Hotel Marketing Association Blog » Target market

Generation Y Gender Differences?

Pam Carvell, Marketing Consultant — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 12:14:57 +0000

I attended a very interesting Forum recently, organised by BDRC Continental. They had assembled a panel of Generation Y hotel users, who were brave enough to be interviewed on stage. Gen Y being those born 1977-95 and thus rapidly becoming a more important consumer group than their Baby Boomer and Gen X predecessors. No statistical validity from such a discussion, but nevertheless some interesting views emerged. They were unanimous in their love of hotel chains because “You know what you are getting”….reminds me of a great Holiday Inn ad campaign from the early ‘80’s with the headline ‘The best surprise is no surprise’! However, there the similarity with their predecessors ends. What do they want from a hotel, or want it to be…..funky, cool, edgy, post-ironic, with chill-out zones, outdoor areas, natural daylight, iconic design, a wow factor. And very importantly for the generation with a low attention-span and expecting instant gratification, they want self-service check-in and check-out and don’t want to wait for anything.

They automatically check Trip Advisor for hotel reviews, but feel they are very savvy regarding any negative reviews – traditional hoteliers, who panic about these things, please take note!

However, forget all the talk, what struck me the minute they went on stage was that the guys were all seriously dressed-down (jeans, trainers and even shorts) and the ladies were all seriously glammed up (Baby Boomer wear for hitting a disco!). In previous generations, there is a dress code for activities such as sitting on a panel in front of senior business people. Not only was there no dress code, but it intrigued me as to what the significant dress code difference between the sexes suggests. The way we dress sends out messages about us. They were clearly an affluent group, sporting LV handbags, and discussing stays in some very upscale hotels. Yet, the guys clearly felt that they didn’t need to sport serious clothes to be taken seriously. And the ladies? I’m not quite sure. Perhaps it is the celebrity culture that makes ladies feel that they need to look like ‘Posh’ and co. and rather than dress as business women? It certainly suggests that marketers and hotel developers need to keep on their toes if they are to satisfy this discerning group.

Professor Malcolm McDonald

Pam Carvell, Marketing Consultant — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:24:20 +0000

Professor Malcolm MacDonald delivered a very thought-provoking lecture at last week’s TFMA show. He is deliberately controversial, but talks so much sense and takes marketing right back to basics. He works with the boards of many companies and highlighted the fact that many board members can’t answer the 2 most basic questions, that in fact any senior manager should also be able to answer, if a business is to be successful:

- what markets are you in?

- what is your differential advantage in each of these markets?

He clarified that markets should not be defined by demographics or psychographics or even geographical areas, but should reflect customers needs i.e. needs-based customer segmentation. If you don’t have a sustainable competitive advantage in each market, your business will struggle to survive. He backed up his reasoning with the fact that 90% of new products fail and they fail because of marketing!

Food for thought!

Simplifying target markets

Pam Carvell, Marketing Consultant — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:29:44 +0000

I saw George Davies interviewed about his new retail chain Give. He said that in his view there are just 2 types of customers – discerning ones and undiscerning ones. The latter just buy on price e.g. at Asda. His new chain is aimed at discerning lady shoppers who want great service and things that are unique. Perhaps we could categorise hotel customers in this way and avoid over-complicating things?