Marketing and Me!

Written by Pamela Carvell, HMA Life President, with contributions from Martin Evans, The Tourism Business, Andrea McKay, Coaching Confidential, Elliott Wakefield, GuestHouse Hotels and Lauren Bradley, Hilton Hotels.

Introduction

I was very honoured to have recently been presented with an award for my Outstanding Contribution to Hotel Marketing by HOSPA and the HMA on the occasion of the 30^th HMA Hotel Marketing Awards at The Savoy in London. It was 31 years ago that I joined the HMA Committee as Press Officer and came up with the idea, that in support of our missions to elevate the status of Hotel Marketing and recognise Best Practice, that we should launch some awards. These 2 things made me reflect on my career in marketing and the significance of the hotel industry in that journey.

My reflections also included how the journey of others has been very different to mine, and the importance of sharing this to encourage and inspire others that there are many different ways to join the family of Hotel Marketers. Marketing and Hospitality are a heady combination, as are the passion and enjoyment within, and they take you on a journey that can lead in many different directions, as you will read below.

I reached out to colleagues to share with me the following:

• Their Journey into Hotel Marketing and how it came about.

• Their successes.

• What Marketing means to them now.

If anyone reading this, based in the UK and working in Hotel Marketing, would also like to share their journey, please feel free to email us.

Pamela Carvell – My Journey into Marketing

My first encounter with Marketing was as part of my Management Sciences degree at Manchester Uni. I was not particularly enamoured with economics, forecasting, human resources, computer programming, accounting and contract law, so when presented with modules in psychology, buyer behaviour, research and marketing, I knew the direction I wanted to take. From that moment on I have been fascinated by every component of marketing & buyer behaviour. Having studied French, German & Spanish prior to that, I guess a career in international marketing was something of an inevitability. And to use marketing terminology, my USP of a Marketing degree coupled with language skills opened many doors both to jobs as well as projects and to a variety of industries both on the agency and client side. Joining the hotel industry was more about the attraction of working in marketing for what was at the time, the world’s largest hotel chain, rather than it being about hotels!

My Successes

I feel that my biggest single success was being accepted into and then respected in the hotel industry, at a time when most ‘specialists’ came from an Operations background and I was constantly challenged as to how I could possibly do the job of Marketing Manager when I’d never worked in a hotel. I’ve met & worked with some amazing people, travelled to fascinating places and been privileged to stay in fabulous hotels. Among my favourites are the Arizona Biltmore, the Carlton in Cannes and the Amstel in Amsterdam. This may sound strange now, but I created a weekend breaks market in places such as Croydon and Madrid, when everyone told me it couldn’t be done. And my biggest success was probably launching the Crowne Plaza brand outside of the USA, which included setting the product & service standards and not just ‘doing the marketing’.

What Marketing Means to me Now

I can’t watch an ad break, flick through a magazine or scroll through social media without noticing ads that I love or hate, and then analysing who the target demographic/psychographic is & whether or not I think it will work! I love social media and enjoy playing around on channels like TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to promote my Quirky Antiques ‘business / hobby’. I do everything I can to learn what makes the world’s, and the UK’s, most successful brands the successes they are, as we can always learn most from the companies who excel. 2 of my favourite English brands are Hotel Chocolat and Gregg’s, and it would be fair to say that they both adopt completely different approaches to their Marketing!

Elliott Wakefield - My Journey into Marketing

My journey into marketing certainly wasn’t conventional. Firstly, I didn’t study it – in fact, I didn’t study anything (at university) which is another story – it felt instead, like an affinity.

I’ve always appreciated graphic design, which I think was the first clue for me. I approach all my roles with an entrepreneurial lens too, naturally finding opportunity gaps to help grow the business and role.

With both in mind, I was probably intensely annoying for the marketing professionals in the brands I worked for, when I was that operations person creating their own collateral. I remember putting together my first wedding brochure when I was about 20 years old; specifying the offering but also finessing the copy and design. I was so proud of the achievement, and it really worked too – with the property I was working at dramatically increasing bookings (I was doing the tours myself too, along with running the weddings!).

The turning point though, was when I worked at the Lakes by Yoo. Here, the hospitality side of the business was truly in its nascency, which let me explore all aspects of commerciality, including marketing, to get bookings flowing in. In some senses, it was my first Commercial Manager role, although the title was General Manager. Working alongside the Chair and the Board, all of whom were entrepreneurs, I felt inspired. Two years in, I felt it was time to switch up my career and offer my services consultatively, focusing on sales & marketing. In hindsight, that might have been a bit pre-emptive, but the timing allowed for various things to line up, leading me to my Sales & Marketing Director role at Curious Hotels.

