Because progress cannot be halted, Steve Heyer CEO argues that companies have to be smart about the way they market themselves, always seeking new methods because new things are coming upon them. Heyer's notes on this were given long ago, yet they prove true now. 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 J. Heyer is chief executive officer of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the world’s third-largest hotel chain. There were several occasions where Heyer enlarged on what he had meant about finding innovative marketing approaches in the famous conference long ago. Heyer's stated goal was the marketing of amusement, as opposed to the marketing of lodgings in the hotels.
In this approach, what is being sold is the experience itself. The goods, for Heyer, were the entertainments to be found in the resorts. Heyer's innovation was in the lens through which he approached the subject.
Heyer believed that the future held great things by way of personalization. This is precisely what one now observes in businesses: customization. This is most patent in digital products.
Nowadays, various businesses in media are in trouble because of the changes in technology. When Napster.com, the first music downloading service website, burst into the scene, the music industry lost millions in potential revenue. Millions of music lovers began switching to MP3s on the Web for their music fix.
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. Heyer said that even TV was no longer safe, and that new trends might well harm those in the industry.
The idea behind his words was the replacement of traditional understandings of products with new concepts based around them being associated with a certain lifestyle. Heyer's intention is to convince consumers that they can make memories that shall never be forgotten by going to Starwood locations. This marketing tactic would lead to emphasis being placed on the entertainment possibilities of each hotel.
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. Only certain persons in the Starwood hotels are allowed to attend the runway shows. This is a clear example of marketing an experience.
Heyer has also spoken out against slapping on brands in films. To Heyer, this is absolutely devoid of context. Heyer's beliefs here state that he cannot find this a marketing method that would be likely to be effective.
A look at Coca Cola's roster of past chiefs shall show Steve Heyer CEO on it. Some of his services for that company actually demonstrate what he is trying to say by "contextual" brand placement. What he did was to put a glass of Coke in front of each judge in American Idol, a popular TV series.
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