Gabriel Angel V.

de Vera
Case Study Report – Accor: Strengthening the Brand with Digital Marketing
1- What should Room Key's marketing strategy look like, and where should the company
invest its money to be successful in the long term?
Room Key needs more exposure in the market. At this point and time, they are far from
consumers top of mind brands or websites. Accordingly, they should focus their marketing
strategy on attracting more visitors to their website by gaining more exposure through
influencers, paid marketing, and travel or tourist conventions. This strategy can also help them
move away from their current pop-under ad marketing strategy. An increasing number of
consumers are now using ad-blockers that stop pop-up windows from launching. It will be hard
for consumers to visit the website if they do not even get the ad.
Genuine reviews from influencers can have a huge impact on the organic marketing of Room
Key. Many people on social media (especially travelers) are looking for genuine feedback about
a product or service. Therefore, the company should approach influencers and celebrities and
introduce its website. In this way, they can also receive customer feedback and further improve
on the website to suit their needs.
Paid marketing is another strategy that Room Key has to take in order to gain more exposure.
Search engine optimization is one path they can take to help Room Key gain more exposure by
being on the top 3 results of search engines. The company can also try billboards, television
advertisements. Although the company is currently constrained in terms of budget, it is
unavoidable that they pursue a paid marketing strategy. There are also avenues within social
media where the company can use paid marketing. It is actually cheaper than many think (such
as Facebook ads), and the exposure it can gain will be exponential.
Another option for Room Key is to participate in travel conventions. They can personally engage
with consumers and help them understand the value proposition of the company. Although these
do not happen quite often and given the pandemic, this option might seem a less likely one.
However, in a post-pandemic situation, this would be a great way to gain some exposure.
Room Key should invest its money the paid marketing to be successful in the long run. In this
digital age, it would seem that despite having a good product or service, a company must also
invest in paid marketing to attract customers. Even companies who are already well known and
have a strong brand recognition do this. Room Key already has a good value proposition and can
even attract more hotels with its business model. All it needs is really more exposure. In
addition, paid marketing can lead to organic marketing, which will help snowball the company’s
growth.
2- Where else along the customer purchase journey should Accor focus its digital efforts?
Which part of the value chain are ripe for intermediation or disintermediation and why?

Accor is already well known for its excellent “stay” experience in the customer purchase
journey. Accor should therefore focus its digital efforts on the return phase instead. The reason
being is that returning customers generate revenue, create customer loyalty, and a chance for
word-of-mouth referrals.
By focusing on getting customers to return and stay at Accor hotels, the company can generate
more sales. More importantly, if customers are frequent Accor hotels, they will be the top-of-
mind brand whenever they travel. Eventually, customers will have Accor in mind throughout the
customer purchase journey. Moreover, customers will directly book their stays at Accor’s
websites, thus reducing commissions that Accor has to pay to OTAs and Room Key.
By focusing on the return phase of the customer purchase journey, Accor has the opportunity to
garner customer loyalty. Having loyal customers will again generate more revenue for the
company. In addition, they will prefer Accor hotels over other hotel chains. This can further
reinforce the possibility of customers booking their stays directly at the Accor websites as well.
Word-of-mouth referrals are a very powerful form of marketing. Some studies show that word-
of-mouth marketing is one of the most trusted forms of marketing. Many consumers say that
their family and friends are their main source of brand awareness. If Accor focuses on the return
phase and is successful, it will logically follow that they will have loyal customers who will
spread the word. These customers will endorse Accor to their family and friends and eventually
get more direct traffic and conversion on their website.
Accor should intervene with their customer loyalty program. The Accor Plus program. As of the
moment, it costs a certain amount to become a member and enjoy the perks such as a free night
stay, discounts with bookings, and restaurants. Given the current pandemic, many members have
not renewed, according to the head of Accor Plus sales and marketing Philippines. It would be
safe to assume that many members around the world have done the same. They can entice
customers to renew their memberships by giving a one-year free membership or free
membership while the pandemic lasts. Accor can attract new members in a post-pandemic
situation by offering a free membership fee for the first year and then charge them in the
succeeding years. A more enticing option would be to waive the membership fees completely,
providing that members have a minimum spend at Accor hotels within the year.

All these suggestions have one goal in mind, which is to create customer loyalty. Despite the rise
of AIRBNB and similar platforms, many consumers still prefer to stay at hotels for the
experience and convenience.