Hilton Embraces 'games-players'

While competitors such as Starwood, which includes the Sheraton, Westin and other brands, and to a lesser extent the InterContinental Hotel Groups Priority Club, came up with various promotions quarter after quarter, Hilton's strategy seemed heavily reliant on name-recognition and reputation.

Jeff Diskin, senior vice president for global customer marketing at Hilton Worldwide, said in an interview last week that the company considers the quality of its hotels and the distribution of its network to be its main strengths.

"Our research says the number one factor driving the choice of a hotel or brand is the quality of the room," Mr. Diskin said over lunch at the Capitol Hilton in Washington.

Still, he conceded that Starwood has been "very good at creating promotions," which makes a significant difference for frequent travelers, especially during a recession, and that Hilton HHonors "hasn't been a leader" in that respect. However, "we want to be better at that," he said.

"We've migrated our strategy from being more targeted, below the covers, to much more overt, broad, system-level," Mr. Diskin said, adding that public perception has become hugely important in the age of Twitter and Facebook. "What we did in the past is not right for this time. We still do that, but on top of it we have a robust broad promotional strategy."

So what has Hilton done so far? This year, it has been offering a free night for every four paid stays. How does that compare to its competitors? Starwood and Hyatt's Gold Passport have similar promotions, but they requires only three and two stays for a free night, respectively. Hyatt has become rather savvy lately and delighted many travelers and bloggers.

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Source - Washington Times