We took a historical perspective to examine hospitality marketing last time.

Now let us take a current perspective to examine hospitality marketing.

Upon completing this module,
you should be able to distinguish between historical
and current perspectives in hospitality marketing,
and you should be able to analyze
and understand hospitality marketing development
with the current perspective.
I would like to highlight the changes observed in two main areas:
The move from marketing 1.0 to 4.0;
and Collaborations among industry players.
First, we have moved from Marketing 1.0 to 2.0
to 3.0, and now 4.0.
Second, while competition remains keen,
we see more and more collaborations in hospitality marketing.
The idea of Marketing 4.0 was put forward by Philip Kotler
and his co-authors.
They think that the focus of Marketing 1.0 is about the product,
so it is product-oriented.
The focus of Marketing 2.0 is about consumer.
It was customer-oriented marketing.
The focus of Marketing 3.0 is value.
What value does the product bring to the consumer?
It was human-centered marketing.
Marketing 4.0 focuses on social purpose.
In terms of its function,
marketing has changed from product development
emphasizing on the functional value of the product,
to product differentiation
to satisfy the needs of the customers,
to creating values for individuals,
emphasizing the emotional needs of the customers,
to making the world better for everyone,
moving towards spiritual value for the community at large,
and collaboration between brands and society.
In terms of the customer market,
Marketing 1.0 was about the mass market.
Everybody receives the same marketing message.
Marketing 2.0 was about customizing for smart consumers,
who knew what was best for themselves.
Marketing 3.0 was trying to win the consumers’ mind,
heart, and spirit.
Marketing 4.0 is focusing on wining the customers
by brand humanization,
that is,
opening up the company and culture and inviting customers in.
Companies need to know who they are,
have a brand identity
that is consistently communicated through the products,
services, and employees.
Marketing was driven by high productivity after the industrial revolution,
then by Information Technology in efficient distribution,
and now by word-of-mouth in social media.
Companies are focusing on addressing customers’ emotional needs.
Marketing was communicating on a one-to-many basis,
and television was a good example of one to many,
with one commercial sponsor to many viewers.
Then marketing became more customized and one-to-one,
and we had direct marketing.
Now customers value user or guest comments more than anything else,
so there are many customers
looking for user comments by many people.
That’s why many-to-many.
The means of outreach adopted by marketers have evolved
From Marketing 1.0’s one-to-many
with traditional media;
Marketing 2.0’s one-to-one
with traditional and interactive media;
Marketing 3.0’s many-to-many
through the use of interactive social media.
And Marketing 4.0’s omnidirectional
(that is all directions)
through the use of hyper-connected omni-channels.
The growth of internet users
and the accessibility of mobile digital devices
and the ability to connect
online and offline experiences
facilitate the move to Marketing 4.0.
The increase in the adoption of digital devices and media
supports the evolvement of Marketing from 1.0 to 4.0.
Today, there are 4.6 billion active internet users worldwide
- 59.5 percent of the global population.
Of this, 92.6%, that is 4.3 billion,
accessed the internet via mobile devices.
Social networking sites are now estimated to have 3.6 billion users.
Social network occupies the largest share of time.
The average daily social media usage of internet users worldwide
amounted to 145 minutes per day.
61% of the social media consumption was spent in smartphone apps.
More people are also watching TV and films online.
Consumers are relying more on user-generated content.
These figures are expected to grow as mobile device usage
and mobile social networks increasingly gain traction.
So, what do all these mean to hospitality and tourism marketers?
That means marketing is changing from passive dissemination of information
to consumers actively seeking information.
User comment is of paramount importance.
Customers rely on user comments.
Information is abundant, and easily available.
Everything is so transparent.
You can’t hide things from your customers.
Moreover, they demand the immediacy of information.
They demand immediate confirmation.
So, consumers have access to a lot of information,
and that gives them power.
To sum up,
Marketing 4.0 recognizes the importance of digital technology
in the way customers consume products
and engage with brands.
It is about the transition of power to consumers
and the influence of digital subcultures in our connected world.
It acknowledges that customers
appreciate a balance of offline interaction with brands,
and companies recognize the need to use
multi or omni online channels to connect with the customers.
As connected devices become more commonplace on the back of artificial intelligence
and the Internet of Things,
Marketing 4.0 leverages machine-to-machine connectivity
and artificial intelligence to improve marketing productivity
while leveraging human-to-human connectivity
to strengthen customer engagement.
Let’s move on to collaboration.
While competition in the hospitality industry remains keen,
we see more and more collaborations.
Collaborations widen the catchment area.
Collaborations leverage each other’s strengths.
Collaborations open up new opportunities.
Hotels, airlines, credit card companies,
and other tourism companies,
they are working with like-minded brands
to create a point of difference
and offer a unique experience to their guests.
They collaborate to promote their respective business
And it is a win-win-win situation.
Marriott and IKEA, for example,
collaborate to develop Moxy Hotel.
Hilton London Bankside partnered with
design studio Bompas & Parr
to create the world’s first vegan hotel suite.
Hotel ICON and Vivienne Tam,
a Hong Kong fashion designer based in New York
to design the Vivienne Tam suite for the hotel.
AccorHotels and Banyan Tree collaborate to develop and manage
Banyan Tree-branded hotels around the world.
This partnership gives
Banyan Tree access to AccorHotels’ global reservation
and sales networks
as well as Accor’s loyalty program.
LEGO and Merlin Group collaborate to develop LEGOLAND theme park.
Hotel ICON and Mastercard created a “Priceless experience”
featuring a baking class hosted by the famed Executive Chef of the hotel,
only made available to Mastercard holders.
Marketing was driven by high productivity after the industrial revolution,
then Information Technology in efficient distribution,
then word-of-mouth in social media.
Marketing has moved from mass production to product development,
differentiation, to selling products to satisfy customers,
then making the world better for everybody.
Now with the advancement in technology
and an increasingly connected world,
traditional models of marketing must adapt
to keep up with changes in the consumer journey.
Besides, we also observed
hotels, airlines, credit card companies
and other tourism companies are collaborating
to create a point of difference
and offer a unique experience to their customers.
Collaborations create a win-win-win situation for the Collaborating parties
and the customers.