Because progress cannot be halted, Steve Heyer CEO argues that companies have to be smart about the way they market themselves, always seeking new methods because new things are coming upon them. These are bold words that were spoken by this visionary business leader almost a decade ago and people continue to refer to them today. 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.
Steve Heyer is a person of great importance in the business world, not least because he is one of the chiefs of Starwood Hotels. Heyer was already in this seat when he began to expound on his original message to marketers in 2003. 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. He said that the hotels had to work on selling experiences worth remembering. Heyer's innovation was in the lens through which he approached the subject.
In the 2003 speech, he proposed to marketers and media leaders to become more customized and personalized in delivering their services and products, and aim for the empowerment of consumers. This is precisely what one now observes in businesses: customization. And this is most apparent in the computer and digital industries.
We are seeing old forms of entertainment being given a run for their money by fresh avenues of media distribution. Just for illustration, when software for musical piracy was introduced, the support from consumers was so overwhelming that the music industry almost immediately saw a setback in profits. Suddenly no-one wanted to pay for songs any longer, opting instead to get them free, off the Net.
The music industry momentarily went into chaos, which is a scenario referred to in Steven Heyer’s keynote address. For Heyer, this was only a reminder that people needed to constantly change their approaches to meet fresh issues. Heyer said that even TV was no longer safe, and that new trends might well harm those in the industry.
Steve Heyer argues that modern marketing efforts should focus on the creation of cultures, not products. 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. In other words, consumers would have their eyes trained on what the hotels could provide, not the hotels themselves.
The company has called in a rather unorthodox business associate: a famous lingerie brand known all over the world for its couture lingerie fashion shows. Along with online bidders, only preferred guest members of Starwood can buy tickets to the elite fashion event. This is the perfect execution of what Heyer meant.
The proliferation of brand names in films has also drawn attention from Heyer, who dislikes it. He calls the practice a “contextless” insertion of brand logos into movies or TV programs. He also said this practice neither improves storylines nor enhances marketability of products.
A look at Coca Cola's roster of past chiefs shall show Steve Heyer CEO on it. Some of his services for that company actually demonstrate what he is trying to say by "contextual" brand placement. What he did was to put a glass of Coke in front of each judge in American Idol, a popular TV series.
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