marketing Dr Xavier Font Leeds Beckett University Missed business - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Green marketing

Dr Xavier Font Leeds Beckett University

Missed business opportunity

• Use it to make small

incremental changes in your occupancy by providing seasonal, interesting offers

• 1. Altruistic reasons
• 2. Better product reasons
• 3. Expect it already

happens

• 4. Don’t want to know, but

don’t mind if you do it

• 5. Will avoid your product

2:40

VisitEngland data on English consumers says:

• 58% would want to stay in accommodation with green

awards/environmentally friendly practices

• 51% say that if two hotels were the same, they would

choose the one with a green award

• 46% don’t want to think about being green - they want to

relax

• 33% believe sustainability claims are often ways to save

money and/or reduce service

• 15% think a hotel run sustainably will be less

comfortable than one without green credentials.

Fears?

• Greenwashing
• Sounding worthy
• Nobody cares

I’d like to visit an unspoilt paradise, stay in eco-friendly accommodation and contribute to the well-being of the local people. I want to bag a cheap flight to Marrakech, be wowed by the flat screen TV in my hotel suite, be pampered in a double jacuzzi bath, and steal a few bargains at the bazaar.

Follow the frog

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo

Staycation: rediscovery of your home city

“Communications around the ideas

• f rediscovery and enjoyment are

well-placed to make this happen.” VisitEngland

The vast majority

• f staycaytioners

finding their holidays engaging, involving and more emotionally profound than holidays abroad (VisitEngland data)

Changing demographics

• Ageing
• Accessible
• Non-standard

families

• Foreign born

“2 in 3 people looking for access information say they are much less likely to visit a destination if they can’t find the information they need… 3 in 4 say they would be ‘a lot more likely to choose the destination

• ffering the best

information.’” VisitEngland, Winning More Visitors

Wanderlust survey

How far would you fly for a weekend break?

• 15% 0 hours
• 47% 1-3 hours
• 27% 3-5 hours
• 11% >6 hours
• “If I’ve only got a few days I don’t

want to be jet-lagged”

• “I know flying five hours for a short

break isn’t the most environmentally friendly thing to

• do. However, those extra couple of

hours could be the difference between going to an ‘obvious’ short break destination and somewhere altogether more interesting”

Standardised, homogeneous

Easy to find and book Convenient Risk adverse Loss of identity Cities at most danger

Task 1. Segment your database

What do you want them to do How do you use your sustainability efforts Group A. More than

• nce a year

Group B. Once a year. Check for patterns Group C. One booking

• nly

Group D. Enquired, never booked

• Be clear what

response or change that you are hoping for from your customers

• 1. To make customers feel

good

• 2. To raise awareness and

change behaviour

• 3. To offer something extra
• 4. To get more customers

3:00

• 1. To make customers feel

good

• Show them how they are “doing their bit”- by you

doing it for them

• Customers feel good (or less guilty) facing easy
• choices. Charitable donations, public transport
• r recycling information… none of these get in

the way of what the customer came for.

• Tell about your local suppliers, origin of

produce…

Tell us about your suppliers!

• A map of where your different suppliers are

might tell the story that they are local- good.

• Photos will show a human side to who they are-

better.

• Explaining how they take good care of the

produce they sell to you will show that you also care about what you share with your customers- best.

Hastings Europa-Belfast also does this well

• 2. To raise awareness and

change behaviour

• Be specific. Vague messages frustrate
• Show the difference you make
• Give something in return

Why charitable donations

• Bedruthan Steps Hotel

(Cornwall) explains to customers at the point of booking that they encourage guest donations to responsible causes (while highlighting that the hotel also does their bit).

• £5 opt-out donation per

booking:

– Option 1: co2balance – Option 2: Surfers Against Sewage – Option 3: St Mawgan in Pydar Community Fund

Effectiveness

• Humorous timely

communication improves action at Innovat Hotels

• 3. To offer something extra
• Design sustainable packages for your low
• ccupancy or usage periods, or think of

services that can generate more money in high season.

Localised experiences in a globalised world

• Food and drink
• Quality and premium

associations.

• Reasons for buying:

– freshness, taste and quality

• f the produce;

– support for local producers, retailers & community; – perceived sustainability benefits; – and known provenance of the produce (DEFRA, 2008)

• 4. To get more customers
• Increased occupancy or

higher prices?