Since then, I’ve relished making marketing roles my own – blending brand and commerciality. It wouldn’t be entirely true to say I haven’t looked back though – I think my operational background has played a huge part in my journey so far, and I do miss interacting with guests as often.

My Successes

There have been some amazing milestones in my career, from brilliant campaigns to stellar partnerships. Of course, we can’t forget the people too – and one of my greatest successes is surely assembling our amazing marketing team at GuestHouse Hotels. I’m so proud of the team, who are trailblazing in showing hotels that there is a different way to own your marketing – without outsourcing.

Highlights would have to include brand partnerships with the likes of Nyetimber, taking an otherwise disused outdoor pool at Great Fosters to be one of the chicest beach-club-esque experiences in Surrey, to (rather hurriedly) organising the launch party of the Kate Moss Barnhouse at the Lakes by Yoo, a few days after joining the company.

It's also been amazing breaking into the U.S. market, attending Virtuoso Travel Week and continuing direct travel advisor relations, creating itineraries for their clients and providing them with detailed email campaigns, describing our destinations.

I think above all though, it’s to simply be in my role(s), with only my innate knack for it, an eye for design and ability to communicate with our guests. It’s a wonderfully fulfilling role, letting you into every avenue and aspect of a business, and it’s something I would encourage more people to try. It’s helped create an amazing career which – for the record – is still ‘relatively’ young, in that the big four-oh hasn’t happened yet…!

What Marketing Means to me Now

Marketing often was – and is – confined to the ‘prettifying’. Seen with little commerciality, marketing is wrongly perceived a cost centre, not a money-maker. What is to me, however, is quite the opposite. It’s strategic, tactical and reactive. It’s horizon-scanning, long-game-playing and yet also in the moment, capturing guest reactions instantly for social media channels.

Marketing is the voice of the guest, as we curate experiences to delight them, and identify in feedback what niggles them.

Marketing can of course be brand – brand with a B must stand against short-termism – but marketing also translates the value of Brand, and can find the way to create compelling campaigns with hooks that don’t devalue it.

Marketing is perhaps one of the truest holistic disciplines, when we stay focused on our guests and our commercial goals, driving forward ways to grow year after year.

It is, or it can be, the communicative hub of a business, linking everyone together, and setting the agenda. It is a vital board role, and one from which I think more CEOs should be raised. This is changing I think – and whilst yes, I can still knock up something pretty (no, not in Canva) – I get most satisfaction now from the ways in marketing is adding to both the top and bottom line.

Martin Evans - My Journey into Marketing

I did a degree in Business Law at Coventry Uni.  Having decided I wasn’t cut out to be a lawyer, the course had included a module on International Trade Law, and so once completed and without a job to go to, I enrolled on a two-year Postgrad Diploma in International Marketing at Buckinghamshire Uni.  On completing a final-year research piece and dissertation on The International Marketing of British Hotels (I loved hotels even then, having worked a summer job in North Devon several years running), I sent the survey results to 17 of the top 20 UK hotel group marketing directors at the time – and was delighted to be offered jobs in marketing at both Forte and Stakis Hotels.  I chose Forte (at Heathrow Airport) and it gave me a solid grounding and even more enthusiasm for hotel and travel marketing.

My Successes

Hard to measure sometimes, and of course we all have failed projects and campaigns too, but an early success was my client Rothay Garden hotel in Grasmere winning the HMA’s “Best Brochure” category, beating one of London’s Hilton hotels into second place!  Having copywritten the brochure I was pretty chuffed!  Working as a consultant for the independently-owned Rothay Garden for nearly 20 years was hugely enjoyable, and seeing owner Chris Carss sell the hotel at the top of the market back in 2019 even more so.  I guess also, that conceiving and running the first National Hotel Marketing Conference back in 2004, also turned out to be a success.  I call it “an injection of marketing adrenaline” for the sector.  Over the years since, we’ve had over 300 speakers and 3,000 delegates at the conference and I’m proud to count so many of them as friends.

What Marketing means to me now

I have two main business passions – the first is marketing, the second is the travel/hospitality industry.  Simple as that.  Marketing means the same to me now as it did 30 years ago, it’s the means for any organisation to understand what the customer wants and to provide that at a profit.  Whilst things like Ai, sustainability and experiential are important, the fact is that marketing is a high dose of common sense, it’s a fantastic blend of art and science, of creativity and analysis.  And of course it’s about the customer first and foremost.  Humans haven’t changed that much in 30 years, and neither has human psychology.  So understanding what makes people tick, their wants, fears and needs, is all-important.  Overlay that with the science, and a degree of creativity and you have your winning marketing formula.

