Fearless Collaboration

Mm associations spent an afternoon working on 2010 marketing plans of our own. Taking a break from positioning and strategy sessions gave all chance to check iPhones and most-importantly compete in the first Summer 2009 MM Cannonball Competition. Eric took 1st place. Congratulations!

Taste of the Road Vol. I -- Pizza

This summer has been a whirlwind tour of the country where I visited with great DOSMs at amazing hotels. The travel has introduced me to so many new friends, and also allowed me to indulge in the cuisine of the various cities. I'm what could be considered a "foody" given my passion for all that is food. So, naturally, I got hooked into the battle between New York's thin crust versus Chicago's deep-dish pizza. Having experienced both, I now know why this battle persists. It is a battle of two very different philosophies of what pizza is; a snack or a major meal. Both are incredible, but only one can be considered king!

While in New York I decided to visit the original, very first pizza place in the country: Lombardi's Pizza. I went with the traditional Gennaro's Original which included red sauce, fresh mozzarella and strips of basil. It was large and simple - just the taste of high-quality ingredients in complete harmony. The crust was golden and crusty on the outside with an airy inside, and a hint of smoke due to the coal oven. I cherished every bite knowing I was experiencing a masterpiece in the pizza world. Despite eating the entire pizza, I was left longing for more. Because the pizza is topped sparingly and simply, it isn't a true meal by itself. The focus of this pizza is clearly simplicity, inviting one to enjoy every aspect of the pie in moderation.

Vote: A+

In Chicago I decided to follow the Yelp recommendation and headed to Giordanos for stuffed pizza. I decided on the original with sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, and onions. In addition to the abundant toppings was a CRAZY amount of oozing, gooey cheese. I absolutely adore cheese, but even I was intimidated by the sheer amount of cheese I was about to devour. Not to even mention the size of this pie was immense even though I bought a small! The pizza was interesting as the cheese is on the bottom with the toppings, while the sauce is on top. Unlike Lombardi's, at Giordano's the crust, which is similar to a cracker in consistency, takes a back seat to the toppings. I ended up eating only 2 slices before throwing in the towel, giving me an extra 2 slices for a snack later. The focus on this pizza is excess and cheese.

Vote: A+

So, which pizza is actually best? The battle is only fair in that both are technically pizza, but comparing them is like comparing a Poodle to a Rottweiler - both are dogs, but they are completely different. That said, if I was given both pizzas and had choose only one, it would be Giordanos. I'm just a glutton for cheese!

Blogging about Blogging

As all of us at McConnell Marketing are about to do, I found myself sitting down at my computer to write my first blog, staring at a blank document—and I couldn’t quite make my fingers move. Maybe it’s because I’m getting the funniest commentary ever from Sara who is on the phone next to me but more likely… I’m not sure what an appropriate topic is.

To a degree, blogging is supposed to be freeform and random—but there must be some rules to successful blogging, right? Figuring that others might have the same questions I did, I hit up Google to explore the ins and outs of blogging. Here’s what I found:

Post Regularly. Readers will be more likely to follow your blog if you have a regular posting schedule (McConnell Marketing has addressed this potential issue with a $5 late fee for blogs that are, ahem, belated).

Niche It. Clearly define who your audience is and speak to them—and only them— directly (hope you like marketing… and hotels).

Write Well. Make your post long, make it short, make it mid-length, but by all means, write well.

Market Your Blog. Don’t post it and forget it. This is your chance to use sexy marketing like social networking. Market your posts on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc.

Don’t Give Up. Blogging is tedious, boring, monotonous and downright draining at times.

I totally went meta with this blog. Blogging about blogging—it’s enough to give an AE a headache.

Making Leftovers

Mark’s blog about eCollateral (HERE) got me thinking: when your budget’s stretched to the brink, why not get more out of the stuff you’ve already got. It’s like turning last night’s meatloaf dinner into a tasty meatloaf sandwich for lunch – think of it as Marketing Leftovers. A few examples include:

• brochures to EBROCHURES.
• Convert an ad to an HTML email or a poster
• HTML emails to email signatures and animated GIFs

Now, you’re not going to be able to just send a PDF of your most recent ad to Kinko’s and have them spit out a poster. But you can send that ad (or fact sheet, or HTML) to an agency and have them use it as a basis for other applications. It’ll be cheaper than starting from scratch, and it gives your marketing a campaign feel. For more information, contact us.

Eco-Friendly eCollateral “Shoots the Gap”

The PDF file format began a shift away from printed hotel collateral. Printed materials aren’t environmentally friendly, and can be expensive (especially for communications that change frequently, like a newsletter).

But PDF files can be a bit “clunky” (for lack of a better word). One issue is file size. Send a prospective client a 4-megabyte PDF, and you may “constipate” his or her email for awhile. And PDFs just aren’t viewer friendly (too much scrolling and downloading).

The solution is eCollateral. Take an existing PDF… a newsletter, brochure, menu or whatever – and transform it into an interactive electronic document (like this) that’s way less than half its original size. Email it, link it to your website, and make it part of your email signature. And the price is right, too. Want to know more? Contact us.

Build Your Own eMail Marketing List

Obtaining good lists for marketing-oriented snail mail’s relatively easy. But obtaining getting email lists of comparable quality is virtually impossible. So what’s a tech-savvy marketer to do? Start by finding creative ways to capture the email addresses of everyone who comes on property.

With overnight guests, your reservation system makes that pretty easy. But what about the thousands of locals who visit your bars, restaurants, and function rooms? Those are known users, the single best source of future business.

The recipe for successful capture has two ingredients… effective communication and attractive bait. And since you don’t have their emails (yet), traditional communication tools (signs, check stuffers, table tents) are your only option. But without a strong incentive, expect a weak response.

Catch our next blog for specifics on offers that appear to be working.

Budget Stretching

Our very own Eric Morrison, ready and willing

to stretch your budget and tighten those abs.

We know how important sticking to a budget is. When you don't have much moolah to work with, it's tempting to just do something run-of-the-mill and (let's be honest) painstakingly average. Here at McConnell Marketing, we don't do average. We know how to stretch your baby budget and make your projects look like a million bucks.

Collateral Damage

Avoid "unnecessary" use of quotation marks...

In tough times it's tempting to take marketing into your own hands, especially for things that change often, like seasonal events. But sometimes, DIY marketing does more harm than good. Poor-quality pieces damage your brand equity and turn guests off.

Nothing bugs me more than walking into a four-star hotel lobby and seeing black-and-white clipart (and typo) laden inkjet flyers sitting in an acrylic on the front desk. Cheap doesn't have to be cheap-looking. With some planning and up-front investment, you can get the most for your marketing buck. For example:

• Instead of printing off 500 flyers every time you have a brunch or a wine tasting, print full-color shells at the beginning of the year and overprint with each event's details. The economy of printing a large quantity up front makes the per-piece costs next to nothing.

• Send an email. Settle on a template, then just change the 'guts' to reflect your latest offer.

• Social marketing. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, TripAdvisor; if you're not active on these sites, you should be. The investment here is time, but other than that, maintaining a presence on these social networking sites is free. Just be sure you're giving people a reason to be your Internet friend (offers and constantly updated content help.

So take Kinko's off speed dial and trash that clip art folder off your hard drive. With a little planning, you can have marketing materials that reflect your property AND are cost effective.