Given the relentless march of progress and history itself, businessmen have to always be ready to react to new developments. Heyer spoke of such things years past, almost as though he could see the future with inhuman clarity. Perhaps his most memorable words on them were given in 2003, during a notable address of his peers.
Steve J. Heyer is chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the world’s third-largest hotel chain. In an interview made a couple of years after his keynote address in 2003, he explained his point in 2003 by talking about his marketing strategy for the popular hotel chain. He claimed that he is not marketing rooms in hotels but entertainment and lasting memories.
He said, “We sell experiences. We deliver memories.” Technically, what is being offered has not really changed: it is simply the way of looking at it that has.
Another of the points he made was that businesses had to face a powerful trend towards customization in goods and services. Interestingly, this too has proven true. This is most patent in digital products.
The entertainment industry is also suffering from certain digital innovations impinging on their channels. When Napster.com, the first music downloading service website, burst into the scene, the music industry lost millions in potential revenue. Suddenly no-one wanted to pay for songs any longer, opting instead to get them free, off the Net.
Heyer's conference speech talked about the panic music-producers went through during this time. It was an object lesson along the lines of Heyer's theme of continuous adaptation to handle a shifting market. He also addressed TV executives and warned them to prepare and adapt to “the changing media consumption habits of younger generations”.
Essentially, he was saying that the time had come for businesss to market a culture, not a product. Heyer's intention is to convince consumers that they can make memories that shall never be forgotten by going to Starwood locations. In other words, consumers would have their eyes trained on what the hotels could provide, not the hotels themselves.
To this end, Victoria’s Secret has been called on to partner with the hotels to produce The Limited Victoria Secret shows for exclusive viewing in the hotels. Because of the exclusivity of the runway shows to Starwood customers, there is a clear integration of the desire to view a Victoria's Secret show with attendance of a Starwood hotel. This is the perfect execution of what Heyer meant.
Heyer has not restrained from making critiques of Hollywood practices, like the meaningless appearance of brands in scenes. The CEO has spoken of it as a random, ill-advised technique. Heyer's beliefs here state that he cannot find this a marketing method that would be likely to be effective.
One of Coca Cola's former leaders is actually Steve Heyer CEO. And with Coca Cola, he demonstrated contextual placement of brands into TV programs. He put the brand in view of American Idol's audience by setting Coke glasses before the judges of the series.
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