2. 2
Contents
Executive Summary 3
Introduction 3
Marketing Research/Theory 4
Supplementary: Advertisements within Accor Hotels 5
Idea 1: Local Partnerships 5
-Budget 8
Idea 2: OTA Partnerships 8
Recommendations 11
Limitations 12
Conclusion 12
Appendix 13
Reference list 20
3. 3
Executive Summary
This report outlines two marketing strategies that seek to market the app through digital and real-life
mediums.
The first plan is to organise partnerships between individual Accor hotels and local cafés that will utilise
cross promotion and a free beverage to provide incentive in downloading the app. It will also include a
chance to win prizes by sharing photos over social media of advertising material that will be placed on the
free beverage (cup sleeve). This plan is cost effective (cost compared to exposure) due to the partnership
being a mutual agreement to cross-market each partner brand and the only cost being small price of print
advertising.
The second plan is to market to Online Travel Agencies (OTA’s) established customer base through the
OTA's website and booking process. Marketing material will be inserted onto an OTA's website (particularly
on pages for Accor brand hotels) and on their digital communication (e.g. confirmation emails for Accor
brand hotels). The mentioned advertisements will market relevant features that should entice customers to
download the app, use it for their upcoming stay and use it to book future rooms with Accor. However, the
plan will need to give a bonus commission as an incentive to OTA's to advertise such material, which is
referenced in the report.
The two plans can be used in conjunction with a potentially compounding effect or individually as a
standalone marketing campaign. Information of such and the full plans are detailed below.
By Sarlie Drakos, Priyanka Sivanesan, Andrew Bell, Nathan Subanness and Hayden Campbell
Introduction
Accor Hotel is an established chain of hotels
brands ranging from the luxury of Sofitel to the
comfort of Ibis. With over 2000 hotels in the
Australian market alone, the hotels owned by
Accor are well known for their reliability and
service.
It is the goal of Accor hotels to ensure that 45% of
all business is contributed through digital channels
with one of these avenues being focused
throughout this report. Recently, Accor Hotel has
released an improved mobile app that merges all
existing brand apps and seeks to drive this digital
contribution by bringing in new and loyal
customers through functionality of the app. The
app improves the mobile user experience by
streamlining booking and check-in/check-out as
well as acts complementary to in-hotel customer
service after the booking has been made.
The case to be addressed in this report is simply
to entice users to download, use and ultimately
complete a booking through the Accorhotels.com
app. However, this task is not simple as it is
limited to a $20,000 budget and the app needs to
achieve marketing cut-through amongst other
similar services provided by competing hotel
groups and online travel agents. The goal of this
report is therefore to achieve marketing cut-
through and promote app downloads through
creative advertising concepts in a methodical
marketing plan.
4. 4
Marketing: research and
theory
Research
Prior to writing this report, research was
conducted to gain qualitative and quantitative
data. This research consisted of surveying 63
people in New South Wales, Australia in July
2015 to discover the potential barriers and
motivations associated with the Accorhotels.com
mobile application. 18 people were also
interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding
about what types of marketing promotions would
be perceived as mutually beneficial for Accor as
well as their customers.
In addition, secondary research was conducted to
obtain information about similar products that are
currently available and how they are being
promoted. This was obtained by comparing the
hotel booking and comparison websites
booking.com, Hotels, Hotel Tonight and Jetsetter
based on the different functions they offer as well
as their strengths and weaknesses (Appendix,
Table used to derive UVP). Demographic
information about customers who had previously
stayed with Accor, or are a part of Accor’s loyalty
program, were also gathered from Accor’s
database.
Through conducting the above primary and
secondary research it was possible to identify
what aspects of the Accorhotels.com app would
be the most beneficial to specific groups of
people. This research also helped to ensure that
Accor’s recently released mobile application
adopts a differentiated marketing approach to
achieve marketing cut-through amongst online
travel agents and other hotel groups.
Target Audience
Existing customers as well as the people who are
not currently customers of Accor, but would gain
the most benefit from using the app were targeted
using a combination of demograohic and
psychographic variables.
