Trent365

85% of consumer behaviour is irrational.

That's what world renowned branding expert and consumer insight specialist Martin Lindstrom once told me.

So in that context, how much should your messaging and marketing be focussed on creating a COVID Safe space around your brand / product / service?

Presumably, not too much.

If you are able to tell the right story and create a compelling enough reason for your customers to buy, they will come. No matter how irrational that may seem.

#consumerbehaviour #consumerinsights #storytelling

Hotels tend to lag consumer trends.

Be it in the area of Gyms, Spas, Food & Beverage, Sustainability, whatever. Hotels, despite what they'd like us to believe, are simply not innovators.

Maybe they can't be. After all, they need to appeal to a wide audience to achieve reasonable occupancy levels. 

But I sense an opportunity.

Why not offer a room category called The Innovation Room?

In that room, a guest will find any number of innovative products and solutions.

I believe many guests would be happy to pay a premium to stay in such a room. I know I would.

And the guest feedback would be valuable consumer research too.

#hotels #innovation #consumertrends

Social Media is often seen as a negative thing.

However, I genuinely believe that post all my content on Social Media has made me a better person.

I'm a person who has always had pretty strong opinions and has a tendency to shoot from the hip in voicing those opinions.

But when I'm posting that opinion on Social Media, I always stop, just for a brief moment, to consider how that opinion will be received, perceived & interpreted.

In doing that, I am forcing myself to be more aware of the opposing points of view.

I am being more empathetic to those with differing opinions.

OK, sure, there are some who would say I'm not exactly doing a great job at that. And that I need to be more thoughtful and considered...but I'm trying.

#socialmedia #opinions #empathy

An oxymoron is 'a combination of contradictory or incongruous words'.

Like... Deafening Silence or Act Naturally

In a way, I think sometimes Brand Standard can be an oxymoron too.

The whole purpose of a brand is to stand out from the rest.

However, in the very process of creating a Brand Standard, sometimes what we really end up doing is simple Standardising our Brand.

#branding #brandstrategy #standardisation

The Human Library is a not for profit learning program.

And it's brilliant.

It's kinda like a library but instead of books...they have people to tell their own stories.

And those stories are of facing prejudice, bias, stigma, etc.

You can go to a Human Library and borrow a Book (ie: a Human) for a 30 minute chat to learn all about them.

Some of the Human Books available include - Homeless Person, Drug Addict , HIV+ Person, Transgender Person, etc.

See. I told you. What a brilliant idea.

There are Human Libraries in over 80 countries.

Here's their website - https://bit.ly/2WgSvZH

#prejudices #stigma #movements

Right now, in the midst of this global crisis, is one of the best possible times to double down on paid online advertising.

Why?

Because the ads are just so much cheaper now.

These ad platforms operate as an auction for keywords and phrases. The more demand there is by advertisers for a specific keyword, the higher the price for that keyword. And vice versa.

As so many advertisers have reduced their ad spend during this crisis, the price of these keywords has gone down.

According to online marketing guru Neil Patel, his clients are currently seeing an increase of 71% in the ROI of their online ad spend.

And even if you can't sell your thing right now, consider running paid ads to direct people to your free content, just to get them into your system. It's like customer acquisition for the future.

PS: Checkout Neil Patel's site for lots of great, free information - https://bit.ly/308pyzY

#onlinemarketing #onlineadvertising #paidadvertising

 

https://bit.ly/308pyzY

Two brothers grow up with an alcoholic father.

One becomes an alcoholic. One never touches a drop.

What you chose to do with your circumstances, is on you.

If anyone else has been able to face similar challenges and made their way through it, then it can be done.

Is there really any valid reason why you can't do it too?

#perspective #challengeaccepted #personalgrowth

We can’t help ourselves.

We’re constantly judging and making assessments of others...then we compare ourselves to them.

That guy isn’t as good as me.

That girl is more successful than me.

But we never really know. Things are almost never exactly as the seem.

Nobody is all that they seem - both good and bad.

So just do you.

#selfawareness #perception #judgement

I built my career on a very simply theory...Just Turn Up!

From my first real hotel job as a Casual Bellman, if the hotel called me to come in...I Turned Up.

And I kept Turning Up.

Every time I was given another opportunity, I jumped at. I Turned Up.

Whether you're at the start of your career or the end of your career or somewhere in between, this theory will hold you in good stead.

I'm always amazed at the number of people I meet, at all stages of their career, who find a reason to not turn up.

That job's not for me. I don't want to be in area. That job's too hard. That job is too easy.

Sure, it matters that you do a good job when you get there. 

But most importantly - Just Turn Up!

#careeradvice #workethic #turnup

Host hotel guests simply do not use the Gym.

And that's before COVID-19.

A 2017 survey by the Cornell Centre for Hospitality Research revealed no more than around 30% of guests actually use the Gym ( https://bit.ly/2ZOoukU )

Presumably, that usage rate will only decline further in the wake of COVID-19.

So what is to become of the Hotel Gym? Is it redundant? Is it doomed?

Maybe this will prove to be the tipping point for in-room fitness options?

PS: Here's the article by Jennifer Ploszaj - https://bit.ly/31Yq85T 

#hotels #hotelroom #fitness