SiteMinder International
Market Research
The inquiry came through DotDesign, the branding and web design agency for the B2B company that I lead, and passed the opportunity along to Itchi Digital, of which focuses more on Digital Marketing, Public Relations and is an all-rounder marketing focusing in hospitality, education and web3 industry.
The client, SiteMinder, is the world largest open hotel commerce platform. It is publicly listed company in Australian Stock Exchange.
With the world being shocked by the pandemic since 2019, travel had completely changed the industry. Bali, Indonesia in particular, felt one of the biggest hit as its main economic driver was tourism.
Today, in 2022, with the world starts recovering from the pandemic, travel is slowly going back to a new era, the digital acceleration is now, more than ever is becoming one of the most essential tool and activity in the travel industry. And that starts with making sure that all the data, channel and system in your properties are aligned. And that's what SiteMinder is there for.
With Indonesia as their 2nd biggest market in APAC, SiteMinder is looking to increase their position within the country, after seeing a more international travel flight is opening back to Bali. And that's when we got in touch.
My contribution
Project Management Research Client Relationship Management
Year
2022
The team
Jesse Leon Ward - Project Manager Witantra Hariastama - Designer
Process
Market Research
We are looking to gather the findings for the analysis to understand what the perception of SMS targeting was, if it was viable for B2B engagement in Indonesia, what platforms are viable for B2B engagement and what their awareness is of the SiteMinder brand.
The individuals we connected with were Evan Burns, Director of Cross Hotels & Resorts (Indonesia), Joel X, General Manager of Mamaka by Ovolo Hotels in Bali, and Iwan Saputra, Regional Revenue & E-Commerce Director for Cross Hotels & Resorts (Indonesia).
Outcome
After doing the research we put together a strategic recommendations for them to move forward with the market entry.
Here are the recommendations we gave to SiteMinder for their brand awareness;
SiteMinder to implements a strategy that grows its brand awareness inIndonesia through social media, traditional and digital media, and PR sponsorships
SiteMinder to implements a paid ad strategy through social media to increase B2B engagement, as well as running ads to grow a contact database within the target audience. This database would then be used to implement SMS and DM campaigns through WhatsApp and an automated email platform
SiteMinder to establish a physical presence in the market to meet with hotel professionals, such as a Business Development Manager or a Sales Representative, as the target audience does not typically adopt such technology without a process of meeting with the company and discussing internally over time to weight up pros and cons.
And this are the ones for their sales strategy;
To implement monthly paid ad strategy on Linkedin to increase B2B engagement and generate leads for SiteMinder. The ads will target hotel general managers, revenue managers, e-commerce managers, channel managers, operations managers, and hotel owners.
Optimise ad campaigns weekly based on ad performance including budget adjustments (if needed).
Begin growing a database of contacts in Indonesia who are within the target audience by researching relevant channels to obtain email and contact information.
Implement paid ad campaigns across digital channels including LinkedIn and Facebook promoting the USPs of SiteMinder to obtain contact information of individuals within the target audience.
Implement communications strategy through email marketing and WhatsApp to contact individuals within the target audience. The desired outcome of this activity is to establish a channel to the correct point of contact within a hotel to set up sales meetings.
Wondering how your business can benefit from a strong branding and marketing strategy within Indonesian hospitality landscape?
Reach out to me or my team, and see if we're a good fit to help your business entering one of the biggest market in the world.
