Digital hospitality is fast becoming a prerequisite for every hotel and it is important for hotels to stay abreast with the changing dynamics of digitalism and evolve accordingly. Take it from the General Manager of Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway. Saurabh Bakshi, who was recently honoured with the Rising Star Award at the HIFI 2014, is a young achiever with just over 12 years experience. He has taken the brand Sheraton to newer digital heights and I was very impressed with the knowledge he had of the very technical digital industry.
I chatted with him at length, post the honour he received, about his journey, the evolution of the industry and how he stays abreast and ahead of the herd in the overcrowded milieu of digitalism. Excerpts from the interview:
Q: How much do you think experience matters when it comes to managing operations of a 5-star hotel?
A: Agility is the key to success in our industry. While experience does matter, experience in years is not the only criteria. A leader should be someone who can associate with the team. One needs to adapt himself/herself in such a way that he/she can adapt to the needs & culture and accustom themselves to their social needs and their values.
At Starwood and Sheraton Bangalore, we provide great training and career paths for our associates. As the company grows in India, so do careers and opportunities of associates at individual hotels. The new culture of a leader in the rapidly evolving hotel industry requires a mix of agility with understanding, giving the associates the necessary and timely recognition and providing them the support through trainings and exposure.
Q: How far is a GM's buy-in important to get social media and digital marketing off the ground?
A: As the ultimate decision-maker, it is imperative for a General Manager’s buy-in to get social media and digital marketing as it is the only way forward. It is doubly important for the ideas of the General Manager to be incorporated. I personally feel the need to be involved, even if I’m not actively participating at every level. I feel it is important to know what’s happening on the social media front and where we stand.
Q: What should the GMs of today do to adopt a fast moving medium for hotel marketing?
A: Our goal is to move at the pace of digital innovation with the agility & spirit of a start-up. GMs of today, I believe, need to adapt themselves to this change. We cannot be oblivious to the change and need to take the lead by embracing it. We need to empower the team to progress with time. It is important to speak the language of your audience and with the right tools, connect with them.
Q: How do you think the marketing strategies for the hospitality industry have changed over a period of time?
A: The changes have been multifold. While the traditional means of print media continue to be important, the layers of digital, social media and loyalty marketing are new domains where growth is in progress. At this stage, it is imperative for hotels to maintain their positioning and deliver consistent messaging across channels.
Q: What is the current market for the Indian hotels like and how tough is the competition?
A: The market in India is growing for hotels and competition continues to play a vital part. Starwood, with its nine brands has entered the market at the right time and not only are we focusing on upscale brands like Sheraton and Westin, but also specialty select brands like Aloft and Four points by Sheraton, which are at lower price points. I believe competition is always healthy, be it within the Starwood group of hotels or otherwise.
Q: Where do you think our Indian hotels lack in their marketing & revenue management strategies?
A: I believe we are all at different levels of the growth curve. Specifically in terms of revenue management, a chunk of business comes from the corporates and we are still in the system of contractual agreements with them. However, there is a definite shift towards dynamic pricing already which is the way of the West, and more and more people have started focusing on BAR (Best-Available-Rate) as the way forward in revenue management.
Q: Do you feel that some of the hotels, that are just going digital, are flying blind on how to invest in an online marketing plan?
A: As is always the case, when new technologies come into play, each player takes their own time to adapt and settle in. I believe we are all growing at different levels. As Starwood amps up digital, mobile and social innovation, we’re driving industry firsts; setting ourselves apart in this space. Being first is important to us because it means we get to shape the experience.
In the last 18 months alone, Starwood was the first in our industry to leverage state-aware technology on our mobile applications, the first to build an iPad App on Apple’s new iOS 7, the first to launch SMS capabilities, the first to integrate user-generated Instagram into our property pages, the first to introduce a Chinese Android App and the first in the hotel industry to launch an App for Google Glass.
Q: What are the benefits of 360˚ hotel marketing?
A: Communicating a consistent message across channels is vital to create a lasting impression in the mind of the guests. Whether it is on property, through print, on social media or otherwise; it is essential that the tone of voice and message remains consistent. On-property experience also makes a huge impact, be it pre-stay, during stay or post-stay messages. The benefits are multifold, as guests associate with the brand better, there is more recall for brand elements and signature services and at a much higher level, the guests even become ambassadors for the hotel.
Q: Which according to you are some of the social media platforms that prove great for business and help to convert reviews into revenues?
Social media, we believe, is fast becoming a key distribution channel. There is a lot of information that exists there about our guests, their needs and expectations and their feedback. It is quick and real time. More importantly, it is viral. Our ability to understand the importance of social media and proactively incorporate this into our strategy, to be able to leverage the information to our advantage will be a key differentiator going forward.
The review mechanism which exists today is getting more and more powerful. A lot of people, while choosing a hotel, go on to TripAdvisor and see the ratings before finalizing their plans. Starwood Hotels and Resorts is the first Hotel Company to open up the property websites for ratings and reviews and we see a lot of guests who choose to leave behind positive notes about their stay experience at Sheraton Bangalore on our website. The best use of social media is in marketing, making the presence of the brand felt across all platforms. For us, this is essentially the next big thing.
Q: How can one effectively work towards driving the traffic directly to a hotel’s website?
A: A trend that we’ve noticed is that guests are increasingly bypassing other channels to book directly on our site, which is more profitable for us and supports our strategy of owning the guest. Across Starwood, our digital innovation, combined with our brand’s loyalty program and the experience we deliver in our hotels, gives our guests a true “end-to-end” experience before, during and after a stay. OTAs, start-ups and others are focused on parts of the equation, but we’re focused on the entire guest experience.
Simple measures like linking email signatures, mailers etc. back to your website and using the website to the fullest by showcasing offers which are promoted across social media are ways of driving traffic to the website. Ultimately, the guest tends to click on the hotel website by default when given a choice between an OTA and the website.
Q: Can you share a few instances of online experiences in terms of user interactions and customer engagements that have worked well for you?
A: We have always encouraged guests to share their feedback across online platforms, the biggest “risk” being encouraging them to leave feedback on our property website. Guest feedback and expression is completely out of our control and allowing them to share their views on a public domain which is as official as your own website can, in fact, pose a threat. However, we believe in learning from guest feedback, taking it in our stride as we consistently strive to better our services in line with the changing demands and needs of guests.
Having said that, it is a matter of pride that we have an overall rating of 4.6 out of 5 on our website. Guest feedback, in whatever form - be it on online platforms - through guest comment cards or exchanged verbally, is extremely important to us and is taken in a positive manner.
Q: Where and how does loyalty marketing come in with regard to digital marketing?
A: With globalization trends, there are more mega travellers than ever before going to more places around the world. The opportunity to cultivate what we call ‘loyalty beyond reason’ with the world’s most frequent travellers has never been greater. These are sophisticated consumers who have become jaded by generic points and perks. This is why we’ve invested in distinct, new and personal benefits to truly reward those who reward us with a disproportionate amount of their business.
SPG, or Starwood Preferred Guest is our biggest strength and being a part of Starwood Hotels and Resorts and leveraging this through digital marketing is the need of the hour. The SPG mobile application is a common platform for guests to know more about our properties, a dedicated website, on-going offers promoted across properties through their social media and digital marketing channels are just a few ways of loyalty marketing through digital platforms.
Q: What is the winning formula for the success of your hotel?
A: Sheraton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway is the first newly built and managed Sheraton in India, offering signature experiences like the Link@Sheraton experienced with Microsoft, Sheraton Fitness by Core Performance, Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed and Shine Spa for Sheraton. Sheraton guests mix business with pleasure and pleasure with business in a seamless flow.
