The hotel sector is facing structural changes imposed by a new type of hospitality consumer that has emerged over the past years. This consumer has accumulated experience and knowledge and uses technology with ease, facilitating his access to information, elevating his expectations, and reducing or eliminating intermediaries from the buying process.
In addition, leisure time in developed countries has increased and resulted in more tourism, especially short trips, favoring deseasonalization in the sector. Together with an increase in salaries, the emergence of the so-called “Silver Economy” and low-cost airline flights have made tourism an object of mass consumption in which the consumer adopts an active role and demands information, education, and entertainment from his tourism activities.
In this context, it is necessary not only to manage communication directly and bilaterally, but also to develop a brand experience plan. Hotel companies must manage this experience and, by satisfying key target customers, turn them into ambassadors and committed clients. Every experience with a product or a place begins in our mind. What happens when you plan your holidays and decide to visit this city or stay in that hotel? The first input is the evoked thoughts, ideas, and images of the destination and what you hope will happen when you go there; then comes the real experience; and finally what you report about that experience. If the reality doesn’t align with or improve upon our expectations, the interaction with the brand will be negative and what we say about it will distance other potential consumers from that experience.
While sight, hearing, and touch may be the most important of the senses, smell has also become a focus of marketing experiences. Investing in sensory marketing, like in the fictional Emily in Paris, when she proposes the creation of a fragrance for a hotel chain, isn’t a random choice for the screen, but a real-life practice that strengthens a brand and makes an impact and an impression on the mind. Done well, it can also set a company apart from its competitors and support sales. The Intersport chain increased sales of football products by 26% by adding the smell of cut grass to the football products area, according to market research agency Walnut Unlimited. The study also concluded that consumers exposed to sensory marketing experiences were not only more active – buying more products and for greater prices – but also stayed at the point of sale longer than average.
Humans are hedonists, and we like to feel well treated and that we are being offered memorable experiences. A sensory marketing programme that involves vision, smell, and hearing, that spoils, seduces, and attracts customer loyalty in the hotel sector, should be a requirement for any marketing plan. Clients have expectations of brands, and they want to feel them and live them. What answer will your sensory marketing strategy provide when a customer wants to know how a hotel room smells or the linens feel? There are hotel chains that are in the avant-garde of this type of practice, including The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Le Bristol, and others. Never forget that, every second and at every point of contact, consumers are experiencing the sensations your brand generates.
In this context, generating credibility, trust, and loyalty towards the services offered by the hotel companies becomes the responsibility of the directors and marketing professionals. For hotel development companies that offer experiences, one of the most valuable intangible assets for improving international competitiveness is the strategic value that the brand acquires and its unique value proposition as a reference point for good consumer experiences.
Chelo Morillo holds a doctorate in Communication and works as a Marketing and Communications consultant. She is the author of the book Marca Barcelona: creación de una identidad.