Demographic profiles of loyal customers were
gathered from Accor’s database of LeClub
members and other hotel guests. This information
revealed that 9.3% are loyalty members
(Appendix Demographics). It has been
highlighted that approximately 70% of Accor
customers are corporate clients (as per the
information relayed in the ‘host briefing’ delivered
by Accor staff members). As business or
corporate travellers are usually quite time poor
(OECD tourism trends and policies 2010) it is
likely that the check-in and check-out functions of
the app would be perceived as the most valuable
to this target customer group as it has the
potential of dramatically reducing time spent in
queues.
It has been stated that psychographics are used
to understand a person’s lifestyle by looking at
factors such as “his or her general attitudes,
interests, and opinions” (Percy & Rosenbaum-
Elliot 2012, P.110). Recognising the different
values of consumers is another psychographic
measure that was investigated. The ‘Local
Partnerships’ marketing strategy detailed in this
report demonstrates this understanding of
customer’s lifestyle and values by integrating the
coffee or café culture that is present in many
areas of Australia within the marketing concept.
Barriers
Findings from the surveys revealed that only 28 %
of people in New South Wales over the age of 18
have previously heard of ‘Accor hotels’. The fact
that there is little awareness or knowledge about
the Accor brand name means that marketers have
the added task of informing consumers about who
or what Accor is before they can effectively
promote any products that operate under this
brand name.
Another barrier with marketing the
Accorhotels.com mobile application is that there
are currently numerous other products in the
market that have similar offerings. Secondary
research revealed that the Accor app does not
have any functions that are not already available
by other well-known apps and services (see
appendix qualitative survey). Survey results also
showed that 70% of people prefer to use hotel-
booking websites such as booking.com or
expedia.com (see appendix surveys), which was
revealed in interviews to be due to a wider range
of accommodation available through that service.
5. 5
Therefore, in order for the Accor mobile app to
have a competitive advantage, consumers must
already have an Accor hotel in mind when they
are considering vacation and also be aware of the
app’s existence.
Advertisements within Accor hotels
One aspect of the app that would be perceived as
offering the most value to Accor’s existing
customers are the in-hotel functions such as
online check-in or check-out, the ability to order
room service and the room key being available
through the app.
In an attempt to gain existing customer’s
awareness about the functions offered by the
mobile application, various print advertisements
can be placed inside the Accor hotel’s public
areas ( such as the lobby and reception spaces)
and private areas ( such as the hotel bedrooms
and conference rooms). These print
advertisements will have a similar design, but will
promote a different function of the app based on
the specific location in which the ads are placed.
For example, an advertisement placed at the
counter of the reception desk may read “Worried
about missing your flight? Avoid standing in
queues and check-out using the Accor mobile
app”. Other advertisements could be positioned at
the entrance of restaurants in the hotels
persuading people to download and use the pp to
book a table. A sticker could also be placed on the
back of the existing room key-cards informing
customers that if they download the app to their
phone then they can avoid the worry of losing
their room key.
All of the above advertisements will be able to be
linked to one through the design of the ads,
meaning that hotel guests will be able to easily
identify that each of the separate posters are
promoting the same product. The use of repeating
design features (such as colour and images) and
Accor’s logo of the Bernache Goose will create
what is referred to as ‘brand recognition’, a
necessary aspect of brand awareness. This
function of brand awareness relates to
consumer’s ability to correctly identify the product
and understand what brand it belongs to in order
to purchase it (Percy & Rosenbaum-Elliot 2012,
p.7).
The above marketing strategy will therefore
ensure that the previously identified barrier of
people being unfamiliar of the Accor brand name
will not be proliferated in future marketing
communications.
Idea 1: Local Partnership
The ‘Local Partnership’ concept involves selecting
cafés located within close proximity to Accor
hotels and promoting the Accorhotels.com mobile
application through these cafés. This concept will
help to achieve positive brand attitude for Accor
as Australians have a love affair with coffee and
the experience of going to a café.
These partnerships with local cafes will bring the
same essence of ‘peopology’ that Accor values
through café staff exhibiting the same passion for
quality products and services.
