Ongoing fragmentation in media landscape has definitely made the task of marketing teams a lot harder, as Ritesh Gupta finds out in an exclusive interview with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Today it is more challenging than ever to work out appropriate marketing mix models that can pave the way for desired accountability across all marketing programmes. However, some channels are easier to measure. While that’s a great benefit to marketers because they can see real behaviour and direct links to ROI there are also dangers, says Clayton Ruebensaal, VP Global Marketing at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.  “We can see how many people clicked here, who bought a room after seeing a video, how long they watched the video, who they shared it with and so on” says Ruebensaal.

A narrow pragmatic view based only on the data that one has could lead some business leaders to over-invest in their measurable channels and reduce the importance of brand-building channels like mass advertising, public relations, and word-of-mouth which are more difficult to prove ROI for.

EyeforTravel’s Ritesh Gupta put some questions to Ruebensaal, who is scheduled to speak at EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing Strategies for Travel 2013: The Americas & Caribbean in Miami on June 4-5.

EFT: How has your approach to acquiring and retaining customers evolved over the past 12 months?

This is something we dedicate a lot of time to. The greatest shift for us is fostering the growth of our loyalty programme Ritz-Carlton Rewards. This is a growing and loyal group of Ritz-Carlton customers who have raised their hands, asking for a deeper relationship with our brand. We will reward them with access to extraordinary experiences and we will benefit from a one-to-one channel of communications with them. As long as we stay ahead of the loyalty programme curve by offering experiences in addition to functional benefits, we know this audience will grow and stay engaged.

EFT: There has been talk of initiating a dialogue right in the beginning of the booking funnel. How do you assess such marketing efforts?

At Ritz-Carlton we take a dual approach to all our channels: let people book immediately or go deeper into our brand experience. Ritzcarlton.com is a great example of this. When you arrive at the homepage there is a booking widget visible that allows you to book right from that spot in four easy steps. The same is true on ritzcarlton.cn where we know the Chinese consumer is more likely to book by phone or in-person, but we see that shifting as well so we invested in in-language booking for our Chinese guests. Especially with short-term bookings, we are already seeing a shift to more bookings direct online and through mobile.

EFT: When it comes to optimising marketing budgets, what are your recommendations?  

Our philosophy is as follows:

·         More eggs in fewer baskets. Find publishing partners who share your consumers and your values. Build something together to provide a rich integrated experience. Too many marketers spread their budget too thin to have a lot of logos on the page when they present their media plans in the boardroom.

·         Question everything. What worked yesterday may not work today or tomorrow. Especially when you work in luxury or in markets like China. Things change dramatically each time we field research. If you bring a western mentality that things will evolve in an iterative steady fashion, you risk being left without a seat when the music stops.

EFT: Considering initiatives taken by Google, Apple and Facebook, what do you make of the changes in the way travellers plan and book their holidays?

Consumer will always look for the best and easiest way to find travel content. And when they are ready to book they’ll do so wherever they see the most personal benefit. That could be price, ease, flexibility, or better service. It’s up to brands like ours to deliver their needs well enough to retain eyeballs and wallets, but also to be self-aware enough to realise where your expertise ends and someone else’s begins and make a partner out of that someone.

EFT: Which areas do you think are most important in digital marketing going forward - mobile content delivery, video streaming, analytics?

Mobile. It has become consumers’ hub. It is useful and it is entertaining. People have their mobile device while they watch TV, during travel, while they are online or on tablet, they have it next to them when they sleep. It’s undeniably powerful as a channel that compliments everything people do online and offline.

EFT: What does media-mix modelling stand for and how do you make the most of your marketing budgets?

Media mix for The Ritz-Carlton is based on maximising integration. We see it this way, find a consumer and drive them through the right channels with the right story. Other brands may find it more useful to analyse the individual effects of each channel and optimise based on that. For us it’s more holistic.

EFT: What are your dos and don'ts when considering ROI and attribution today?

1.      Do measure everything

2.      Don’t discount the importance of channels that are more difficult to measure

3.      Do look at the holistic mix and what led to the final click you are measuring

Clayton Ruebensaal, VP Global Marketing at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company will be speaking at EyeforTravel’s Online Marketing Strategies for Travel 2013: The Americas & Caribbean in Miami on June 4-5