MIT/Sloan Strategic Agility Project

7 Tips for Developing Effective Strategic Priorities

Video = 1:40 - Worth your time!!

#chatbots Messaging moves Conversational Commerce @Facebook F8 Keynote

If you have not purchased sneakers, flowers - you name it -  via Facebook Messenger, you will soon. David Marcus' Keynote @ Facebook F8 16' clearly demonstrates the future of 'm-commerce'.  

The Messenger purchase experience starts at 6:59

His key point is to 'build experiences' - text alone is not sufficient:

• started by people - not bots
• right content
• right time
• right context
• right person

As he states at 15:39 - this is the begging of a new era!  Go and build!!

Smart Intro to chatbots and a discovery Medium on ChatbotsMagazine - a Lewis + Clark type community to define this little explored area.

Opentest - super tool for recording + sharing Desktops

Opentest is A fabulous new tool I discovered via Product Hunt - 

• it is fast + easy
• it is a Chrome Browser extension
• an addictive way to share my online work sessions
• free!!

Below is my  test run, using the online portfolio I am creating for artist LaChauviniere-Riant.

Luxury #Hotel Guests Expect High Touch + Digital Services

Stay N Touch posted an excellent perspective on the paradox of luxury  hotel guests' service expectations.

In short - choice

• High touch when they want it
• Cutting edge digital services always accessible

Stay N Touch Blog Image

Hoteliers in the high end luxury sector need to get past the passé concept that self service digital is not valued by their guests - in fact, it is the opposite.

Key quote:

Horst Schulze, who made Ritz Carlton into a synonym for high end luxury, describes the paradox of delivery a luxury hospitality experience, “Highly active yet private, tranquil but exciting, confidently delivered but not arrogant, distinct while being familiar, all the latest technology yet feeling timeless, not trendy.”

Link to Full Blog post - 
What your Luxury Hotel Guest Expects: Both High Touch and Digital Service

#hotel distressed inventory - SiteMinder Smart Strategy

From the SiteMinder blog, a fresh take on Distressed Hotel Inventory as a last moment booking Opportunity...

Key Quote:

"Data from Hotels.com shows that 50% of travellers who book via mobile devices do so for last-minute or next-day stays.This trend represents a huge opportunity for hotels to sell their very final rooms, right up to the last minute. But only hotels with the right channel management technology in place will be able to take advantage."

Maximizing Hotel Revenue - Stress Free

 Full article - Maximising Hotel Revenue 

Pro Reputation development for Hospitality - personal coaching session

+oneglobecraig looking forward to tomorrow's sessions at CMH Paris - we will explore how hotel professionals can craft a positive + relevant online reputation.

All questions and comments welcome.  Introduction to Professional Reputation Development materials are below:


Materials for our session - 04/03/2016




Or view at ORM Liz Craig Digital ... all feedback + questions are welcome.

#rezzolutions - #citizenMRotterdam New Year's Eve

Lucky me - I won a free stay from +citizenMHotels and selected the Rotterdam hotel.  Am here for FreeNYE and will check out the fireworks over Erasmus Bridge - a mere 2 minute walk from the hotel - to viewing space!!

What is especially fun is that each employee is sporting a Tshirt with #rezzolutions on the back - and a cheeky chic saying on the front.

#rezzolutions - here are 3 I spotted

• Right bed, right time...with the right person
• Power Nap yourself to Awesomeness
• Turn off your phone, turn on your partner

Each cool, fun + insightful.  Each staff member got to select (online) their preference - et voila, that's what each gets to wear.

More NYE at #citizenMRotterdam later....wishing you and yours a 2016 full of adventures and original thinking.

Liz

Adventure Getaway in Your Hotel Room #VRoomService by +Marriott

+Marriott Hotels has introduced Virtual Reality postcards at their Marriott Marquis NYC and London Park Lane Hotels.

A quick review in Digital Buzz Blog

Customers ordering the in-room virtual reality experiences will receive a hand-delivered Samsung headset, with the experiences following three travellers on their personal adventures around the world from which the VR postcards have been created. Guests can travel with to the Andean Mountains in Chile, to an ice cream shop in Rwanda, right through to Beijing. Pretty cool.