• We all like a bargain…
• cafes giving a discount

(and others putting 10p in a charity pot) for regulars that bring their own commuter mug - saving

• n disposable cups while

gaining a loyal customer.

To increase occupancy

• James Hiley-Jones. At Carey’s

Manor and Senspa in Hampshire car-free visits get:

– 10% off standard tariff rate – 2 for 1 tickets at Beaulieu – free steam train ride at Exbury Gardens – 10% off cycle hire at Cycle Experience in Brockenhurst.

• 10-15% of our leisure weekend

customers and 30 to 40% of our mid week conference market now arrive car free.

• We’ve realised how corporate social

responsibility has become a much bigger issue and we now provide a green travel plan for conference

• rganisers.

Task 2. Set your target

What you want What do you plan to do (Product or Communication) To make customers feel good To raise awareness and change behaviour To offer something extra To get more customers

Coffee break (10 minutes)

• Be clear about the

impression you want to create –

• with your

sustainability policy, photos, text...

• 1. Fun
• 2. Cultural immersion
• 3. Better service
• 4. Trust/risk/Empathy
• 5. Status

3:45

• 1. Fun/participation
• What can I do?
• People want the option
• f being active
• People choose a hotel

based on what they can do nearby (or in the hotel)

• Wheelbarrow picnic
• Pick your own lunch
• Learn to do

something

• Children’s quiz
• Town trail
• Books for walks
• Bike hire

The Twiggles say: be green

• BeWILDerwood is a family

adventure park in Norfolk.

• 70 local jobs, 87% waste

recycled from 160,000 annual visitors, planted >14,000 trees.

• Bright colours and child friendly

signage make recycling, non smoking, and caring for your environment fun.

• There’s none of the goodie-

goodie speak here, it’s about enjoying a day out

Things to do for children

Temping without words

• 2. Cultural immersion
• Get to know the real, authentic side of your

destination

• Reinforce the image of the person I want to be

– Adventurous, independent, learned, inquisitive, understanding of other cultures…

“We invite locals to dance in our hotel - but this is not a tacky show for tourists”

• 3. Better service

Make me feel special!

• We buy local whenever

possible

• Food: what will sell

more?

– Sustainable, low carbon footprint, ecological – Fresh, unadulterated, honest

• Putting the client at

the centre of the experience works for all messages

– Roof insulation – Solar panels – Kitchen waste

Why don’t you go by bike?

Create experiences

• Children workshops

based on recycling (converting cardboard boxes into masks, turning bed linen into dressing up outfits,

• Adult cooking classes

from traditional local products

Possibly one of the best experiences of your life

• 4. Trust/risk
• We are here for you
• We are a serious business
• Peace of mind
• You are not wasting your

money and holiday time

• You have done the

searching for the customer, and picked the best

• “We hire bikes- and also

tell you about cycling etiquette and how to be safe”

• 4. Empathy
• We are people like you
• We think alike
• We have the same values
• That’s why you’ll enjoy

your holiday here

• “we would like to share

the beauty of our island/city with you in the knowledge you’ll want to keep it that way”

• “we welcome travellers,

not tourists”

• “by skiers for skiers”

Primrose Valley (Cornwall, England) communicates their values differently “We tried to pretend, but it just didn't work. We pretended that all the water, energy and fuel we use replenishes itself by magic. We also tried pretending that all the carbon we kick out rises skywards then miraculously turns into refreshing, life-giving showers. Obviously we were wrong, so now we don't pretend any more...”

Families Worldwide shows we share the same values…

• “What I’m finding more and more as I

travel and talk to parents, is the

• verwhelming number of you who are

becoming desperate to help their children to engage with the real world and leave behind the screen of a computer, phone, Playstation, Nindendo DS, X-Box, Wii...”

• 5. Status

Task 3. Get the message right

What you want sustainability to say How will you say it in your business Fun/ participation Cultural immersion Better service Trust/ risk/ Empathy Status

• Integrate sustainability

as part of quality through the channels you already use.

• 1. Certification
• 2. Awards
• 3. Press
• 4. Website
• 5. Social media

4:15

• 1. Certification
• Independent guarantee of your

credentials.

• Confidence and credibility
• Not sufficient in itself, you have to

communicate what it is and what it means you do better

• But essential for the corporate market
• GBTA, ACTE

Our hotels are certified to reassure blue chip buyers

• Much of our business

comes from companies with sustainability certifications

• Now, developed a set of

answers to the typical RFP questions

• And integrated into

management systems

• 2. Awards
• Only a few companies win awards. You

could spend much time on it without any results, and you will need to show something unique and extraordinary.

