Luxury Hotels Are Feeling Economy’s Pinch

New York Times, January 27, 2009 — The hotel business has collided head-on with the bad economy and the tight credit market.

Hotel revenue is down sharply. Big new projects, planned in the boom days, are either sitting unfinished or left on the drawing boards. And some high-end hotel owners now face an unhappy situation — how much can they cut prices to fill their rooms before they damage their hotels’ luxury cachet?

Offsetting the Risks of Innovation

Prophet, October 1, 2008 — Classic financial theory has it that all else being equal, the

greater the risk, the greater the return. And when it comes

to innovation, those businesses that are the most successful

embrace that notion.

Woman to Woman, Online

New York Times, August 14, 2008 — Heather Armstrong’s wickedly funny blog about motherhood, Dooce, is more than just an outlet for the creativity and frustrations of a modern mother. The site, chock full of advertising, is a moneymaking machine — so much so that Ms. Armstrong and her husband have both quit their regular jobs.

What All That Chatter Is Really Saying†

Text Analytics Can Turn Customer Feedback Into More-Meaningful Insight

Advertising Age, March 3, 2008 — When Rebecca Gillan walks through the lobby of a Starwood hotel, she doesn't want to hear the guests talking about "good" or even "very good" service. That's because she knows "good" is only worth a six or seven when a guest fills out a customer service survey. She'd rather hear superlatives such as "excellent," "outstanding" or even "cool," because that's where the nines and 10s are.

Starwood Hotels: Rubbing Customers The Right Way

Massages and other unlikely Six Sigma ventures are winners at Starwood Hotels

BusinessWeek, October 8, 2007 — In January, 2006, the Westin Chicago River North hotel was picked to pilot a project, dubbed Unwind, for the upscale hotel chain. The purpose: to think up a set of nightly activities that would draw guests out of their rooms and into the lobby where they could mingle, develop a greater loyalty to the hotel group, and maybe spend a little more money. Westin spied an opportunity after a study found that 34% of frequent travelers feel lonely away from home. The Unwind project led the Westin to develop dozens of activities, including massages, at the Chicago hotel.

Hotel Chains Grapple With Meaning of Green†

Marriott, Starwood Face Confusing Products, Standards In Bids to Make Lodging Environmentally Friendly

Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2007 — As director of Element, a brand of environmentally conscious hotels being developed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts World Wide Inc., Nicholas Lakas picks his way across a landscape of so-called green products each time he steps into his office.

Among the items: salt and pepper shakers billed as 100% recyclable; piles of towels and sheets made with organically grown fibers; boxes of organic snacks; and a countertop slab made from recycled materials.

"We get so many products, so many phone calls," Mr. Lakas says. "I have nowhere to put it, and we are always looking at it and evaluating it." He is shopping for environmentally friendly products — from plates and light bulbs to heating and air-conditioning systems — to be used in the first hotel in the... continue reading

Starwood Hotels Unveils Preferred Guest Web Site

MediaPost Publications, August 9, 2007 — STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS HAS rolled out a newly revamped consumer loyalty Web site designed by Firstborn Multimedia.

In addition to providing the requisite property info and booking functionality all on one page, the new site at www.SPG.com aims to create a highly customized experience for Starwood Preferred Guests through the "My SPG" portal.

When Creating Brands, Dress Rehearsals Help

New York Times, August 5, 2007 — CAN the selection of a showerhead make or break a hotel brand? Some hotel executives seem to think so.

Starwood is one of several hospitality companies developing hotel brands or rebranding old ones. Since 2005, some 31 brands have been announced, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, more than at anytime since 1988-89, when 27 were introduced. And with this increased competition, identifying market segments and customer preferences has become essential to creating customer loyalty — which is where the showerhead, among other details, becomes crucial.

Renewal: Not Just for Library Books Anymore

New York Times, June 12, 2007 — There is the Security Council and the World Council of Churches, the Council of Europe and innumerable city councils. Now, a leading lodging chain is adding to the assembly of assemblages with what it is calling a Renewal Council

Let Consumers Control More Than Just Ads

Direct Involvement: Innovative Marketers Invite Consumers to Guide Business Strategy

CMO Strategy by AdAge, April 9, 2007 — Stop selling consumers short. They want to do more than create ads for you. The latest wisdom of the crowds is that it's a good idea to ask consumers to create ads they think will appeal to other people like them. s it smart to allow everyday people to vote on which ads should be aired? Sure.