be forthright as well and inform the public to avert any injury to guests and to their brand.

Hotel operators, guests and consumers at large have a right to wonder as to what comes next from behind the Great Wall of China given the recall of toys contaminated by lead paint and sold by Mattel, the world's largest toy maker, Chery (not accidentally close to the spelling of Chevy) cars made in China and sold in Europe that fold like cards in a crash and bridges that collapse causing deaths to tourists.

Reverse outsourcing...!

Seems like the scourge (to some) that is outsourcing may yet turn into a boon to all - Indian conglomerate TATA has neatly turned the tables through a new trend called "insourcing" as CNNMoney reports! Strange as it sounds (since outsourcing started as a strategy to cut costs and improve business efficiencies), the objective here is to provide "local" service to companies that prefer not to move their call services overseas . Of course, the costs are higher (up to 40% more) but the payoffs seem better image-wise (involvement in the local community & contribution to local jobs). The article carefully notes that in travel, localites are likely to have better knowledge of US geography. Other reasons - people seem to "feel more comfortable" with homegrown accents.

To the foregoing, one might add another reason - conceptual familiarity! Customer service is better ingrained in the American culture than anywhere else in the world - globally, people put up with sloppy service, poor product quality, defective merchandise and other glaring shortcomings because they don't know to expect better. Thanks to the American experience, most foreigners know there can be better service than the one offered at home! Americans are also harder to please and expect more - qualities that keep customer service centers on their toes.

Hospitality companies were among the slowest to move their call centers away from the US with most still remaining on the mainland - that sluggishness may end up in their being far-sighted!

Call Centers

Call centers outside the US are now an accepted way of life in the country - try contacting customer service on weekends at odd hours and the chances are you will be greeted by a call center representative in Asia with a carefully trained accent and routine (at most times). Many hospitality majors have moved call centers off-shore and even if the locale is as close to home as Canada, the changed dynamic has implications for customers, companies and, most importantly, to employees.

USA today in May reported on American travelers' experiences with foreign call centers and predictably touched off a torrent of response! Like all things outsourced, foreign call centers have met with a mixed response from the public who complain about the strange accents, canned "solutions" , long hold times & lack of service. The companies, however have benefited from the cost-savings (perhaps savings that lead to more local jobs and a more satisfying fulfilment experience for customers).

Call centers present a challenging experience both for the customer and the call-center! A customer who calls for a refund only to be greeted by an intransigent representative is unlikely to be happy either way, whether the call center is in India or China. However, a satisfied customer is unlikely to spread positive word-of-mouth!

Here are some basic tips for companies looking to improve the quality of service at call centers (based on real experience).

- Cut out the excessive pleasantries - Devote the body of the call to solving the customers' problem or addressing their queries (NOT looking up the customers's background info for the past 5 years!)
- Get straight to the point. Cut down the time that a customer is forced to hold the line while the rep "checks something with the supervisor, looks up the file or seeks more info"
- Cut down repetitions - call centers give you all sorts of call-tracking info (rep ID, transaction #, confirmation # etc etc) but STILL ask a dozen questions if you call again. Why record the conversation/contact if you need to ask the same questions anyway everytime?
- Cut down on the the aggressive sales spiel. Call centers are especially persistent in getting customers enrolled for 30-day free trials of everything! Definitely ask for cancellation #s and hidden terms and conditions!
- Finally, efficiency. Call centres should be trained to use multiple media for a seamless experience, example - following up on a phone call with an email. It's not unsurprising to hear the call center rep say that he/she is not "authorized" to send an email or make a phone call! (something they would never say if they were in the US!)

Advertising across web channels

It's already accepted that an integrated media strategy works better than an online only or offline only campaign. People are still reading newspapers, checking their direct mailers, watching soap operas and turning on their car radios. Every little bit of coverage helps to reinforce the offer!

Now, a study on ad-overlapping by Atlas (reported on the Google CPG blog) proves that consumers targeted by multiple publisher sites or networks are twice as likely to convert than those reached by a single publisher! Advertisers with limited online budgets should especially take note - it's better to aim for different media and measure the overall impact rather than spend ad-dollars on any one avenue. It's tough for any online channel to match the returns delivered by search for instance - however, search is not cheap for companies that are neither well-known brands nor unique players. This is where other avenues plug the gap.