Ms. Knutson

Sales & Marketing

Make Your Guest a Member of Your Hotel's Tribe

By Bonnie Knutson, Professor, The School of Hospitality Business/MSU

Question: What do Harley Davidson, Southwest Airlines, Lexus, and Oprah have in common?

Answer: They are all experts in generating revenues by making their customers tribal members.

In a business environment filled with countless competing hotel brands, the only way you can really win big is by making an emotional connection with your guests. In other words, you have to capture their hearts. Lists of features and benefits alone cannot differentiate your brand and drive revenues anymore.

By definition, human beings - i.e. consumers - are social creatures. We have a strong sense of community, of wanting to belong to something. Our tribal urge is strong. Remember studying Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs in school? He tells us that, once we have our basic survival needs met - food, water, shelter - we are motivated by our need to be a part of something larger than we are. We want to belong to a group or a community. So it is natural that consumers want to connect with brands that give them a sense of belonging to something special.

We all like to think that we are intellectual buyers, that we are smart consumers who analyze the pros and cons of what we buy. But the truth is that we buy with our hearts (and try to justify with our heads). We may read ads, search the Internet for information, ask friends for a recommendation, and draw from our own experiences, but when it comes to most purchases, instinct trumps intellect.

I can hear the protests now. You are crazy. Why, I read all the information about safety ratings, gas mileage, seat comfort, and ionic spark plugs before I bought my new car.

Sure you did. But didn't you really buy that little red Corvette convertible because it is a cool car? Didn't you buy it because you just love the feeling of the wind in your hair when you're flying down the highway with the top down? And didn't you buy it so you could stand a little taller and feel a little younger when you kid's buddies give you the once over and nod approvingly? That's buying with instinct, not intellect.

Not long ago, there was an article in Time Magazine about how marketers are studying the electro-functioning of the brain. They want to figure out how they can better tap into consumers' emotions and attract them into their tribe. In a blind taste test for two competing soft drink brands, consumers rated both products about equal. When shown the brand logos, however, one brand absolutely creamed the other. When the "emotion" of the brand was introduced, these consumers not only said they preferred one to the other, but would buy that one - even though they originally judged the two products to be equal. While the marketers were interested in what these consumers said, they were more interested in the neural mapping of their brains' chemical response. Areas of the frontal lobe - where primordial feelings and passions are generated -- went crazy when the consumers were shown the brand logos.

Now, it is a cinch that both companies spent a lot of money creating their brand image. The difference is that the "successful" soft drink brand developed a message and product that hit the primitive part of the consumer's brain better than did the "losing" soft drink.

Top hotel brands know how to successfully capitalize on this belonging need in order to attract customers and develop brand loyalty. They do this by creating authentic emotional connections that are aimed straight at consumers' frontal lobes, tapping into the powerful tribal emotions about image, fantasies, aspirations, and dreams. Guests of Canyon Ranch proudly sport the spa's logo on their tee shirt because they want to project the image of being part of resort's healthy, active tribe. Golfers head for the Nike "swoosh" because they have the fantasy of joining the ranks of those invited to play in the Masters or British Open. Weekend athletes drink Gatorade because they aspire to master the next level in their sport. And we all buy at least one pair of cowboy boots in our lives because we dream about riding the open range next to Billy Crystal in the movie, City Slickers. Perhaps the most successful example of tribal marketing, however, invaded our psyche on television. After all, we all wanted to have a drink at Cheers, "where everybody knows your name."

Consumers of the 21st Century are less motivated by the products and services than in the social links and identities that come with buying them. This new reality means that your hotel's marketing strategy must be structured to draw guests into your hotel's tribe. Perhaps Richard Branson said it best: "The idea that business is just a numbers affair has always struck me as preposterous. For one thing, I have never been particularly good at numbers, but I think I have done a reasonable job with feelings. And I'm convinced that it is feelings - and feelings alone - that account for the success of the Virgin brand in all of its myriad forms."

Start building your hotel's tribe today. Your bottom line will thank you tomorrow.

Bonnie J. Knutson is a professor in The School of Hospitality Business in the Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. She is an authority on emerging lifestyle trends and innovative marketing. Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and on PBS and CNN. She has had numerous articles in industry, business, and academic publications. Bonnie is a frequent speaker for executive education as well as business and industry meetings, workshops, and seminars. Dr. Knutson is also editor of the Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing. Ms. Knutson can be contacted at 517-353-9211 or drbonnie@msu.edu Extended Bio...

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