This Local Partnership promotion comes in the
form of complimentary beverages given to clients
of the hotel and the public after downloading the
Accor app. In return, the corresponding café will
receive advertising throughout its partnered hotel
as well as through customer referrals.
Advertising Locals idea
The details of the promotion will be communicated
to each Accor customer at the point of check-in by
check in staff. At this point, a business card sized
flyer will be given to each customer that outlines
the promotion. Advertising space in each hotel
such as visual displays in the foyer, rooms and
conference rooms will further reinforce the
promotion. For example, in the Novotel Central
Advertising
Locals
Promotion
App
download
for
beverage
Cup
sleeve
promotion
Social
Media
6. 6
Sydney, there are screens directly behind the
reception desk. There are also other advertising
areas in the foyer and several screens in the
adjoining restaurant. Each of these could have a
simple digital advertisement of the promotion.
In addition, there are screens at the entrance to
each of the conference rooms on the second floor
of this particular hotel. These can be used in a
similar fashion to directly target business clients in
relation to the conference capabilities of the app
as well as the ‘Locals’ promotion.
The advertising in foyers and rooms will also
appropriately target different audiences as
seasons change. Additionally, front of house staff
would also be responsible for promoting the app
as part of their loose scripting. In a broader sense,
spoken word advertising will also play a significant
role with clients’ use of social media.
App download for beverage
The offer of a free cup of coffee is nothing new.
Many coffee shops use various types of reward
systems. The most common of these is in the
form of a rewards card. Coffee Trails (a cafe
closer to Central Railway Station), is offering a
buy one cup and get the second cup free on
certain days of the week using a flyer.
Although there are some similarities, in essence
the Local Partnership promotion is different.
Firstly, it is a partnership that is mutually beneficial
to both Accor and the corresponding café and
plays to each of the business’ strengths.
It will operate as follows: firstly through in hotel
advertising which will persuade guests to take a
short trip to the café. Spoken word and social
media will also spread the promotion to the public.
Social interaction will play a large role for the
overall cycle of downloading of the app. People
will interact with the advertisements in the first
stage of the cycle. The second stage then occurs
when people show the downloaded app on their
mobile device to the staff of the café to receive
their complimentary beverage. The third stage
connects to the fourth which is the social media
interaction which creates public awareness of the
promotion.
Only one beverage per download of the app will
occur. The monitoring and security of this is at the
discretion of the café staff and to be discussed in
the particular partnership agreement. One
particular method for doing this would be a
checkbox section inside the app; to be handled
and recommended to the digital Accor team.
The costs of the beverages will be absorbed by
the café itself and will not come out of the Accor
budget. The incentives for each of the cafés to
participate in this promotion will be the free
advertising within the hotels as well as the influx
of referred customers. These customers will also
purchase complimentary products such as
different cakes and pastries that are on offer.
Australians, particularly business travellers, are
heavy coffee drinkers statistically consuming 9.2
cups per week (Roy Morgan Victoria 2015 para.
1). The combination of the ease of access and
friendly service that these cafés have should
attract large exposure for the Accor Hotels app.
Cup sleeve promotion
The cup sleeve portion of the promotion will be a
small ring of card that is wrapped around each of
the coffee cups that are given as part of the
promotion. These will be printed by the hotel
themselves and provided to the cafés by
employees as part of the agreements advertising.
This sleeve will have on it the two logos of
Bernache Goose of the Accor app and the
corresponding cafés logo or name. It will also
feature an attention-grabbing tagline which will
highlight the prize for the competition and
[Graph
indicating
how
people
heard
about
the
product
/
offer
they
bought]
7. 7
instructions on how to participate. The rest of the
sleeve will have small symbols for facebook,
Twitter and Instagram along with a line linking to
the social media connection of the promotion.
(see appendix Mock up of Locals Coffee sleeve).
Social Media connection
Social media is a very strong channel for any
promotion in this age and is vital to its success
(Jay Baer Convince&Convert 2015 para. 5). The
social media connection for this promotion will
come in the form of a competition to win free hotel
accommodation in various destinations, several
offered per year.
