Hyatt Centric Integrated Marketing Campaign

Executive Summary

The following campaign encompasses a prolific breakdown that shows the Hyatt Centric brand and its position in the hospitality industry. This integrated campaign will target Generation Z and the millennial demographic, that will transcend generations.

This campaign aims to target some of the problems that hoteliers in the hospitality industry have faced in recent years. Fortune 500 companies such as Adobe, Peloton, Tesla, and Apple will launch a campaign with Hyatt Centric that can produce a significant rate of return and work to make Hyatt Centric the top choice for lodging.

This campaign offers measurable objectives that outline specific ambitions for the plan. The plan will engage a call to action via paid media execution mediums, audience segmentation, data-driven decision-making, and an outstanding concept that will leave consumers dedicated to the Hyatt Centric brand.

Background Information

The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has consistently been ranked highly in multiple publications such as Great Places to Work, Fortune, and People in various areas. Since 2016, the Hyatt Hotels Corporation has been ranked as one of the best companies to work for. 90% of Hyatt employees say it is a great workplace compared to other companies, which usually rate around 59%. The salaries, benefits, and work-life balance are key indicators of what makes most people happy in their jobs and workplaces (Great Place to Work, 2021). An article published by Morning Consult states that consumers are more likely to buy and support brands that treat employees well (Meyers, 2020). The Hyatt corporation has been in such a good position over the past few years with a renowned image of being a stellar employer. Despite the pandemic, Hyatt’s reputation and business practices have led to why they still lead in the industry. Based on recent data, there is a correlation between how brands treat employees and success. The World of Care organization by the Hyatt Hotels Corporation has been around for sixty years and has a clear history of adaptation and growth with the world and its needs (World of Care, 2021). Hyatt uses brand recognition to give back to the community and ensure responsible business practices. Hyatt takes pride in honest business interactions and strong privacy and security measures. Hyatt’s main competitors are Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, and recently — home-sharing businesses like Airbnb and HomeAway. Additionally, competitors such as the Hilton, Airbnb, and Marriott are positioned differently for a few reasons. The Hilton has more locations and is more available for this reason.

The Marriott hotel — Moxy, has a strong social media presence. The Moxy explores media properties by having more recognition and client interaction. The Hilton blog site is not as appealing as competitors. The Hilton blog is not exciting or colorful when comparing brands. By utilizing technology advancement as detailed in the SWOT analysis — the Hyatt Hotels Corporation will stand out against competitors. Though Covid has presented new problems to all businesses, Hyatt has a thorough global care commitment on the website. It’s safe to say that policies and procedures have changed to ensure cleanliness (Hyatt, 2022). The Top Hotel News published an article in April 2020 regarding the leadership values that Hyatt has demonstrated in recent years. Despite a lack of tourism and profit, the brand offered reduced-rate rooms to healthcare workers. In May 2020, the CEO donated 100% of his salary to maintain the business for an unspecified amount of time. Hyatt stood out during the pandemic because of the apparent financial workarounds to create more liquidity for the brand (Hahn, 2020). The following factors make the hotelier more attractive compared to others who did not take generous action.

Strength

The Hyatt Hotel Corporation offers luxury, upper, and upscale options for all customer profiles. Most of Hyatt’s businesses are focused on upper upscale, luxury, and upscale businesses, which account for a large percentage of their production. According to the Hyatt investor presentation, their long-term growth strategy includes expanding their portfolio by adding new hotel brands. Hyatt’s long-term growth would mean diving into “other” hotel markets like UrCove (Hyatt, 2022). This is a strength that will lead to new opportunities related to marketing segmentation. This offers diverse and abundant data to help evaluate different target market opportunities relating to age, geographic presence, and overall operational network. Circling back to Hyatt’s newer hotel lines and their merger with BTG Homeinns Hotels Group Co. — using this new data in other geographic regions will maximizeopportunities with the Chinese market.

