Spencer Johnson, a famous author who wrote the book “Who move my cheese” which sold 28 million copies, tells a story of 4 characters, 2 little people and 2 mice in their pursue of cheese in a maze. In this story, the cheese represents the success that we want in life. All 4 were able to enjoy cheese when they walked to the same spot. However, the cheese that was usually at the same spot was no longer to be found. Upon seeing this, the 2 little people were upset when they could no longer get cheese from their usual spot. They were angry about the change and refused to explore new areas to look for new cheese. On the other hand, the 2 mice decided to embark on a journey in exploring new areas and routes in search of new cheese. After a few failed attempts, the mice eventually found another section that was full of cheese.
Covid-19 has moved the Hotels cheese which resulted in many Hotel employees losing their jobs and business owners having to take up massive loans from the banks to keep the business afloat. What lessons can we draw from the story of “who move my cheese”? For starters, whatever marketing plans that worked in the past would have to go out the window and a different marketing strategy needs to be drawn up.
Just like the 2 mice that decided to change and explore new areas, the Hotels would have to explore new marketing strategies and ideas. “How do we retain our employees and offer different services”, this needs to be the key goal in drawing up this marketing plan. Below are some ideas of what Hotels can do,
1. Housekeeping
As most hotels would be situated near commercial buildings or residential areas, this would be a perfect customer base or target market for offering cleaning services. There are still some offices that are open that may need cleaning services every alternate day. While many households are facing challenges in getting foreign domestic helpers, housekeeping maids can be the perfect substitute in cleaning a home.
2. Food & Beverage
Restrictions on dine-in, it has caused a major reduction in the capacity of restaurants resulting in lesser covers. Lesser covers mean lesser revenue for the Hotel. A typical restaurant that could cater for 150 people now can only seat 70 people. An alternative to this would be to convert unused guest rooms into private dining rooms. This strategy does 2 things, increases the covers and utilises the underutilised rooms due to low occupancy. Each room can be converted into private dining with a minimum spend. SOPs can be complied with by setting the maximum number of people allowed in a room at one time. All food and drinks can be placed in a room and it can be run like how room service is done, but instead of catering for in-house guests, it is now open to outside guests.
3. Marketing
The Covid-19 pandemic should not slow down any marketing efforts but instead, Hotels should double down in these current times and with the above new offerings, Hotels need to create a “top-of-mind awareness”.
Social Media marketing is one of the most amazing tools available in marketing the new services by the Hotel. Instead of printing brochures and fact sheets, marketing campaigns can be created and with a little investment in the Ads, the reach can be wide.
Email marketing. Hotels can also email potential customers about new offerings and services. After some time, this will help drive direct bookings to the Hotel.
Let us all not be the two small human beings who refuse to change but be like the mice who explored new routes and methods in the search for new cheese.
Since the inception of Arrowood, we have been obsessed with new and innovative ideas for the Hospitality Industry. Over the years, Arrowood has done many assessments for Hotels which is a one-time off engagement instead of a long-term contract. An assessment is done on the existing business of the Hotel and a list of new marketing efforts, strategies, and ideas is mapped out to increase the Hotels revenue and market share.
If you are looking for something like this, feel free to reach out to us at hello@arrowood.com.my.