To go into the running for this competition users
will have to share their experience of the ‘Locals’
promotion and the app on social media. This will
be a similar competition to that which is already
being run by Accor for ‘1 million LeClub points’.
Only one submission will be allowed per user to
be monitored through having a code on the Accor
sleeve that they will have to show on the post for
confirmation. This Accor side of the competition
will be selected from the particular hash tags,
which will be searched for on the various
platforms.
According to the survey data, people are very
interested in such a competition and would be
willing to participate as 44% of survey participants
selected they would happily participate.
Mecca Coffee is one of local businesses that is
based in Sydney that has shown interest in this
initiative. This café was chosen and approached
due to its proximity as well as its quality products,
professional decor and brand. It’s friendly local
staff and overall atmosphere also come into line
with Accor’s peopology philosophy.
Mecca Coffee is situated at 646 Harris St, Ultimo.
Their Cafe is close enough as to be convenient for
hotel guests, but is secluded enough to gain a
sense of adventure. They have friendly
welcoming staff and were open to such a
partnership.
Additionally, Mecca coffees would make for an
ideal partner as their culture is centred on their
passion for quality coffee, personally sourcing
their coffee from Kenya, Ethiopia and Columbia.
This passion is stated to be ‘ what turns
customers into friends with whom we share our
knowledge, ideas and plenty of laughs’ (Mecca
New South Wales 2015)
Implementation
This concept, if adopted, would need to be run out
with a simple pitch by general managers of the
hotels. Once accepted at this level, cafés need to
be selected and approached to enter into an
agreement with this promotion in mind.
Staff of the hotel will have to select the café based
on the criteria:
• Quality of their products
• Level of service
• Local business relative to area
• Overall passion for customer service
Budget
The budget for this project is as follows, spreading
the costs over three months allocated for
resources for ten hotels and their relative cafes.
This budget leaves an excess of $2,692.00 that is
not used as part of the operation. The purchase of
the sleeves is as per CupSleeves.com, which
gives a bulk price of $0.07 per sleeve. For the
printed advertising that is to go in the foyer, rooms
and in the welcome packs, Bullprint was used
$420 gives 10,000 A5 flyers.
This budget also gives a subsidy to each of the
cafes involved of the sum $1,000. This lump sum
8. 8
is offered to them as part payment of a portion of
the beverages that they are giving as well as
another incentive for them to come into such a
partnership.
Hence the remuneration for the cafes are the
lump sum paid to each, the printed and digital
marketing of them inside the hotel and on the
website. As well, as the referred customer’s
complimentary and follow up business.
OTA Partnerships
Outline
Given by the survey data it is seen that 71.4%
people will book their business trip/ holidays
online (excluding bookings through apps) with
20% of these people booking through an
Online Travel Agency (OTA). Getting back an
established competitor customer base would
be a large undertaking requiring increased
funding and time.
An alternative to driving people to the Accor
website by directly fighting these OTA's is to
work with them, which gives access to that
established customer base and increases
marketing exposure with minimal cost. This
plan is to provide an incentive to varying
OTA's to promote the app when customers
book an Accor brand hotel through their
booking process (e.g. their webpage or
confirmation emails) so that customers will see
the features on the app that they can use
when staying at an Accor Hotel.
79.37% of people indicated they would
download the app if it were referred by an
Marketing
Budget
August
September
October
Total
$20,000.00
$7,284.00
$4,988.00
Item
Market/Promotion
Print
Advertising
$420.00
Giveaways
$360.00
$360.00
$360.00
Branding,
Sleeve
artwork
$936.00
$936.00
$936.00
Social
Media
$500.00
$500.00
$500.00
Other
Travel
expenses
$300.00
$300.00
$300.00
Postage
expenses
$200.00
$200.00
$200.00
Café
subsidy
$10,000.00
Totals
$12,716.00
$2,296.00
$2,296.00
Balance
$7,284.00
$4,988.00
$2,692.00
Methods of
Bookings
9. 9
OTA. Therefore, they would have the
opportunity to try-out the advertised features
and book through the app in the future.
However, customer retention once the app is
downloaded comes down to the app itself and
the services it provides. Therefore, this plan
seeks to primarily promote the app through its
features and from this increase app
downloads.
