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Hospitality Marketing and Sales
Trends Report
Photo Sharing
Alex Fosse
Savannah Luo
Ross Graham

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Table of Contents
Section 1
Historical Overview Perspective……………………………………………………………………………………………………...........3
Scope and Reach……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3
Outside Industry Impacts……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3-4
Section 2
Industry Example-Pinterest……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4
Industry Example-Instagram………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4-6
Section 3
Expert’s Insight-Bernie Mullen……………………………………………………………………………………………………………6-7
Future Impact of Photo Sharing Trend…………………………………………………………………………………………………..7
Competitive Advantage………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….8
References…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….9

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Section 1
Historical Overview Perspective
Instagram and Pinterest are social networking and photo sharing sites that have become
popular in the last couple of years. Instagram launched in October 2010 and Pinterest launched in
March 2010. The history of photo-sharing goes back to the pre-modern era and even to ancient
civilizations like the Egyptians with their hieroglyphics. So while photo-sharing itself is a relatively new
concept, picture sharing is nothing new. From the beginning, people have had the need to
communicate, and not just with words. Human beings have always used pictures to communicate a
message to one another. However, the way we do it has evolved. From finding pictures in the stars
(constellations), to drawing them on the walls of caves, people seek to use pictures to communicate and
express themselves.
Later, in about 1400 in Italy, the Renaissance period began, and with it many paintings depicting
traditional art were painted by artists also seeking to express themselves through their work. By now
you are starting to get the “historical picture”. Let’s fast forward a bit to the development of the camera
in the early 1800’s. Since that time, it has been possible to actually “share photos” with one another. Of
course it could only be done in person or through the mail system initially, but later, with the
development of computers and email, now it can be done electronically. All of this history shows how
picture-sharing has evolved into photo-sharing, and now how photo-sharing has become a current trend
in hospitality sales and marketing.
Reach and Scope
Photo-sharing, and more specifically the use of Instagram and Pinterest, has several important
uses within the hospitality marketing and sales industry. For example, according to the website,
Queensland Government, “some businesses are using the services (photo-sharing) as part of their
marketing strategy. Photo-sharing services can help you to: show your product or service to potential
customers, raise awareness of your brand, build closer relationships with customers, and increase traffic
to your website, Facebook page, blog, or twitter account.”
Using photo-sharing to show your interest in your field is beneficial to getting customers
interested in what you are selling. After all, being passionate about your product is probably a good
thing. For example, if you’re a car salesman, posting pictures of cars from an auto show will help to
increase potential customer interest in the vehicles that you may have at your dealership.
A new social media marketing startup company called Fanbase Media helps companies use
Instagram to connect with their customers. This startup company takes a collection of photos from a
business and makes an online dashboard for them. They are also trying to expand using Vine, a twitter
based app that allows users to create mini videos. These companies are really just expanding on
programs and features that are already in use by companies. They haven’t created anything new.
Outside Industry Impacts
Photo-sharing has impacted many types of businesses. Within the hospitality industry, it has
improved sales by making it easier for customers to decide where they want to stay and how they want
to travel. Photos of drinks that a hotel restaurant offers as well as photos of the different types of