Get full details and backstory at Travel Brilliantly - Marriott's co-creation innovation site.

Cool indeed!!

#Uberisation of Digital Economy Infographic by +Creads

+Creads , a Paris based Design Tribe, published this simply excellent infographic - the Uberisation of the Digital Economy.

Visual is the new verbal for instant understanding of complex concepts - this does the trick!!

Creads Blog (in French) is also excellent.  Full of stimulating ideas + images.

#Airlines Flash Sales on Twitter - #Hotels in Future??

+Skift posted 'What Buying Airline Tickets through Twitter Will Look Like'

#Twitter is testing a Buy button, which will enable airlines + other retailers to offer flash sales - based on text in individual's tweets.

A quote from #Twitter spokesman:

“You can imagine how well the product would work with deals or discounts based on what users are tweeting or what they’re interested in based on their follows,” 

Skift writer @SamShankman creates an excellent example of how #hotels could use tweets to propose personalized perks:

For example, if someone was on their way to the airport for a British Airways flight to London and tweeted, “I can’t wait to fly@British_Airways & stay at @FSLondon this weekend,” then the airline or hotel could tweet the user a discount for in-flight drinks or breakfast in bed. The user could then purchase either directly through the platform.

Full article here:

Future possibilities ???
Twitter Flash Sales Hotel Rates based upon savvy Twitterers tweeting their flights + destinations???

Hotels #Mobile Marketing = Customer Engagement

A mobile mindset is essential to 'reach and resonate' with today's consumers. In this recent blog post, +MDG Advertising details data behind engagement of the on-the-go customer.

Engagement, digital or otherwise, is key to guests' hospitality experience.

Read full article here.

As hotel guests increasingly use mobile for bookings and concierge services, hoteliers will need to grow talent equipped with mobile skills.

More importantly, providing mobile in-destination services means thinking beyond the stay.  As OTAs' strategies include owning the total travel experience, guest engagement via mobile is essential.

Mobile mindset + mobile skills + hotel services delivery app = 

direct hotel revenue.

Is your hotel team ready for mobile empowered guests?

We can help.

#Hotels - In Destination #Mobile Services Imperative to YOUR Guest Relationship

+LoungeUp published an insightful blog post warning #hoteliers to act quickly and provide mobile services... or risk losing guest communication to OTAs.

Key Points from Lounge Up post

• 80% of travellers want to easily access local amenities on their devices (MCD study),
• This means think beyond the stay - think in destination, local experience
• Independent travellers increasingly look to mobile as a first choice in solving travel problems and want little face-to-face contact with a hotel front desk
• Priceline, TripAdvisor and other big budget online travel companies have purchased restaurant bookings sites, online tour + local activities booking sites

In short, these global companies seek to own the traveler from end to end... 

     the total guest experience

• Travel Inspiration
• Travel planning
• Booking - air, hotel, ground
• In Destination Bookings - restaurants, exhibits, activities
• Social Sharing Rewards
• Post stay communications
• Personal Referral Networks

This quote from Priceline's CMO should rouse all hotels to action

MTA Hotel Tonight has already added keyless mobile checkin to their app (Tnooz)

What to do:

• Create mobile services expertise in-house - a team approach is best
• Engage a hotel mobile services platform - as essential to hotels as booking engines
• Start with essential hotel concierge services 
• Enhance by adding local partners, events and 'insider' tips
• On an ongoing basis, increase mobile as a guest engagement point
• Communicate your mobile services at each digital touchpoint - email, site, Facebook, Google +, etc.
• I strongly recommend an identifiable icon - similar to WiFi 

Full article here  H/T LoungeUp

If you need some additional info, please get in touch - we are happy to help.

Hotels Social Shout Outs = Points + Perks

Excellent article - You Like a Hotel, It Likes You Back - a brief on major hotel groups rewarding guests and visitors who share socially.