Additionally, Hyatt has focused on its expansive platform and travel alliances, such as partnerships with American Airlines and MGM. These affiliations and reward system bonuses are perks for people interested in establishing brand loyalty (Genter, 2021). According to the Hyatt investor presentation, Hyatt’s daily rate was more costly than competitors even during the pandemic (Hyatt, 2021). Hyatt may have gained more customers during the pandemic because, during risky times, people may pay premiums compared to subpar options that may not be as thorough or clean, especially pandemic-level threats.

Weakness

A weakness that the Hyatt could address is the lack of technology and outdated appliances available in the guest rooms. There is a hotel called CityHub that offers a wristband concept where hotel guests personalize their experience. Guests at CityHub will make vending machine purchases and visit the café within the resort without phone use or physically paying (High Tech Hotels, 2021). Hotel chains should attempt futuristic methodologies during brainstorms to synchronize hospitality and tech that will result in a top-performing hotelier. Convenience trumps most other categories when people evaluate travel opportunities. As younger generations expect advancement — the Hyatt will compete with these establishments. A more obvious notion is that most hotel rooms have dated television sets with no streaming services attached or the option to airplay from outside devices. A Hyatt in Virginia Beach had about five channels available with very dated television shows and infomercials. Hyatt should try to stand out in this area as they would be surprised at the spike in the customer base. The hotel business has weak technology alternatives when customers compare a stay at an Airbnb. Younger cohorts are more excited to stay at Airbnb’s — because the technology offers more entertainment options. Hyatt could have a better chance of obtaining customers from Airbnb if given better technology offerings.

Opportunity

Upon expanding its network and hotel locations, data from other countries, such as China is beneficial for Hyatt. There is an opportunity to use the look and feel of their new hotels to see clients and answer questions like who and why they check in to those hotels (Hyatt Hotel Locations, 2021). According to Smart Asset, generation X has the highest post-tax incomes and tends to spend the most (Smart Asset, 2020). Using this information, Hyatt will cater and market more to younger generations. An option here is millennials because they tend to overspend on vacation (White, 2021). This information is helpful for the branding efforts at the Hyatt Centric set to open in Lakeside Ningbo, China. Though the clients in the miscellaneous category may need to be upper upscale, significant data collection is collected in those areas. The future Hyatt Centric in Lakeside Ningbo is a two-hour drive from the UrCove that recently opened in Shanghai. There is a customer service opportunity to serve the customers seamlessly by connecting the award systems from the various Hyatt hotels at different price margins. The system should be interactive as the travel alliances are also incorporated, and this would work best if the platform is as user-friendly as possible.

Threat

Unforeseen circumstances, such as the pandemic that started in February 2020, was the unfortunate event for the hospitality industry. Most of us have felt the wave of inflation in the last year. After years of a decline in travel and accommodation, it is no surprise that everything is much more expensive now. The best way for Hyatt to recover is to maximize its profit opportunities by increasing prices. Businesses must compensate for the large influx of severe COVID cases that forced shut downs. Travel aggregators like Orbitz and Kayak are agitators in Hyatt’s efforts to establish clients. When customers struggle financially, it’s not uncommon for consumers to utilize these sites to book trips. These practices are not good news for Hyatt because they are at the higher end of the price range next to their competition. The best way for Hyatt to counteract this is to provide sufficient customer service and take advantage of their future business opportunities.

Target Audience

Hyatt Hotels Corporation should focus on the Generation Z and Millennial market segment. The Hyatt Hotels Corporation will gain recognition, enhancement, and growth by concentrating on the following ideas. The advantage of the marketing segmentation mentioned is not mutually exclusive to a generation due to the advancement of the universal digital landscape.

It is imperative to look at the players within the industry because evaluating the competition will promote innovation that will make Hyatt Centric stand out in the hospitality industry. However, technology is rapidly growing. The public is witnessing the collaboration between company crossovers within different categories. Adobe has garnered massive success from both a customer and a professional position and stands out for this reason. For instance, small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and even individual consumers utilize the various technologies that Adobe offers (Hoffman, 2021).

