Given the relentless march of progress and history itself, businessmen have to always be ready to react to new developments. Such did he advocate ten years ago, and now people marvel to see how right he was. He delivered a keynote speech bearing this message to a group of 400 media, ad agency and entertainment executives during an “Advertising Age” conference in 2003.
The man occupies a top position in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. His words from some years past were eventually continued in subsequent interrogations regarding them. He claimed that he is not marketing rooms in hotels but entertainment and lasting memories.
Heyer's emphasis was on the marketing of an experience. Memorable experiences, in other words, would be the products. This is a complete change in perspective and approach, although the product and services did not change at all.
Heyer believed that the future held great things by way of personalization. This is precisely what one now observes in businesses: customization. Nowhere is this more visible than in the technologically-centered industries.
We are seeing old forms of entertainment being given a run for their money by fresh avenues of media distribution. A lot of money was lost by those in the songwriting and production business, for example, because of data-ripping technologies. Consumers went online in droves when songs started becoming downloadable on sites for free.
The music industry momentarily went into chaos, which is a scenario referred to in Steven Heyer’s keynote address. Heyer told people in music production that they now had to adapt to this new setting, as it could no longer be stopped. It was necessary for other media producers, according to Heyer, to take note of this imperative for change.
What Heyer advocated was the shift from emphasis on the item to emphasis on the experiences associated with it. In the interview explaining his marketing strategy for Starwood Hotels, he furthered explained that they are now a company engaged in distributing entertainment and unforgettable experiences. Their focus now is not anymore on the beautiful hotels with a total worth of billion dollars but on the opportunities to create memories.
Indeed, Starwood has even come up with unusual partners in the enterprise, such as Victoria's Secret. Only certain persons in the Starwood hotels are allowed to attend the runway shows. This is a case of the product being an experience.
Heyer has not restrained from making critiques of Hollywood practices, like the meaningless appearance of brands in scenes. He calls the practice a “contextless” insertion of brand logos into movies or TV programs. Heyer argues against the practice by calling it both a useless appendage to the plot as well as a useless tool for a business.
Steve Heyer CEO used to head Coca Cola Ventures. It was during his work then that he showed what he meant by smart and relevant brand appearance in a video shot. He very subtly and effectively placed Coca Cola glasses on the “American Idol” judge’s table.
When in search of relevant info about online marketing and business in general, hitting the link will help.