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rooms offered, whether or not it has a view of the beach, or how big the pool is are all examples of how
a hotel or resort can use photo-sharing to make their business look more appealing to guests before
they even get there. Human resources can hire staff based on their experience using different
technology and even photo-sharing websites like Instagram and Pinterest. The sales manager can use
sales and accounting information to be able to see whether or not a trend like photo-sharing within the
company has been profitable and how much so currently in comparison to other years.
Section 2
Industry Example and Analysis – Pinterest
Pinterest is a pin board-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage
theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies. Users can browse other pin
boards for images, ’re-pin' images to their own pin boards, or 'like' photos
Over this past year, Pinterest has grown up so fast and strong and also has the powerful impact
on the public. There were more than 5,000,000 conversations about Pinterest across blogs, Twitter,
Facebook and more. When they hit 10M users on 2/26/2012, Buzz peaked with 119 mentions. This huge
interest among people also brought in lots of potential marketing, for hotels, restaurants, theme parks,
and other hospitality industry business.
By posting a picture and sharing their views on Pinterest, more and more people get to see and
hear about more beautiful and exquisite hotels and resorts. There are also plenty of pictures of tasty
food that are posted and shared, which is going to be a very effective advertising for restaurants.
Millions of pictures are shared on Pinterest, it has been building up an information platform for all of the
followers to exchange their values and form new interests and markets there. Take hotels for instance,
there are lots of hotels on Pinterest that post their advertising pictures, such as the Beverly Wilshire
hotel which is located in Beverly Hills, LA. They posted their extremely low room rates (from $16 - $ 35
for singer room)in order to draw followers’ attention, and it did make a big hit on Pinterest by thousands
of “pins” that followed. The W Hotel located in Singapore is also a hotel that walked into America’s
attention and showed them the beautiful views in this little Asian tropical country. Hotel Lisboa is the
very first hotel and casino in Macau, by the picture sharing on Pinterest, we can see the funky glass huge
ball shape as the interior design for this hotel, and it’s hard to believe that there is another “Las Vegas”
in Southern China. It makes people be interested in Macau’s hotel and drives the economy’s growth in
Macau too.
Many other businesses also get the huge benefits from the direct visual impact. For example,
the wedding related picture will affect relevant shops. The gorgeous wedding dress pictures on Pinterest
can be resources for brides to image and pick their own wedding dress by showing that picture they just
saw online to the dress consultant in store. Even the most popular wedding dress designer or store on
the website can be overbooked for the rest of year. That just the potential commercial for them and
that is for free. Wedding cakes are also easily going to be very hot on there. Trendy and lovely design of
the wedding cakes will be pinned frequently and become the sample when they really get to prepare
weddings.
Industry Example and Analysis – Instagram

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Now that many people actively use and view many different photo sharing social media
applications, it’s hard to remember the days when we didn’t have a smart phone to send and share our
photos with anyone and everyone we wanted to.
Thinking back to when we really didn’t have those photo sharing sites at the touch of our
fingertips, you remember the process people actually had to go through to share something with
someone else. Back when we didn’t have access to all the different kinds of technology that we do
today, we would take pictures, get them developed and put them into a photo album to showcase when
we had guests we could take those pictures out and let them see. We could also send developed
pictures via snail mail, after snail mail came email.
The internet is a brilliant tool and so being able to send pictures that you attached to your
emails to show your loved ones became very convenient and much faster. Cell phones give people the
ability to snap a photo and quickly message it to a friend, family member, or whoever else they want to
show.
Being able to share your pictures in one spot or numerous spots for that matter has become
increasingly popular worldwide. Facebook has made it easy for us to put our photos all in one place and
tag our friends showing the public what we have been doing over the weekend, or how much fun we
had on a trip that we took.
Being able to see something with our own eyes is very important, because you wouldn’t book a
hotel without seeing pictures of the rooms, and sometimes even looking at the photos on hotels
websites you really aren’t sure what you will be getting. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and that
phrase is why photo sharing applications such as Instagram are becoming so popular for people along
with popular for businesses.
Instagram is an application that allows you to easily upload your photos, pick amongst filters
that will flatter you or your picture the best, and share it with the world. Hotels all over have really
caught on with this trend because it allows them to be creative and show off their properties with
pleasing photos that will make people want to stay at their hotel. Instead of searching different hotel
websites and trying to find a picture that looks semi appealing, now you can search hotels on instagram
such as the Morgans Hotel Group who right now has the best hotel Instagram. Their Instagram portrays
perfect photos that by looking at them there is not a chance that you won’t want to visit that hotel, or
even just day dream about what it would be like to stay there. For hotels to be successful they need to
hop on board with this trend, or they will be left in the dust of the hotel’s that know how to get the
people’s attention.
Being healthy and looking good appeals to pretty much everyone, everybody wants to look their
best, why shouldn’t they? The fitness industry is always coming up with new and improved, sometimes
even “magic” pills that will claim that you will lose extreme amounts of weight in a very short period of
time. Sounds perfect right? As perfect as that does sound most people know that in order to be healthy
and in shape you need to physically put in the time along with discipline that comes with exercise and
eating healthy. Anyone can look at themselves in the mirror and not like how they look and tell
themselves that they’re going to do something about it, but without a motivation, a lot of people tend
to give up. Having someone to motivate, coach, and remind you that your hard world will pay off along
with give you great results are the way to hold yourself accountable and make sure you are doing what
it takes to reach your goals.