The Hyatt Centric has an opportunity to act in a similar capacity. Though the Hyatt Hotels Corporation is not a technology company, it could expand to cater to this demographic based on occupation and the corporate technology world. If the Hyatt Centric and Adobe demonstrated a mutually beneficial partnership, Hyatt Hotels Corporation would use Adobe products to gain insight into their consumer. Many businesses use Adobe to gather helpful data for the future travel and hospitality sector. If Hyatt partnered with a fitness brand like Peloton — Hyatt Centric would offer Peloton fitness experiences in multiple fitness centers. Since Generation Z and millennials focus on physical health, this seems like a logical marketing decision. According to an article published by Ohio State University, alarming trends suggest that Generation X and Y do not pose as much of a worrying decline in health compared to their parents and grandparents (Grabmeier, 2021).

The persona for Hyatt Centric would be Liam. The date is January 2024, and Liam is due to graduate from the University of Miami with an MBA and concentration in Business Analytics. He currently holds an internship in the technology department at JPMorgan Chase & Co. In a few months, Liam will be ready to start his career at Adobe in Texas, where he will be the latest employee on the partnership team. Liam’s senior manager will teach him about the importance of brand partnerships, and he will use the skills learned in school and contribute his unique skillset to the team at Adobe. The following scenario is a glimpse into the future of what the typical student profile will look like. An article published in The Harvard Crimson mentions the link between financial and technical careers and the growing demand for professionals with data analytical capabilities (Barrow, 2021). People are more likely to support brands that align with their personal beliefs (Vennare, 2019). Liam’s experience at Adobe and partnership with the Hyatt Centric would lead him to book his future hotel stays. In the future, Liam will move into advanced roles within Adobe and establish loyalty with Hyatt Centric because of his frequent work travel between Adobe’s main offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Texas. The average employee tenure at Adobe is four years (Adobe, 2021). Since Liam was born in 1997, over the next four years, he hopes to spend his free time at wellness centers, trying out new restaurants, and taking his unlimited PTO time to travel as much as he can. Whether there is a meditation class, lifting weights, or weekly cryotherapy sessions, he needs to do these things no matter where he is. When traveling to new clients, he has seamless access to his fitness applications that offer convenient fitness options. Based on the persona created in this story, the psychographic demonstrated establishes a connection with the Hyatt Centric based on this specific scenario. Given technological advancement, this persona outlines a typical employee in the workforce today. The campaign will target Generation Z and millennials interested in having access to high-end technology and health facilities at the places they choose to lodge. The data from Grabmeier pointing out the declining health of generations X and Y leaves me to think that this generation is not the target of the type of campaign suggested. Considering that Peloton’s most common buyers are predominantly aged 35–44 or Generation X, both brands will not need to focus on gaining the attention of Generation X as much as millennials and Generation Z. The data that I found about Peloton states that people aged 18–24 are least likely to use Peloton which is a good business opportunity for Hyatt Centric to work side by side and expand interest to other this demographics (Peloton Revenue, 2022).

Campaign Objectives

• Increase ADR by 5% upon partnering with Adobe and Peloton
• Increase ALOS by 3% by expanding World of Hyatt credit card bonus points
• Increase CAGR by 10% over ten years by establishing new brand partnerships

Campaign Strategies

• Advertise new brand affiliations on owned media sources and utilize those brand services internally — speaks to experience and shows commitment
• Connect with consumers by gaining earned media that will be increased post-partnership
• Bond consumers by offering incentives. Business partnership employees are a useful owned media source. Use employees in photos and interviews to talk about the excitement of the partnership merge
• Follow and implement the technological advancements and utilize their services within the hotel space. The market-specific demographic in the hotel space using new technology

Integrated Creative Strategy Statement

Hyatt Centric is known as the hotel preference for routine oriented individuals looking to maintain their evolving lifestyle within the Hyatt Centric.

Creative Brief

Client: Hyatt Centric

Type: Ad for Hulu

Pages: 1

Why are we advertising?

Hyatt Centric is advertising an acquired partnerships and technological integration efforts.

Whom are we talking to?

We are targeting young business professionals that need to integrate their lives from a health, technology, and financial perspective. While traveling, they need to maintain routines.

