HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009 - 8

›› SUCCESS STORIES Paying for Vacations with Stocks; A 2008 Leap Year Package; WonderFALL for Parents of Preschoolers; Day-tripping at the Hotel Del Coronodo; Showcasing the Presidential Suite at the Waldorf-Astoria; CVBs Partnering to Win Mid-Sized Meetings Business “Success Stories” will give you insights and ideas that you may be able to apply to your own problems and prospects. The column is intended to serve as an idea-exchange and to inspire creativity in real-life situations, so you’re encouraged to share your “best practices” with other readers by e-mailing your success stories to me at hchipkin@comcast.net. Be sure to include your name, title, organization, and telephone number, so that you can be reached if necessary. they owned as of late in 2008—at the value of those stocks on July 1, 2008. The offer included most of the stocks listed on the S&P 100—including struggling companies with tumbling stock prices like Ford Motor. In practice, a family could book a seven-night stay at the Verandah Resort and Spa in Antigua—an all-inclusive value of $4,445 with 111 shares of American Express based on the July value; that stock, at the time, had slipped to about $22. Vacations could be booked through December 20, 2009 with a limit of $5000 per room in exchange for stock. Elite Island Resorts holds the stock in hopes that the market rebounds in the near future. THE RESULTS: Dramatic. Heydt enjoyed an immediate and very positive interview with Maria Bartiromo, the high-profile CNBC reporter and there was a story on page 1 of The New York Times business section. Within the first 72 hours, there were 250,000 visits to the Web site—and innumerable phone calls to the reservations line so that additional staff had to be called in—working additional hours. The volume of Web site visits resulted in a significant number of bookings. Before the economy truly turned south, another resort company took a more measured approach to building business during what was already a challenging year. [ H A RV E Y C H I P K I N ] t’s not surprising that marketers universally believe that it’s critical to market through an economic downturn. That’s the easy answer. The tough answer is making the most of limited resources and budget-conscious consumers—and particularly when it comes to luxury and upscale products. Following is one success story that directly targeted the financial crisis—with startling impact. Other stories might be more traditional, but equally weighted toward savvy, resource-wise approaches to dealing with tough times. I The immediacy and size of the response to the following was astonishing. There were some financial risks involved but there was no arguing with the promotional inspiration. THE COMPANY: Elite Island Resorts, a collection of independently owned, upscale Caribbean hotels. THE SITUATION: With the economy sinking , management was looking for a way to quickly provide a jolt to winter bookings. THE SOLUTION: Steven Heydt, the CEO, came up with a plan to allow travelers to pay for vacations with stocks 8 THE COMPANY: RockResorts, a collection of nine luxury resorts in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, and St. Lucia. THE SITUATION: Individual RockResort properties are located in different geographic areas and therefore have different priorities and seasonality. The company wanted to promote the overall brand, its locations, and to fill rooms during the hotels’ need periods. THE SOLUTION: RockResorts’ agency, Laura Davidson Public Relations, decided to create a newsworthy package to generate bookings during soft periods that worked with each property’s need times. The agency developed a “Leap Year Package,” where in honor of this quadrennial occurrence, guests booking a stay at any RockResort property were given a free night because of the extra day in 2008. The company approved this package, and created blackout dates and minimum lengths of stay that corresponded with the desired booking periods for each RockResort. The agency HSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • AUGUST 2009

HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of HSMAI Marketing Review August 2009