Angela proudly won… She can’t wait to serve it…

• 3. Press
• What makes you different, in a way that

my customers will want to read about you?

• Links from your website to previous

articles, quotes

Meet your public relations manager

• The Mill at Gordleton

(Hampshire, England).

• Crispie the Duck, an
• rphan they adopted is

now the hotel’s mascot.

• Photo calendar, children’s

book and doorstops inspired on Crispie- with profits from the book, for example, going to a local children’s cancer ward.

Piggy weekends!

• 4. Website
• Your website’s sustainability policy page is

boring

• “minimise waste by evaluating operations

and ensuring they are fit for purpose”

278 National Trust properties 350.000 albums 39.969 registered users 13% campaign awareness in the UK

The seasonality of your website

• When do photos say I

should come next?

• Blog/social media-

what to look forward to

• Get better photos.

Seriously

• Be your own tourist

information centre.

• Things to do

– per season – for free – real treats – when it rains – from our doorstep

Other websites

• Control the message!
• “All of us are very proud of the fact that we make

everything here ourselves, from jams and honey to bread and soups…”

• is telling us something about your values and it’s

speaking to the customer - without having to say “hey, I am sustainable” in that many words. Talking in terms of “you” and “we” rather than the third person also helps.

How not to do it

• “Hotel X will take environmental considerations into

account in all its activities. Although ultimate responsibility rests with management, all staff have a part to play in minimising adverse effects on the

• environment. To that end Hotel X will promote the best

use of environmental practices. Hotel X will develop and resource programmes for the implementation of its Environmental Policy and will monitor and audit them through an environmental management system."

Put the photo of the cake on social media, every time

Democratisation

• f quality

Peers more trusted than authorities Top rankings due to host personalised care Not large or 5* hotels Quality of facilities expected

Task 4. Location, location, location

Medium What will you say Certification Awards Press Your website Other websites Facebook Twitter Newsletter

• You market your

company all the time

• Help customers

make informed decisions

• 1. Pre booking/purchase
• 2. After booking and

confirmation

1. Food preorder

• 3. On arrival/ start of the

tour

• 4. During the tour/ stay

1. Placemats 2. Menus 3. Maps

• 5. After the stay/visit

4:40

• 1. Prior to booking/purchase
• Sell yourself, sell your surroundings
• Things to do
• Sustainable transport but nowhere to go?

Camden food co

Show me what I can look forward to

• How far in advance do your clients book?

Promoting the local events is very

• interesting. But what will it bring me to

know what is happening now if I am coming in three weeks’ time? Your website today should be telling us what to look forward at the time we will be arriving.

• 2. After booking and

confirmation

• How to prepare for their visit - what to

bring, what is acceptable behaviour, dress code (if relevant), how to respect other users that will be there.

• Pre-booking of local food

• 3. On arrival/ start of the tour
• There are no second chances to make a

first impression

• Live your policy
• Tell your customers

• 4. During the stay/tour
• Now you communicate by making visible

the things you do. Here you decide how much you want the communication to affect the customer experience, or just be in the background.

• Towel agreements
• Bird menu

Communicate with your packaging

Use one thing to tell another…

• London Lancaster Hotel

sustainability is behind the scenes

• Concierge info:

– limo & taxi companies using hybrid vehicles (geo fuel) – display and promote cycle hire, – Jogging map – Green London attraction brochures

• This becomes a route to

communicate our much wider and deeper policies and practices.

Communicating sensitive messages

• 5. After the stay/visit
• Stay in touch with your customers.

Speaking about sustainability will be more welcomed than a direct promotional message saying “book with us”.

• From trees to the staff family picture

Don´t be a spammer

• Does your newsletter say “I am desperate for

business, please visit me”?

• Your sustainability actions help you

communicate something unique to your customers, rather than sending spam that gets ignored, or even worse, creates a negative image about your company.

Say it with flowers

Task 5. Match needs and messages

What does the customer need to know Sustainability message that helps take that decision Before booking At the point of purchase Between booking and travel At departure point During transport On arrival During their stay After travel

Thank you GET MORE HELP AT

WWW.RESPONSIBLETOURISMCOMMUNICATION.COM

@xavierfont /xavierfont