Among the Profiled are:

• +Marriott Rewards #MRpoints - slogan = “Share, Like, Tweet, Repeat"
• Kimpton Karma Rewards - offer free nights or free WiFi,  bar credits and other perks for social shoutout
• Selfie in Paris contest from +Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group - @MO_PARIS and the hashtag #MOselfiecontest

But the most intriguing + innovative is +Hotelied, Inc. 

Consolidating members loyalty programs, Hotelied is a matchmaker for travelers who are 'point active', socially active + are community influencers with hotels seeking guests with 'social capital'.

Key quote:

Members are "asked to add your social media networks and your hotel and airline loyalty programs. That information is then used to decide which rates you’re charged based on whether the hotel is, as the site explains, targeting frequent travelers, loyal travelers or “guests who work in specific industries such as fashion, entertainment, business, or education."

Full article in New York Times 

#BA Digital Outdoor Cannes Award = Magic

The tech story behind BA's "The Magic of Flying"

Award winning campaign indeed feels magical.  The video on how the magic was accomplished fascinates as well.

Note the use of #lookup on screens and site pages.

H/T Adverblog

+StarwoodHotels betas SPG app for #GoogleGlass

#SPG - Starwood Hotels Loyalty Program - is testing an exciting service concept for program members using +Google Glass 

The SPG App will exploit Google Glass capabilities for hands free, voice activated questions - directions, call the hotel, view photo galleries, etc.

The GoogleGlass app + other wearables such as smartwatches will open a whole new spectrum of guest services.

What traveler services can you imagine?

#CitizenM Hotels NYC - great recap by #coolhunting

+Cool Hunting  a terrific job of profiling the DNA of +citizenM hotels - as a loooong time hospitality professional, I absolutely agree engineered hotel experiences are outdated.

My favorite quote from the article:
"The original name was 'One Star is Born,'" says Chada. "It was our code name, because we didn't believe in the star rating system, which is very old-fashioned. It's not about the actual amenities and more about the service and experience that you get." 

A worthy read...travelers will relate + hoteliers take notice.

I am a big fan and follower after my Citizen M Hotel Amsterdam stay.

+CitizenM Hotels - congrats on the #NYC Attitude in the Hotel Launch

+citizenM hotels totally gets it - focus = guests as global mobile nomads + local flair.

The #NYC #TimesSquare CitizenM hotel opening was a successful alchemy of social brash blogger slumber party + cheeky traditional bell hop in front rival hotel + fun, funky art from Jon Burgerman to - my favorite - 'no hotel cliches' stop motion video.

Congratulations #CitizenM Hotels on your brassy creative approach that is so Noo Yawk attitude !!

PES, the genius that created this stop motion, has a fantastic YouTube channel - GO THERE!!

H/T Hotel Marketing Strategies for publishing the tips.

#digitalmarketing DEAD - move to Marketing in #Digital Era

+Unilever Senior SVP of #globalmarketing Marc Mathieu gave an enlightened interview in Sydney.  He stated that digital marketing is no longer a sub-specialty of marketing as 'everything is digital' and that today's marketers should know how to code....a significant skill set change.

Full interview here in Adnews.com.au

+Hipmunk Everywhere #cross-platform search = beyond responsive design

+Hipmunk tech team recognized that multi-device users use multple screens to complete search + #travel #bookings.  To assure reaching customers ' reach consumers anywhere, anytime, and from any device.' Hipmunk has launched Hipmunk Everywhere - details here on their blog.

This new feature, along with Hipmunk apps, raises the bar beyond responsive design creating easy, seamless hotel and travel booking experience.  As users need to log in to access Everywhere, Hipmunk gathers significant data on users travel planning + booking process.

It will be very interesting to see which travel sites and meta-search engines follow Hipmunk's lead.

#SwitchEmbassy + #tshirtOS = tech geek chic trend

At our Paris Think Tank last month, T shirt OS was showcased + the basis for our Innovation Contest

Now @SwitchEmbassy created TshirtOS  big buzz hit at SXSW!

Great to see that our Paris Think Tank was ahead of the tech geek chic trend.

Bravo #tshirtOS

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