Intended Demographic
This plan seeks to target the 14.29% of people
who book online through an OTA. As the
survey shows, only 1.59% of people book
hotel rooms through hotel apps. This plan
aims to increase that statistic to a potential
15.88% of all rooms to be booked through the
Accor app.
A potential increase of 14.29% of customers
booking directly through the Accor app means
no commission fees paid to OTA's and
therefore increased profits per booking. Other
benefits include achieving the task goal of
increasing app downloads as well as an
increase of app usage therefore exposure to
its features, leading to loyal customers and
new 'Le Club' Membership signage.
Online Travel Agency Partnership
For the purpose of avoiding confusion, the use
of the term "Online Travel Agencies" or "OTA"
refers to internet companies that allow
customers to compare, contrast and book
hotels and other travel services on their
website. As these companies are able to bulk
purchase hotel room bookings from many
different hotel chains below cost price, they
are capable of offering discounted rates and
therefore attract large customer bases.
As previously mentioned, OTA's have large
customer bases and because of their lack of
service outside of booking, they are unlikely to
have loyal customers. As people are driven by
price and convenience (as seen in Appendix
Qualitative Survey Data) these OTA's are not
capable of retaining loyal customers and are
therefore likely to be focused on profit. These
OTA's will be given, for example, a bonus 1%
commission for advertising the Accor app
when customers book an Accor hotel which
will be a small cost to Accor but a large
incentive for any OTA.
Examples of OTA's that could be targeted
include: Trivago, Booking.com, Expedia,
Webjet, Wotif, Hotels.com, Trip Advisor, etc.
Method of Marketing
Ads for the app will be included in the ad
space on the booking page of Accor hotels
on the OTA website. As indicated by survey
data, the most common reason people
would use an app over booking online is if it
offered discounts (66.67% positive).
Purchased ad space on the OTA's website,
particularly for pages advertising Accor
brand hotels, will market the opportunity for
discounts and potentially have customers
download and book through the app before
they complete a transaction with the OTA
OTA's include text or relevant logos to
advertise a few of the best features of the
hotel. The booking page for Accor hotels on
OTA's will include a design amongst the
other symbols that states mobile check in is
available which will link to the relevant app
store.
Sample Design for Web Page
The ability to check-in online was noted as
the second highest motivator (at 52.38%
positive) for people to download and use an
app over a web page. This means that
customers who complete the transaction
and book an Accor brand hotel will be
aware of the app and roughly half of those
10. 10
people will download the app for the mobile
check-in feature.
Confirmation Emails that are sent out by the
OTA can also include advertising material.
As the customer will have subsequently
booked a room with Accor the advertising
material should include the features
available to the customer during their stay
such as the city guide (23.81% positive) and
in app room service (31.75%).
Sample Design for Confirmation Email
If a customer books a room with Accor through
an OTA they should now have been exposed
to most features of the app before they even
set foot within the hotel. These advertisement
locations will therefore be thoroughly increase
exposure and increase app downloads.
Pros/Cons
Potentially OTA's will be losing customers by
advertising the Accor app and may not want to
market the material for this reason. As mention
before, OTA's focus on profit and the current
sale at hand. If the OTA can make more profit
per room booking then that will be more
beneficial to them then the loss of a customer
to Accor and, therefore, incentive enough to
make a deal. If necessary the bonus
commission of 1% can be increased, but
negotiations would need to be made before a
final percentage is agreed upon.
- Cost of implementing such a plan may be
prohibitive. Initially this plan will be a cost of
extra 1% in commission. However, if 1 in 20 or
5% of users (assuming 20% commission and
an average room booking price) begin using
and booking through the app, that initial cost
will be paid for and further bookings by that
5% of customers will increase profits. Anything
above 5% will mean further increased profit by
a reduction of costs in commissions to OTA's.
A small initial cost could mean a potential
maximum profit increase of the 20% lost to
commission.
If combined with in hotel advertisements, the
customer should be exposed to the app and its
features in the booking process, and their stay.