Andrea McKay - My journey into marketing

I credit my introduction to marketing to the wonderful MD of the five-star hotel and country club where I was working as Sales Manager. In meetings, he noted that I would make suggestions about promotional activity and customer experiences from the feedback received in sales calls and events. He talked to me about marketing, suggesting some books to review. I got involved in a few projects and when the Sales and Marketing Director moved on, I was given the position. I enjoyed over 25 years in marketing roles, going on to complete my CIM qualifications and get a Masters degree. I shall always be grateful that he shone a light on a career path I hadn’t considered, as well as planting the seed for the type of leader I wanted to be.

My Successes

It is so hard to pick, I have worked with some amazing teams that achieved so much. Two come to mind that I am particularly proud of.  Firstly developing the new (and HMA award- winning) meetings product for Hilton UK & ROI and later, seeing it adopted as an international standard. My second would be leading the re-design of Hilton International’s (non-US) new look and feel and the development of its multilingual template guide. When I think of how collaborative the project was, the amazing launch in Sydney, and seeing it in the hotels, it was quite the accomplishment.

And I should mention of course, I’m proud of everything achieved in my 20+ years on the HMA committee and all the HMA Marketing and Young Marketer of the Year awards that my team won!

What Marketing Means to me Now

As a business owner, marketing is still something I am constantly focused on and still learning! Working with hotel clients, I hear about the increased demands on marketers' time and a need to stay informed about the latest tactics as well as think strategically. I am passionate about senior marketers positioning marketing’s role within the wider organisation and be the driver of a cohesive strategy. For those starting out, I suggest exploring all the different aspects of marketing before specialising and also developing some core leadership skills which will help manage stakeholders, lead cross-functional projects more effectively and become the leader that your team will remember fondly in years to come.

Lauren Bradley - My journey into marketing

I made the move into marketing after graduating with a degree in Fashion Journalism. The rise of influencers was a hot topic at the time, and this was something that interested me - alongside social media and how it cool be used to build a brand. After completing some work experience as a marketing intern at a local leather goods company that made hand-crafted bags, I secured my first role in the glamourous industry of bathrooms as a Marketing Assistant! I learned so much in this role about the foundations of marketing, which then led me to my role as a Marketing and Communications Officer at a private school. Whilst that was a completely different industry, I again learned so much about campaign management, working with videographers and PR. After this role I became a Marketing Executive at The Waldorf HIlton, London, where I have since stepped up to Marketing Manager. Hospitality is a whirlwind industry, and I love it because no day is the same. Marketing is also changing all the time, and I love that I am in a role that is so creative, whilst also being targetted and analytical - everything has it's purpose. 

My successes

I would say my main success is my team, as we work so closely and have had so many key achievements in the last year. From launching a new pop-up restaurant in just 6 weeks, to building relationships in the industry and winning/being shortlisted for many awards. I am so proud that we can all work to achieve fantastic things and still strive for more! 

What marketing means to me now

It's so funny because if I was asked this as a Marketing Assistant I would have said 'advertising', selling to the consumer (insert more jargon!) But I believe marketing is essential to the success of any business, as without storytelling, creative assets, PR etc, your business may as well not exist. In the hospitality industry which is so people-focussed, it only makes sense that they are at the heart of what we do, and only marketing can tell that story. 

Conclusions

There are many different definitions of Marketing and it means different things to different people, depending on their experiences as well as their work environment. Marketing has evolved with the digital explosion so that it now encompasses so many roles that were previously not considered part of Marketing. For example, neither a graphic designer nor a photographer nor a copy-writer would have historically considered themselves part of Marketing, but a Marketing Manager in a hotel in 2025 will typically be responsible for all 3 of those functions as they are inextricably part of their role posting on social media & creating web content.

There are also many different ways of pursuing a career in Marketing and a multitude of directions that can take. Furthermore, there are countless opportunities in the agency world, if you want to pursue a very specific component of Marketing’s P for Promotion.

We hope that by sharing our personal experiences  we may inspire others to embrace a career in hotel marketing and appreciate that it definitely isn’t a ‘one size fits all’.

This article may be reproduced in part or in full, so long as credit is given to the author and the Hotel Marketing Association, and it includes a link to the full article.

September 2025.