Ritz Carlton Finishes on Top of Hotel Brand Equity Study

What do best in class practices look like among the nation's leading hotel chains based on their email marketing efforts? Read on and find out.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/email_insider/?p=538#comments

Does It Matter Which Day Your Email Blast Goes Out

Not according to this expert...

http://blogs.mediapost.com/email_insider/?p=537

If Only They Viewed My Emails Like Christmas Presents

A timely thought on how you can get more people to read your emails despite their busy schedules.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/email_insider/?p=536

Beware of Brand Extensions

Before venturing into brand extension projects that could solidify their image or increase revenues, for- or non-profit organizations should consider put on their marketing hats.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=70711&Nid=36213&p=906391

NKY CVB Revised Web Site Makes Planner's Job Easier

Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau Launches New Web Site
NEWS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:Julie Connolly(513)287-7857, cell: (773)484-3704E-Mail: julie.connolly@strata-g.com

Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau Launches New Web Site
The innovative site is the final piece of NKYCVB's new branding and marketing campaign

COVINGTON, KY [October 24, 2007] — The Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau (NKYCVB) has launched www.nkycvb.com, a new innovative Web site designed to showcase Northern Kentucky to meetings and convention planners.
The dynamic site, created by Strata-G Communications, introduces an entirely new design, expanded features and improved navigation. In addition to traditional features such as hotel and accommodation listings, www.nkycvb.com offers an aerial tour that showcases the city and surrounding regions. The site also provides online booking capabilities and an uploadable Request for Proposal option. An extensive behind-the-scenes content management tool enables CVB staff to make updates to better meet the needs of the planner and reflect regional changes in the marketplace. "The website was designed not only to be rich in content but also an effective marketing tool that will generate convention and meeting sales resulting in an increase in economic impact for the entire region" says Barbara Dozier, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of the NKYCVB.
The site compliments a new logo along with updated marketing and messaging materials that were unveiled earlier this year. The campaign's engaging theme, "RethiNK" – is a compelling call to action for meeting planners to consider Northern Kentucky as a meeting destination, promising an experience that is exciting, distinctive, and far beyond expectations.
"With the fresh look of the new, streamlined website combined with the rich content showcasing Northern Kentucky's assets we believe we are ideally positioned to convince meeting planners that Northern Kentucky is an extraordinary destination," said Tom Caradonio, president and CEO of the NKYCVB
The mission of the Northern Kentucky Convention and Visitors Bureau is that of an aggressive sales, marketing, service and informational organization whose primary responsibility is to positively impact the Northern Kentucky economy through conventions, meetings and visitor expenditures. The direct economic impact of visitors’ spending in Campbell, Kenton and Boone counties in 2005 was $255 million.

Kennedy Center Marketing Chief Comes to Town

Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts Marketing Director David Kitto was in town recently to speak to the Cincinnati American Marketing Association Chapter. He says his major challenges are productivity and a fickle media. He measured the productivity equation in revenues. Revenues that are declining, he says, thanks to limited venue seating capacities and the sales of compact discs which impact people's willingness to attended by live performances. He adds this creates a trickle down effect which restricts the number of performances with a limited number of superstars.

The media continues to act indifferent at arts groups with less editorial space devoted to reviews and features. He notices in general the writing of fewer stories that make a difference in inspiring the lives of others.

Sensing the issue of preaching to the choir, Kitto said arts groups, in an effort to balance budgets make the mistake of cutting shows and cutting marketing budgets. Kitto says they have tried to be innovative in opening the Center to new audiences:

1. Bringing arts organizations from the Greater Washington DC area to their space to teach marketing initiatives;
2. Catering to audiences who love musicals such as when they staged a series of Stephen Sondheim works, which garnered international publicity;
3. Hosting international festivals such as the 2010, a celebration of Arab nations and collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Bolshoi Ballet to name a few.

Kitto says he works closely with the Center's Press Department to target what he calls core and marginal markets on a miniscule budget of $45-50 million. Kitto says his web site (www.kennedycenter.com) was the first to offer indoor virtual tours. They continue to be creative with ideas such as sending bounce back emails to first time ticket buyers to discounted tickets to a future performance.