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Looking at before and after pictures of people who really have transformed is always amazing
because you can see that pretty much anyone can change for the better if they are willing to work at it.
Being able to look at healthy food, nutritious meals, supplements, and other healthy items that will help
you look your best will also motivate you to buy and invest in them.
The fitness industry is really trying to relay these messages by using Instagram to motivate,
educate, and give people options if they really want to change themselves. Herbalife is a global nutrition
company that helps people pursue healthy and active lives using specific nutrition, weight-management,
and personal care products that are available through independent distributors throughout the world.
There is a particular Instagram account by a Herbalife coach from South Beach that puts up pictures
daily of: Herbalife products, such as yummy looking shakes, motivations quotes, before and after photos
of her clients, healthy choices for meals, screenshots of text messages between her and her clients that
she coaches which usually say how much weight that person has lost within a short period of time. She
also always captions the photos with her email so you can contact her if you want help and want to start
using Herbalife products to be a better you.
I think this is a genius way to advertise your company because people like looking at pictures
and seeing how they could potentially look if they use those certain products and get the right help.
When I first saw this Instagram account I wanted to email her and ask her if she could help me like she
helped all her other clients, it’s an extremely effective marketing strategy.
Section 3
Expert’s Perspective – Bernie Mullen
Photo sharing has huge impacts on the business landscape, operations and consumers. Mr.
Mullen, who is the Managing Partner at Encompass Hospitality Group, LLC, says “we buy things based on
what we like; it has been this way for years. Photo sharing will increase customers’ behavior by showing
what they like from the pictures or photos they see. Any time we add a visual statement, it will impact
their like or dislike without any words. And there is always saying- the face that launched a thousand of
ships, that is the same effect with photos. Besides, photo sharing is likeable and trustworthy, because
just as I mentioned before, people buy what they see and like. Photo sharing increases the operations,
because photo sharing increases the production value chain operations. As an example, if I am the
owner, I can take a picture to the whole process to my other business located in another place, maybe
overseas, they will make the production process easier. As customers, “immediate gratification” means
they want the products right now. If they see it, they don’t want to wait to get it. Thus, photo sharing
also increase the sales.”
Business landscape is all about volume, to get as much money as possible. Photo sharing
websites are like a platform, take Pinterest for example, it connects social media as well as all the
friends from those social medias also so they can see what you “Pin” on Pinterest, thus, they can
exchange theirinterested photos and expand their scope of interests. We also can notice that on
Pinterest, most photos are from people’s daily lives. However, potentially, those people who post the
pictures act the role as that certain stuff or brand’s product sales man. They potentially help to attract
public’s attention and stimulate their interest to purchase the products in the pictures. The click rates on
Pinterest are huge, which means, this marketing method is effective and powerful. Everyone ends up
with taking the role as marketing staff instead of being the passive customers. This free and significant

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commercial is a revolution to the form of sales and marketing. A picture speaks a thousand words.
Besides, the specialty of photo sharing on social media is customers taking part in marketing and being
willing to spread the products for the company as their interests. People on these kinds of websites love
to see that“advertising”. However, even though the range of their interests on these photo sharing
websites are broad, they still focus more on clothing, food, decoration or tourism destinations. Some
industries or some certain practical products can’t be covered, like daily necessities or fuels. Thus, photo
sharing is helpful for business marketing and sales, but it has limitations. People only post beautiful
things. For some businesses, they don’t get any benefits from it.
Future Impact of Photo Sharing Trend
Provides a good opportunity for advertising
Gives sales managers another way to show what their company has to offer
Allows guests to share photos with each other and friends which can also promote sales
Five specific points:
Public relations: Photo-sharing is a good resource to be able to promote good public relations. A hotel
can use photos to generate a certain image to the public. If it wants to be eco-friendly, it can post
pictures of an ocean and talk about how reusing towels is good for the environment. If it wants to show
support for a charity such as St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in order to give back to society, that is
showing good public relations. The use of photo-sharing to promote good public relations is beneficial to
the business as well as the charity.
Societal marketing concept: The needs, wants, and interests of target markets should be delivered in a
more effective and efficient way. The goal of the societal marketing concept is to guide corporations to
run their business in a way that improves the consumer’s and society’s well-being. It also encourages
businesses to be more environmentally friendly which also helps to maintain good public relations.
Photo-sharing can be used to depict a type of business that emphasizes quality and comfort while at the
same time being environmentally conscious.
Upselling: There are many opportunities for upselling, which is offering a higher priced product, rather
than the lowest price, or adding another product or service to the sale. An example from the book was
using high-image upgraded presentations of coffee instead of something simple. There are many
opportunities like this in a hotel. By upselling, a hotel or restaurant increases its revenue. Using photo-
sharing to upsell to customers is really pretty easy. Sending the guest a picture of a much nicer executive
suite before they even get there is one example of upselling. A restaurant might use photo-sharing to
upsell by sending out photos of a new special being offered, or new drinks to try.
Message generation: It can be a challenge to advertise a hotel stay because of the intangibility of it. It’s
not like a product you can see or try. You have to stay to have the experience; because of this it can be
difficult to sell rooms. Photo-sharing allows people to get a better idea of what they are paying for
before actually purchasing a stay at a hotel. It helps advertisers market to different demographics of
people depending on their interests.
Unique value effect: Photo-sharing is a good way to show customers that what you are selling them is
somehow different from competitors. Getting customers to not only take pictures of the hotel or resort