What do they currently think?

Hotels are outdated, Airbnb’s give them more of what they need.

What would we like them to think?

Hyatt Centric has a new loyalty membership that works with so many new partnerships. Do they have Peloton bikes? If so, that means it is possible to follow a routine.

What is the single most persuasive idea we can convey?

Hyatt Centric is now fully integrated with the most up-to-date technology and offered at every location worldwide.

Why should they believe it?

Hyatt Centric offers a connected experience worldwide that can be combined with other services to earn rewards.

Are there any creative guidelines?

This short commercial detailing Hyatt’s original mission statement emphasizes that the new Hyatt Centric is expanding with partners.

A commercial showing customers walking from hotel rooms, lobbies, and the gym facilities details different activities and how easily they are doing so.

This ad will emphasize the rewards system’s perks and the transferability between reward systems.

Creative Execution

Broadcast Script

Front Desk — Greets Client

(Client is rushing in, very busy, and has hands full)

Hyatt Centric Employee — Let me help you with that. Here is a list of all our new services. Please let me know if you have any questions.

(Client and Hyatt Centric Employee walk to his room)

Client — Wow! I can’t believe you have a desktop and large TV in the room to mirror my presentation? That’s fantastic. I am creating a project for work, and using another screen makes it easier.

Hyatt Centric Employee — Yes, it’s one of the latest partnerships Hyatt Centric has with Apple. We also have Adobe services on the cloud if you need to edit or access any of your work.

Client — This is amazing. I want to get to all this tomorrow, but before I do that, I thought about going to the gym.

Hyatt Centric Employee — Well, you’re in luck. We recently renovated our fitness centers, and I’m not sure if you have a Peloton at home, but we are also stocked with quite a few of those.

(Client starts to excitedly rush the employee out)

Client — Thank you so much, I have so much to do but the Peloton will be the first thing I jump on.

(The commercial ends with the employee exiting the room. The client runs out of the room to go to the gym excitedly. He runs into multiple surprising things in the other rooms, like a smart kitchen, amongst other things)

Measurable Paid Media Objectives

• Increase website and app analytics by 20% over the next six months
• Increase target demographic visitors by 12%
• Increase social sharing by 10% in the first year
• Increase CPC on sponsored ads by 50% with an interactive concept

Detailed Plan for Paid Media Execution

Print

Billboard’s — Ad portrays a similar HULU commercial suggestion and should showcase the hotel resources, not the typical beach or snow vacation hospitality ads. It is beneficial for this campaign to show guests having fun and being productive at the Hyatt Centric. Since there will be billboards on the major highways in 15 different states, ensure that the ad will follow the psychographics of each demographic

Magazines — Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, Architectural Digest, Global Traveler

Direct Mail — As a friendly reminder, send out flyer inserts on the first of every two months as reminders

Television

Ensure commercial time airs during younger generation-driven television shows (Dexter or Peaky Blinders)

Radio

Inform the audience about the new concept of Hyatt Centric with appealing future-forward content.

Data, Target Audience, Viewership and Listenership, Budget, and Scheduling

According to an article published in Better Marketing, despite the demand for digital marketing, billboards offer significant marketing opportunities in the industry. Billboards are entertaining for drivers and can be captivating. A study published in 2019 by Jusuf Zekiri found that consumers agreed that billboards help them come to decisions and help encourage them to buy (Sanusi, 2021). Since hotels are often on the side of interstates and offer convenience for long-distance travelers, Hyatt will stand out in this market. An ideal moment for Hyatt Centric to involve the brand in the younger generation’s vacations and road trips, 30% of this campaign should be outdoor advertising. Compelling billboards promote the new concepts at the Hyatt Centric and catch the younger generations’ attention. The campaign’s timing is scheduled when people will most likely be on the interstate in certain states based on social events, holidays, and typical travel time for each state.

