Mr. Leopold

Sales & Marketing

Just How High Is the Digital IQ of Major Hotel Brands? And Why?

By Gary Leopold, President & CEO, ISM

Having spent over two decades immersed in hotel, travel and lifestyle brands, I’ve watched marketing trends come and go, and at times despaired at how much the hotel and travel industry has clung to its legacies and failed to embrace innovation and change. Fortunately, that’s not been the case with the world of digital. In fact, the travel industry has been transacting online for years, well ahead of other industries, and today a full 39% of U.S. travel brands engage in e-commerce. But taking reservations electronically doesn’t mean that a brand has truly capitalized on the power of the digital marketplace, so I thought it would be interesting to see which brands are especially adept at engaging and serving their guests online, and to benchmark their performance by creating a Digital IQ.

So my travel and lifestyle marketing company, ISM, partnered with digital think tank L2 and George Washington University School of Business (GWSB) to conduct the first-ever study of digital competence across the travel industry. The study, called the L2 Digital IQ Index®: Travel, evaluated the digital effectiveness of 89 prestige travel brands in terms of their website, digital marketing (search engine optimization, email marketing and display), social media (Facebook, Twitter and YouTube) and Mobile (compatibility and applications.) Each brand was scored against more than 350 qualitative and quantitative data points and the study assigned a digital IQ ranking of Genius, Gifted, Average, Challenged or Feeble.

Interestingly enough, airlines took the first three of the top ten spots in the rankings, especially proving their ability to leverage social media to enhance the overall flying experience. Five hotel companies, however, also found their way to the “top ten” list: W Hotels (#4), Hilton Hotels & Resorts, (#5) Westin Hotels & Resorts (#6), Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (#9), and Inter-Continental Hotels & Resorts (#10.)

The study concluded, among other things, that there is a direct relationship between the Digital IQ® of hotels and growth in Average Daily Rate. That’s a significant finding when you consider the extent to which even high-end hotels have slashed and burned their rates during the Great Recession and the role therefore that digital prowess can play in helping them rebound and recover rate at a much faster pace than their competitive set.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, is the study’s finding that Facebook is the new preferred platform for hotels, and, in fact, the travel industry at large. The iPhone is, similarly, the portable electronic device of choice and 48% of the brands have their own iPhone apps that include everything from booking the next flight home to making dinner reservations at the hotel’s restaurant. As “smartphones” have become almost the norm for consumers and are no longer just for executives, the travel industry has responded and 56% of the brands are currently hosting a dedicated mobile site. With the new found popularity of tablet computers, thanks in large part to Apple’s iPad, brands are just starting to roll out dedicated apps that make use of the tablets bigger screens to display photos and videos.

Looking closely at the hotel brands that fared well in the study, there are compelling lessons to be learned. Starwood, for instance, provides the best example of an organization-wide approach to digital. Each Starwood brand occupies the same site platform, enhancing SEO, cross-selling opportunities, and customer service without compromising the distinct identity of each hotel. With Facebook as well, Starwood boasts a page for every property, spotlighting its uniqueness and destination while leveraging content and community engagement from across the Starwood organization.

Four Seasons, another of the top ten hotel brands, has capitalized on its reputation for delivering highly personalized service that anticipates guest needs by launching a “Have Family Will Travel” blog featuring rich media, tips, stories and other tales from writers who have traveled the globe. Four Seasons has done a terrific job of unifying its web presence by incorporating the blog into the landing tab on its Facebook page.

While Sheraton registered #17 in the rankings, it is considered “Gifted” in this study, engaging its guests in a “Better When Shared” virtual community that encourages them to communicate their travel experiences and memories.

Fairmont, #15 in the digital rankings, also has a highly interactive “Everyone’s an Original” site, with a large library of user-generated content, interspersed with original content such as recipes from the chefs at their properties.

Mandarin Oriental, ranked #27 and also “Gifted,” has an iPhone app that uses stunning design and imagery from its properties and features seamless search and reservation functionality.

Inter-Continental Hotels & Resorts has proven its digital leadership by allowing guests to explore the area around their hotels and look at sample itineraries through a variety of virtual, online services. In addition, each property’s concierge has recorded videos on the subject that can be easily shared by email or downloaded.

Since the release of this study, Omni Hotels, ranked #26 and “Gifted,” has done significant upgrades to its Facebook page by allowing guests to make a reservation at any of its hotels without ever having to leave Facebook. While hotels have been adding booking widgets to their Facebook pages for some time, they have all required guests to leave Facebook to complete the reservation.

Despite these examples of how major hotel brands are using digital to good effect, there’s clearly a great deal of room for growth. At present, only 28 percent of all travel brand sites incorporate social media sharing, just nine percent include user reviews and only 60 percent incorporate video. Yet there is a direct correlation between a brand’s Digital IQ® and the average time a consumer spends on a particular site. Genius sites (think W Hotels, Hilton, and Westin) hold user attention for an average of 6.2 minutes. Feeble sites (hotel brands such as Taj Group of Hotels, Park Hyatt and Regent International Hotels) command only an average of 3.4 minutes of potential guests’ attention. These brands can easily increase the length of time that guests are spending on their pages with a few simple upgrades.

While the hotel industry has taken some promising early steps in the digital arena, it might consider taking a leaf out of the book of certain airlines which have really pushed the needle, most notably Delta (which ranked #1 in the survey). Delta makes it so easy for consumers to interact with its organization online, offering check in and flight status on Facebook, for instance, and letting travelers book directly from its wall or through its mobile site.

The one thing the survey makes clear, is that you can no longer afford to shy away from digital engagement, as customers increasingly turn to online and mobile platforms for all forms of communication, sharing, planning, and of course booking. But, more than ever, this digital landscape is driving all aspects of customer service and engagement, before, during and after a trip.

Having a high Digital IQ is no longer aspirational, it’s become a requirement for successfully competing in the marketplace of today and for delivering a strong and measurable return on investment.

The full Digital IQ Index: Travel study is available for download at http://www.l2thinktank.com/traveldigitaliq2011/

Gary Leopold is the President and CEO of ISM, a Boston based travel and lifestyle marketing agency that specializes in solving problems for premier brands around the world. His thinking has influenced such brands and destinations as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton, Abercrombie & Kent, American Express, Hong Kong, The Islands of the Bahamas, Barbados, Emirates, Harley-Davidson and more. Mr. Leopold often lectures at universities, while being regularly published in leading travel industry publications. Prior to co-founding ISM, Mr. Leopold held the position of Worldwide Corporate Director of Public Relations for Sonesta International Hotels Corporation. Mr. Leopold can be contacted at 617-353-1822 or gleopold@ismboston.com Extended Bio...

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