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they are staying at but to share them with their friends on Instagram or Pinterest is a good way to
actually show how one hotel might have a unique value over another.
Maintaining a Competitive Advantage
How to maintain a competitive advantage:
In order to maintain a competitive advantage with photo sharing and the hospitality industry,
mostly businesses just need to be on board and capable of embracing it. If they don’t embrace it they
will get left behind while other companies come out ahead because they know what their target market
likes and answers to.
Analyzing your target market and identifying your competition is extremely important because if
you don’t know what you’re up against you will be setting yourself up for failure from the very
beginning. Every business needs to be on the lookout for what the next big thing is going to be, the next
thing that will spark the industry. In order to do this successfully you need to be on top of your game at
all times, knowing what speaks to your target market is key because they are “a specific group of
consumers at which a company aims its products and services” and they are the most important part of
your business, if you get them to come to your business you will succeed.
Identifying the competition is vital because before you can overcome them, you need to know
exactly who and what you’re dealing with. Find out what businesses are going after, and what target
market they are after, if it’s the same as yours, you need to take care of that. Figure out how your
competition differentiates themselves from other companies in the industry, and where they are
located.
Use your competition as a way to learn from them and what they do and don’t do. Learn their
weaknesses and strengths, doing that, you will be able to imitate them and also be sure to learn what
not to do from their weaknesses. We have all heard the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” so
with all the photo sharing tools you have at your fingertips, be sure to use pictures for your company
that would represent a good message, or a good “thousand words.”
Be able to look at your competition and recognize their good ideas along with what is popular
with the target market and do something that will make you stand out with your target market. Doing
what is popular but adding that extra something that will really make you stand out from your
competition will help maintain a competitive advantage.
After gaining a competitive advantage you still always need to be on your toes, because your
work is far from over. Being continuously successful will mean being able to maintain your competitive
advantage. You can’t get comfortable once you are at the top because there is always going to be
another hotel or resort that is coming up with something new that will be better than what you’re
offering.
Maintaining competitive advantage comes down to predicting future trends in the hospitality
industry, adapting to your target market’s wants and needs, and constantly monitoring and researching
your competition. You need to be willing to take risks and chances in order to stay ahead of your
competition while differentiating your company-with big risk often comes bigger rewards.

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References
1. http://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/marketing/online-marketing/using-online-
photo-sharing-services-to-market-your-business
2. http://www.stepforth.com/resources/web-marketing-knowledgebase/diysmm/smm9-photo-
sharing-sites/#.UVzIi1fneSp
3. http://www.thompsonhotels.com/inn-sight/instagram
4. http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/29/fanbase-media-debuts-its-social-marketing-platform-for-
instagram-and-maybe-one-day-vine/
5. http://gigaom.com/2013/04/03/twitter-plays-its-platform-hand-and-it-is-the-one-holding-all-
the-cards/
6. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Lebanon/2013/Mar-30/211976-businesses-increasingly-
engage-customers-with-social-media.ashx#axzz2PRzh53NX
7. http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/04/02/science-inc-backed-helloinsights-becomes-
hellosociety-a-pinterest-marketing-agency-for-brands/
8. http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2013/04/02/2593335/phillips-distilling-company-
announces.html