According to Steve Heyer CEO, marketers and media agencies should start changing the way they do business or else their corporations are headed to a collapse. Heyer spoke of such things years past, almost as though he could see the future with inhuman clarity. He delivered a keynote speech bearing this message to a group of 400 media, ad agency and entertainment executives during an “Advertising Age” conference in 2003.
Steve Heyer is a person of great importance in the business world, not least because he is one of the chiefs of Starwood Hotels. There were several occasions where Heyer enlarged on what he had meant about finding innovative marketing approaches in the famous conference long ago. The trick, according to him, was to focus on selling fun, not a bed or a room.
In this approach, what is being sold is the experience itself. We deliver memories.” This is a complete change in perspective and approach, although the product and services did not change at all.
Heyer believed that the future held great things by way of personalization. Interestingly, this too has proven true. Nowhere is this more visible than in the technologically-centered industries.
The entertainment business is being sucked dry by the latest technologies in the hands of teen consumers. For example, musicians saw a sharp decline in profits following the rise of MP3 distribution sites. Internet users indiscriminately downloaded the latest and most popular hits for free.
There was pandemonium in the song-production business, Heyer noted. The circumstances had changed, Heyer said, and so should the methods of distribution as well as reproduction. Heyer said that even TV was no longer safe, and that new trends might well harm those in the industry.
Steve Heyer argues that modern marketing efforts should focus on the creation of cultures, not products. An experience that is not easily replicable is the primary product Heyer is looking to market for Starwood. Their focus now is not anymore on the beautiful hotels with a total worth of billion dollars but on the opportunities to create memories.
The company has called in a rather unorthodox business associate: a famous lingerie brand known all over the world for its couture lingerie fashion shows. 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 a case of the product being an experience.
Heyer has also spoken out against slapping on brands in films. He calls the practice a “contextless” insertion of brand logos into movies or TV programs. He doubted that such appearances would actually bring up sales in any way.
Steve Heyer CEO used to head Coca Cola Ventures. From his work with them, we can see a smarter way to boost brand visibility without being meangingless. He very subtly and effectively placed Coca Cola glasses on the “American Idol” judge’s table.
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