Expected Outcome & Summary
Goal
The main goal of this marketing strategy is
increase app downloads through external
advertising on Online Travel Agencies and
through their other contact methods.
Additionally, increased positive usage of the
app will increase familiarity and brand loyalty
as well as Le Club Membership exposure.
Cost
The cost of implementing this method of
advertising is as stated previously, is 1% of the
14.29% Accor customers who book through an
OTA. Therefore, a positive return in
investment is attainable aside from the initial
estimated cost of $200,000. Hence, cost will
not be an issue assuming the plan is
successful.
Time Frame
The time frame of this plan will be dependent
on the success and cost. If it is successful, the
marketing plan will be a self sustaining venture
with a positive return in investment (ROI) and
should persist in order to continually create
new loyal customers and increase app
downloads. If the plan is unsuccessful, and
this should be monitored during a trial phase,
then the plan should be discontinued once
deemed so or the budget is depleted
Success/Attainability
The plan can be considered successful if it
achieves two goals: stays under budget or has
a positive ROI and increases app downloads.
For the plan to have a positive ROI it will need
to have at least 5% or more customers
booking through an OTA to download the app
and book future stays with Accor through the
app.
11. 11
Justification of Marketing Strategies
According to McGuire, for an advertisement to
be successful, six behavioural steps must be
followed. These steps include:
1. Being presented the message
2. Paying attention to the message
3. Comprehending the message
4. Yielding to the message
5. Retaining the message
6. Exhibiting the desired behaviour
(Percy & Rosenbaum-Elliot 2012, p.62)
McGuire also explains that this process
(known as the ‘communication response
sequence’) is based on compounding
probabilities where each step must occur in
order for the next step to take place.
It has been argued that if you were to assume
that “50 percent of the target audience
responds positively to each of the six
behavioural steps, the actual probability of a
purchase is less than 2 percent” (Percy &
Rosenbaum-Elliot 2012, p.62).
From this communication response sequence
it can be seen that it is extremely important to
have the largest number of people exposed to
promotions for the Accorhotels.com mobile
app as possible.
The marketing strategies outlined in this report
will help to ensure a high rate of exposure as
approximately 46% of all Australians drink
coffee. The fact that 70% of survey
participants use travel agent websites as their
preferred method for booking accommodation
is also a way of directly targeting consumers
who are considering a vacation. In addition,
the hotel advertisements are also a way of
directly targeting Accor’s loyal customers.
The effectiveness of the marketing strategies
detailed in this report can also been seen
when referring to the VisCap model. This
model is used to explain how the source of a
message (the person or other medium used
for marketing communications) can create
visibility, credibility, attractiveness and power.
In this case, the website Booking.com is a
well-known hotel website with an average of
640,000 using it daily and will function as an
ideal medium to achieve high visibility for the
Accorhotels.com app (Booking.com About
2015).
Credibility can also be achieved through the
sincerity or trustworthiness of sources such as
the staff and other tangible features of Accor
hotels and the cafés which are selected for the
‘Locals’ initiative.
Attractiveness, which relates to “the likeability
of a source and the perceived similarity of a
source to the audience” (Percy & Rosenbaum-
Elliot 2012, p.284), will again be demonstrated
through both Accor and café staff.
Power is the ability to achieve compliance
through punishments or rewards (Percy &
Rosenbaum-Elliot 2012, p.284). As people can
get a free coffee and go in the draw to win a
holiday if they complete the desired task of
downloading the Accor app, the ‘power’ aspect
of the VisCap model is also demonstrated
through this reward system in the local café
partnerships.
Recommendations
One recommendations for the app as a whole
is to make it unique and innovative towards
customer’s needs in regards to content. The
marketing strategies described in his report
offer various channels and ways in which the
app can gain mass exposure; though this may
not translate to use of the app. People will
come to the app because of the concepts
outlined in this paper but the lasting effects will
be why they stay. The content of the app and
how it fills customer needs will always be the
star of the marketing campaign for the
Accorhotels.com mobile application.
The recommendation for the first concept in
this report is to take the core structure of the
idea, having the partnership with one café per
hotel around Australia and link it to a print
advertising and social media. The number of
12. 12
partnerships as well as the number of different
products included in the promotion is arbitrary.