The Hyatt Centric would benefit from three-month magazine campaigns at different times throughout the year. By targeting multiple magazines, customer reach will be much more expansive. A monthly flyer will be released along with the latest release of each magazine. People who don’t have subscriptions will also be made aware of Hyatt Centric’s new appeal. A six-month radio and television campaign would increase listenership and viewership by a significant number — close to 50% — 60% more people could find out what makes the Hyatt Centric stand out compared to its competitors.

Media Flow Chart

Earned Media Objectives

Objective

Increase engagement of the target demographic by utilizing proactive media relations such as influencer campaigns to increase quarterly visits by 18%.

Tactic

To increase the engagement of the target demographic at Hyatt Centric — the brand would greatly benefit from an influencer campaign. For instance, a campaign in which a few known selected traveler influencers should be interviewed and promoted within Hyatt Centric shows how convenient and easy it is to travel because of using Hyatt Centric resources. The best way to introduce this is through a promotional travel blog, magazine, or even digitally on their social media pages.

Objective

Achieve awareness and website traffic by 25% for Hyatt Centric by featuring new opportunities and technology on morning news shows

Tactic

A morning interview with a media relations affiliate such as the Today Show or Good Morning America for about 10 minutes with a Hyatt Centric representative and a partner of Peloton would be a great way to advertise the up-and-coming opportunities.

Objective

Collaborate with a blogger on an organic event. Forming these relationships with interested bloggers could increase credit card enrollments by 10%

Tactic

Forming with bloggers is also an effective strategy. For instance, developing a competition-based event organically through bloggers to encourage credit card sign-ups. Bloggers are known to promote competitions and giveaways. Hyatt Centric would benefit because people often depend on the opinions of others when deciding where to travel, stay, and eat.

Owned Media Objectives

Objective

Promote Hyatt Centric’s new branding and collaborations on podcasts and increase hotel visits by 30%.

Tactic

Utilize email marketing tools by sending out credit card incentives and other relevant information every quarter to drive email click rate by 15%.

Objective

Utilize quantitative analysis to drive SEO and ensure the use of partnership affiliate’s products. Adjust strategies as necessary and increase visits by 8%.

Tactic

Utilize Adobe Analytics and partnership affiliate products and keep the technology up to date as it is ever-changing. Ensure that social media marketing reflects this message.

Encourage Hyatt Centric members to utilize and sign into their social media and affiliate products to ensure demographic accuracy.

Objective

Increase other tech partnerships within the business by gaining one new brand partner every two years.

Tactic

Make partnership within the business an achievable goal by promoting employee stories, corporate communications, and testimonials from Hyatt Centric, Peloton, and Adobe. The idea is to show the public why the Hyatt Centric brand connection is better than that of other hospitality brands.

Measurement and Evaluation

• To ensure that the ADR is increased by 5% upon partnering with Adobe and Peloton
• By expanding World of Hyatt credit card bonus points, ALOS will increase by 3%
• By monitoring the current partnerships and creating (better than before) campaign connections with future affiliates and using data analytics to find out what is desirable to millennials and Generation Z. As advertisers find out the best decisions for what is working or not. Hyatt hopes to achieve CAGR of 10% over ten years
• Utilize Adobe analytics tools to increase website and app analytics by 20% over the next six months. By doing this, the reach of owned and paid efforts will increase
• To increase the target demographic visitors by 12%, the agency will ensure that the registered visitors at Hyatt Centric are monitored and will tweak the campaigns to encourage the generational pull we are looking for
• Increase incentives to bloggers and affiliates via partnerships that will raise social sharing by 10% in the first year
• Increase CPC on sponsored ads by 50% with interactive concepts that get updated by utilizing the data tools that social media applications offer like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter — because they all have their data tools that will be monitored

Conclusion

The Hyatt Hotels Corporation has been around for sixty-two years. The brand has a clear history of adaptation and growth and the ability to mitigate change management issues. It is wise for Hyatt Centric to utilize technology advancement and affiliate partnership marketing with other brands to bridge the gap between the financial needs of partnerships and the desires of the growing customer base. Hyatt Centric will become a standout competitor in an evolving world where technological advancement goes hand-in-hand with Hyatt Hotels Corporation.

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