Luxury Travel, Lifestyle and Marketing Trends

Anyone who doubts the committed audience of online communities should have gone with me to Miami Yelp’s Spice Trade hosted by the Mandarin Oriental, where local reviewers could mesh in real life. It was quite a happening, with some of the Miami’s leading restaurants offering up Chinese dumplings, Indian curry, California rolls, cupcakes, and exotic drinks to match.

There are increasingly more articles in the mass media about hotels not rate-cutting or offering value adds – a sign that times are starting to change. So what’s the deal? Quality seems to making a comeback as a motivator in buying decisions of the affluent (though in the case of a few brands such Hermes, that was never a factor, as it was one of the luxury brands that had the lowest drop in sales in this year’s Great Recession).

Until now, being “green” has predominantly meant selling eco-friendly products or services. But this year’s tough economy presents a new opportunity for businesses to take environmental stewardship to a new level – by helping customers buy less stuff. But it has to be the “right stuff.”

Value added alone is not enough. Early in 2009, many marketers thought that offering “value adds” would be enough – i.e. a four-night stay for the price of three, a resort credit, a free dessert when ordering an entrée, etc. As the year progressed, it was obvious that these initiatives weren’t enough. The overall rate had to be priced right as well.

Recently I was a guest speaker at a Preferred Hotel Group conference, and a question on the minds of many was, “Do the affluent use social media?”

An excerpt from Karen Weiner Escalera’s speech last week in Palm Beach for the Luxury Marketing Council last week, as reported by The Palm Beach Daily News: “Value rules the day at all price points,” she said, reminding the audience that before the global recession kicked in last year, excess was in vogue.”It’s a badge of honor for consumers to get things at a good price.”

Anyone working in PR can tell you about the bombardment of invites in their inboxes for seminars, webinars and conferences for social media and SEO training. This indicates a demand for more education on the topic, and according to these results, it’s paying off.

When you’re thirsty for a Coke, you go might go to the nearby vending machine for your drink. Today, you can get much more than just the usual carbonated drink or salty snack.

Hotels are starting to set themselves apart by becoming a part of the conversation, instead of using Twitter and Facebook as purely sales pitches, by humanizing their business by creating an emotional connection with their guests and fans.

Back in November, we wrote about Loyalty Marketing in Turbulent Times, whereby loyalty programs can be a key differentiator among competition these days, as individuals are taking a closer look at these programs for added value and benefits. Although hotels have also had these programs for years, they recently have had to relax restrictions to keep loyal members on board.