There will be additional costs in the
implementation of this concept that may have
been overlooked as this is a pilot strategy
(though it should still have relatively low cost
for a high outcome).
The second concept of partnerships with
different online travel agencies including
Booking.com and Expedia is irrespective of
the given budget. Accor as an international
company has spent large amounts of time and
money into all of the individual chain apps as
well as the combined Accorhotels.com app
and will continue to do so. However, this
concept will get guaranteed customers using
their app initially and will help in turning the
scales on the market
Limitations
The different limitations for the project are
closely related to the lack of recognition for the
Accor Hotels brand name. The other
limitations to this project, in particular, are the
budget, as marketing is an expensive business
often without full return on its investment. An
Australia wide marketing plan for any length of
time, if done through traditional channels,
would be unfeasible with only $20,000.
This marketing plan was also limited due to
the fact that some of the features of the
Accorhotels.com mobile application are yet to
be released. Because new content for the app
could not be included, this also reduced the
marketing options that could be used. In
addition, the app itself was a limitation.
Though it is well structured and attractive in its
design, there are many hotel apps very much
like it. Variety as well as discounts and
convenience are what consumers search for in
such products and many OTA apps are
tailored to this
Conclusion
This report outlines various marketing strategies that could be used in order to increase the number of
downloads for the Accorhotels.com mobile application. There are two main concepts detailed in this
report. One concept involves Accor partnering with cafés that are closely located to select hotels. The
second includes advertising the app on online travel agent websites such as Booking.com. Through
implementing these strategies, Accor will be able to gain maximum exposure for their app and
increase the level of brand recognition.
The exposure or awareness that that will be gained from these concepts are evident through the large
‘coffee’ culture that is present within Australia, the function that rewards play in product purchase
intention and the fact that most people prefer to use online travel agents websites when booking hotel
accommodation. The marketing strategies detailed in this report incorporate current consumer
behaviours, values and other lifestyle factors to drive promotions for the Accorhotels.com mobile
application. The strategies would also be considered as an ideal method of promoting Accor’s mobile
app as it incorporates the philosophy of peoplology and uses various mediums such as print
advertising, digital/direct marketing, sales promotion, social media and word of mouth advertising.
13. 13
Accor
Report
Appendix
Product Functions/
services Strengths Weaknesses
AccorHotels
.com app
Compare different Accor hotel
accommodation ( 9 brands listed on the
site?)
Can search for hotels based on your
geographical location. Can be used to book
accommodation via this product.
Multiple features that can be used while
staying at the hotel such as checking-in,
checking-out, ordering room service,
booking a table at their restaurant
• Restaurants
• Booking/ simplicity / no ads
• City guide
• Trip planner
• Room service
• Online checking in and out
• No room keys (possibility)
• Day spa
• Restaurant menus
• Check out without going to desk
• Check bill, very quick less people
involved
• Hotel without people/all online
• Social media
• Call cabs
An
easy
way
for
loyalty
members
to
book
with
Accor
(links
to
loyalty
card).
Can
use
discount
codes
when
making
a
booking
&
shows
special
offers
(promotions
are
shown
on
the
app).
News
about
Accor
can
be
found
on
the
app/
Very
user
friendly
&
Can
refine
your
search
based
on
multiple
factors
(e.g.
price
based,
geographical
location
etc.)
It
will
give
in
depth
detail
and
features
for
the
Accor
hotels.
It
will
have
an
active
city
guide,
particularly
good
for
international
tourists
Hotels
with
more
simplicity,
efficiency
and
less
people
are
more
catering
for
business
customers.
Accounting
for
18.3%
of
business.
Simple
and
easy
to
use
interface
that
looks
modern.
Smooth
well
designed
app.
Doesn’t
have
any
holes
or
glitches
City
guide
will
apply
to
the
most
users
who
are
not
loyalty
Only
lists
Accor
accommodation
so
the
app
lacks
the
wide
variety
of
hotel
accommodation
that
other
services
offer.
