How do you differentiate yourself when you are one among many? Hampton Inn did it very effectively.
On a recent trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, we stayed at the Hampton Inn on Cerrillos Road, which is one of the main routes into the central Santa Fe area – The Plaza. This stretch has tons of “economy” motels – Holiday Inn Express, Hyatt Place, Best Western, etc.
I like how Hampton Inn is differentiating itself through its marketing (you can read about the campaign and its strategy here. The small touch I liked is the creative way they handled the room number signs at the door of each room. Next to the actual number, they had a black and white photo of a child playing, or a flower, or something that connoted family and togetherness without being schmaltzy. You have to have room numbers. Why not integrate them into your marketing?
Which brings me to the subject of integrated marketing: Integrated marketing means that you carry the same messages through all your marketing channels, from your website to your advertising campaign to your signage. Hampton could have just put out new ads, or revamped their website, and left it at that, but it appears as if they looked at every detail, down to the door numbering signs. They also put out free fresh-baked cookies every afternoon, which were a huge hit.
This is just a reminder of several areas under the rubric of marketing and public relations, including:
–It’s the details that make the difference and can make you stand out.
–Integrated marketing means taking a look at all aspects of your marketing.