NKY Hotel Receives Honor

Holiday Inn Airport is an outstanding partner of the Northern Kentucky CVB. We salute them for their latest recognition.



Nadine DeGenova
Nadine DeGenova Public Relations
407-682-2625
nadine@prproof.com;
www.prproof.com

or

David Smith General Manager Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport 859-371-2233
david.smith@hicincinnatiairport.com

IMMEDIATE RELEASE - (Photo available upon request)
HOLIDAY INN CINCINNATI AIRPORT WINS INTERCONTINENTAL HOTELS GROUP 2007 TORCHBEARER AWARD FOR THE NINTH YEAR Cincinnati, OH, November 5, 2007 – The Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport has received InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2007 Torchbearer Award for the ninth year. "It is my pleasure to name the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport as one of the finest hotels in our industry," said Steve Porter, president, the Americas, IHG. "This hotel embodies the spirit, product and service that continue to make our properties known and admired throughout the world." InterContinental Hotels Group is the world’s largest hotel group based on total number of rooms and the Torchbearer is the most prestigious company award bestowed, recognizing the Top 20 in Overall Satisfaction of all Holiday Inns throughout North America and Canada.
The awards were officially presented at the 2007 IHG Americas Investors & Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas, October 22-24, 2007, with more than 4,000 franchise owners, operators and company officials in attendance. David Smith, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport proudly accepted the award for the hotel, which currently ranks in the top 1% of all Holiday Inns worldwide.
The Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport is one of only 69 properties chosen from the IHG system of more than 3,800 hotels for achieving the highest levels of excellence in all aspects of operation -- from quality to customer satisfaction. The 2007 Torchbearer trophy will be on permanent display at the hotel for guests from all over the world to view.
Managed by Winegardner & Hammons of Cincinnati, OH, the Holiday Inn Cincinnati Airport is also the proud recipient of the following awards:
Service Excellence Award - Top 10 Service scores of all Holiday Inns in North America and Canada
Best 4 Breakfast Award - Top 10 Breakfast Satisfaction scores of all Holiday Inns in North America and Canada
Awilda Putthoff – Best of the Best Award, Reservations/Revenue Manager
###
Note to Editors:
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs)] is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. IHG owns, manages, leases or franchises, through various subsidiaries, over 3,800 hotels and more than 563,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. IHG owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn® Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express®, Staybridge Suites®, Candlewood Suites® and Hotel Indigo®, and also manages the world's largest hotel loyalty program, Priority Club® Rewards with over 33 million members worldwide.
The company pioneered the travel industry’s first collaborative response to environmental issues as founder of the International Hotels and Environment Initiative (IHEI). The IHEI formed the foundations of the Tourism Partnership launched by the International Business Leaders Forum in 2004, of which IHG is still a member today. The environment and local communities remain at the heart of IHG’s global corporate responsibility focus.
IHG offers information and online reservations for all its hotel brands at www.ihg.com and information for the Priority Club Rewards program at www.priorityclub.com. For the latest news from IHG, visit the online Press Office at www.ihg.com/media.


About Winegardner & Hammons, Inc.Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. is a full-service hotel management company with a reputation for progressive and successful hospitality management. The WHI owned/managed portfolio includes resorts, all-suite, extended-stay, full service and conference center hotels in many diverse markets across the United States. WHI currently manages over 26 hotels in the United States and is affiliated with most major hotel brands. For more information on WHI, please visit our web site at

Creation Museum Attendance Figures Six Months Ahead of Schedule

The Creation Museum near the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, expected to attract a quarter of a million visitors in its first 12 months, but has reached that total in half the time.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071103/NEWS0103/711030409/-1/all

Staying on the same page

I was meeting with community leaders representing some of the major entities representing business interests in Northern Kentucky this week and we stressed the importance of communicating the same message. This has been sited as being a common theme in many thriving U.S. cities such as Charlotte and Austin. This article on narratives caught my eye as a possible solution.

http://blogs.mediapost.com/spin/?p=1164#comments