Many
people
would
be
unaware
of
the
‘Accor’
brand
name,
meaning
that
many
people
would
not
know
of
its
existence
or
the
hotel
that
the
app
is
linked
to.
The
functionality
of
the
app
may
become
cumbersome
once
all
of
the
additional
features
are
added
to
the
app
(may
be
confusing
to
use
or
look
cluttered).
Much
of
the
new
features
of
the
Accor
app
do
not
utilise
the
culture
of
peoplology
that
has
been
a
focus
of
the
company.
Much
of
the
features
of
the
city
guide
as
well
as
the
features
for
restaurants
are
unknown
by
users
and
would.
There
is
fierce
competition
in
both
of
these
areas.
People
that
do
not
want
to
stay
in
Accor
hotels
would
not
be
attracted
to
the
app.
People
who
aren’t
staying
in
hotels
do
not
want
to
Hotel
Tonight
-delivers hotels at the last minute
-locational service to identify last minute
deals
-automatically identifies specials and deals
that give discounts and upgrades for their
customers
- categories of Basic, Hip, Deluxe
- many different hotels from around the world
are on offer
-Supported on the apple watch
-Adventurous friendly attitude
- 3 tap bookings
- very easy interface
- automatically sets the majority of settings,
extremely easy to use
- exclusive offers that are only on sale very
close to checking in
- lots of discounts for well known hotels in
big cities
- lists the other features of the hotel, free Wi-
Fi etc.
Easy to remember and simple Logo
Attractive and easy to use interface.
They specialise in the type of booking that is
very fast and are hence known for it
They often get better deals with most of the
hotels as they can fit rooms in at short notice
It majorly focuses on their short term
booking an almost neglects the others.
It’s interface is built around this feature
They have minimal features in other areas.
JetSetter
-Uses your current Location
-Has last minute features for booking
- Good discounts
- Reviewed by the app and others
- Has a list of featured trips
- Has a list of discounted hotels for tonight
- easy to use interface
- Award winning
- Wide range of different hotels
- Many different international locations
• JetSetter offers a wide range of
hotels in a similar way to Hotels
tonight.
• A large array of international
locations on offer enticing people
into travel.
• Interface is user friendly yet
differentiated enough to make it
unique
Personalised pages that operate in an apple
like manner.
• The brand of JetSetter isn’t very
well known
• Though they offer many
international cities they do not
offer less known locations.
• Smaller cities are left off their
interface.
They offer no additional features to their
application other than booking hotels in the
various locations.
17. 17
Qualitative data Survey interviews
Univative 2015 – Accor group
Understanding the needs of Customers
18 qualitative survey interviews were taken for the following results
Age:
Gender:
Occupation:
Have you heard of the hotel group ‘Accor’ before?
a) yes
b) no
How many of the following hotels do you know of? Sofitel, Pullman, MGallery, The Sebel, Mecure, Ibis
How do you currently book accommodation when you’re travelling for business, leisure or other
reasons?
What are the most important factors that are concerned in finding information about accommodation
and booking a place to stay? (e.g easy to compare different hotels, searches that show lowest to
highest price, location of the hotels)
What is the main reason why you download and / or use mobile applications?
Would you ever consider using an app to search for and/ or book hotel accommodation?
What services would you seek from the app that makes it more convenient form booking online?
Would you download the hotel-booking app that is described above if it also gave you city guides and
had mapping services?
Would you download a hotel-booking app if you could win prizes? (e.g. free night stay, discounts,
vouchers)
Suggestions on app functions/ what will make you download a booking service app.
Results:
The result of the survey interviews varied as much more of them were of a business demographic
there was an increase awareness of the Accor brand as well as knowledge of the hotels.
18. 18
Convenience was a large factor in all of the questions asked, as using a particular device makes their
booking easier. People were reasonably motivated by competitions for free trips and discounts but not
overly.
Mock up of Locals Coffee sleeve:
Print Advertisement:
Email confirmation:
20. 20
Reference List:
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19/7/2015 http://www.booking.com/content/about.html
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Mecca Coffee 2015 About. Viewed
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OECD 2010, ‘OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2010’, OECD publishing, Paris,
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