In the hotel industry, "launches" are often reserved for new brands or grand openings.
But Emily Penfold Dailey, founder and CEO of hospitality-focused marketing agency PenDailey Consulting, said that is short-sighted.
"In a hotel, often you think a launch is when a hotel opens for the first time and then you’re done after that," she said in the latest episode of the Next Gen in Lodging podcast.
"But if you’ve got a new rewards program coming, if you have a space that went under renovation … if you have a new room pool that’s coming out meaning you have readjusted space and now have a new type of room you’re selling, or you’ve got a soft-goods package in a hotel or you’ve got new menu items — anytime there’s something new for the property or something new that you might have had for a long time but the market doesn’t know about, you’re not selling it ... that’s an opportunity to represent it."
Dailey said a launch event is the perfect way to draw a new demographic to a hotel or to introduce the public to new features or room products. Having people on the property is an essential element to any launch, as that opens up opportunities for sales and revenue, but also great activation content — photos and video — for use in marketing.
In this episode of the Next Gen in Lodging podcast, host Davonne Reaves talks with Dailey as well as Monrae Tuggle, the founder of Marketing By Monrae, in "an exploration of how the hotel industry is undergoing a remarkable transformation in its approach to launching new marketing campaigns," Reaves said.
For more of their tips, connect with Marketing By Monrae on LinkedIn, and Emily Penfold Dailey on LinkedIn and at pendailey.com.
The Next Gen in Lodging Podcast is also available to download on Apple or Spotify, where you can also subscribe to future podcast content.
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