Build a brand like Marriott
Photo by PetroleumJelliffe.Or better yet, don’t.
I’ll share a secret with you: No company sells just a product, they sell a lifestyle. From Apple to Honda, the Army to Subway they’re trying their best to convince you that their product is going to allow you to live the life you want to live. There’s a reason why Joe Camel was effectively banned in 1997.
Recently I attended a timeshare presentation for the Las Vegas Marriot Vacation Club, mostly because every once in a while I enjoy the Las Vegas lifestyle and this was an excuse to go there.
Now, walking in I had a pretty open attitude towards Marriott, I had stayed in their hotels a few times and remember them being comfortable. Walking out however was a completely different story, Marriott is just one chain in the sea of hotels and right now, for me, they’re sitting on the bottom of the ocean right next to those scary glow in the dark fish.
Here’s what sunk them:
- Poor setup - The reward for listening to the timeshare presentation was a discounted 2 day-1 night stay at the Tuscany Suites Las Vegas which sounds nice, but in actuality was more like your hometown’s motel than the quality experience you’d want to associate with your brand. The presentation happened on the second day.
- Poor use of resources- We had to wait almost an hour after arriving at the location before beginning the presentation. During this time we languished in the hotel lobby only to discover later that there was an entire floor of the hotel set up as an exhibition space for the history of Marriot and the Vacation Club which we were subsequently whisked through in about 5 minutes. There seemed to be some clever displays too, I wouldn’t know for sure though, I didn’t really get the chance to see them.
- Poor core differentiator - Marriott’s big idea for “fixing” timeshares is basically to include something for everyone and as a result it came off as the lowest common demoninator. Even more damningly, by virtue of their noble goal they inadvertently made their system so complex that the conversation shifted sharply from “where do I want to go for vacation” to “how can I best maximize my Marriot points”? Managing Marriott points is not my goal. Flexible and complicated does not beat fixed and simple - Pareto’s principle anyone?
- Poor follow-through - Near the conclusion of the presentation a “manager” was brought in to present the “special offer” as an incentive for closing the deal that day - I would get to start using my timeshare this calendar year and they would sprinkle more points on for good measure. If I buy something and it doesn’t come in the mail I expect to be able to start using it immediately. On top of the purchase price there was also a litany of small fees for similar things you’d simply expect to be able to do.
- Poor targetting- I didn’t see any evidence during the entire time I was there that the sales people knew they were selling a lifestyle and they clearly didn’t appreciate it was so. In a nutshell, you give Marriott a fair chunk of money over a period of years and you get to stay in Marriott affiliated properties all over the world. This assumes, however, that you are the kind of person who would want to stay in the same kind of place (Marriott) no matter where you were in the world, pretty much for the rest of your life. If that’s you, fine, no problem but if my Marriott experience up to that point in the conversation was any indication, I think I’d rather take my chances with the Candiru fish.
In the end the salesperson wrapped up their presentation, showed me to another sales rep who played the “you’re-gonna-feel-like-a-schmuck-tomorrow-if-you-pass-up-this-golden-opportunity-today” card and then silently escorted us down the elevator back to the lobby.
Now, one of the worst possible things that a company can do is lower the opinion of itself in the mind of an outside party, customer or not. Doing that via direct interaction with that third party shows some serious lack of critical thinking skills on the part of whoever is managing those operations.
At Vokle, we know we’re selling a lifestyle and we’re proud of it because it’s a lifestyle that we all believe in and enjoy. Also we want to be able to open up direct lines of communication with our users so that we make sure we’re staying true to this lifestyle (especially when it’s 6am and I’m still awake because Monster drinks are so delicious). I know it might not be obvious from the name, but we love good conversations and opinionated people so we’re building a product to make finding and having those kinds of interactions easy… in so many words.
Tags: brand lifestyle marriott