Hello,

If you know me you know that I believe brand building is the magic wand of any business. Yes I’m biased, but I’ve seen it work, time and time again. More on that in my column – meanwhile some fun reading.

Best, Martin

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Real-life AI use-cases

Google released a massive list of 601 various AI use-cases they’ve been working on with companies. There are quite a few travel companies on the list. Many are chatbots for customer agents. They’re pretty cool I’m sure. But there are a few who are going further – creating images and more. Worth a read, search for “Travel” or “Hotel” if you want to not get lost.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION AI

Risk taking in brand building

Risk-taking in marketing, when aligned with the the latest trends, can lead to significant audience engagement. But I’m not a fan, because I think it tends to pigeon-hole the brand where they don’t necessarily want to go. Many of the risk takers tend to regret it (though never officially). Nike has been suffering the last few years – many reasons for that. Benetton isn’t really a thing anymore. There’s a fine line when it comes to risk taking. Differentiation for the sake of being different isn’t a goal (see my column below).

RISK IN MARKETING

About me: I'm a fractional CMO for large travel technology companies helping turn them into industry leaders. I'm also the co-founder of 10minutes.news a hotel news media that is unsensational, factual and keeps hoteliers updated on the industry.

Getting paid to watch ads

Roblox is introducing ‘Rewarded Video’ ads that incentivize players with in-game currency and power-ups for watching ads. Are we peaking in the attention economy space? It is only a small step up from giving away free search results in exchange for watching ads. Ads are the business model of the internet – 3 of the big 5 tech companies are ads companies. But paying people to watch ads… they better be good.

GAMING ADVERTISING STRATEGY

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We’re reaching highest guest satisfaction levels

The Q1 2025 Guest Experience Benchmark report shows guest satisfaction reaching the highest level in four years at 86.7% – this is pretty impressive and quite reassuring. It seems ADR is staying at a good level too (based on limited data). If correct, it is a great example of how hotels are getting better service to guests recovering from the post-pandemic quality problems. However as the report notes, if the volumes went down it probably indicates lower occupancy. As hoteliers know, the real moment of truth is how do reviews go when the hotel is running at max occupancy.

GUEST SATISFACTION REPORT

Cruise Lines Outpacing Airlines in Innovation

It seems the cruise industry is innovating the most in the travel sector. Cruise ships are some of the most advanced smart cities in the world. I never looked at that industry as a model to copy, though I consider it is a miracle that one can have 5000 people floating on water and having fun. Maybe because of the fact that every cruise constantly needs to work to remain afloat, they might as well introduce innovation? I don’t know what is driving it – but it is impressive how much they’re putting into R&D.

CRUISE INDUSTRY COMEBACK

AI is the new middle-man, where does that put OTAs?

BAIN’s recent study posits that AI is the new middleman. Zero-click search is becoming a thing and the main AI companies are competing for the dominant position. Unless one of them does a Google (exponentially better results) that they win the market it does seem like there will not just be one search engine in the future. But my question is where does this put OTAs? I’ve written about this before – do they just become the plumbing for the AI solutions – providing rates and availability? In that case 2-3% commission (like credit card companies) would be more appropriate.

AI MARKETING DISRUPTION

Podcast: I was invited on the Hospitality Daily Podcast and spoke about technology in hospitality, some thoughts on what wont change in hospitality, and why I co-founded 10minutes.news. Best, Martin

Opinion

The boutique hotel concept, coined in 1986 by Morgans Hotel in NYC was a brilliant example of a brand. While it became “big brand” it never was a big hotel.

Brand: Reputation Is Revenue

Distributors would rather you didn’t have a brand, OTA such as Booking and Airbnb included. Amazon, thrives on generic products that fight for visibility in a sea of sameness. The more generic, the more companies need to spend in retail media. To the distribution world, a brand’s differentiation is a threat.

But as a hotelier or brand owner: your greatest chance at independence, control, and long-term value lies in your brand.

Not your logo. Not your latest website redesign. Your brand in the deeper sense, i.e. what guests experience, what they say afterward, how they feel about your team, the story you tells, the consistency of your service and communications. Your brand is your reputation made tangible. It’s what sticks after the campaign ends and the guests leave or your customer uses the product.

Hotels that command loyalty, pricing power, and repeat business have clarity around their brand. They know what they stand for, and so do their guests. People don’t just stay there, they tell their friends. They don’t compare them; they return to them. Because they trust them.

Every business has a brand, whether it’s crafted or accidental. The question is whether it’s clear enough to act as a compass, and strong enough to resist commoditization in that sea of sameness. Standing out isn’t about being weird or quirky for the sake of being different. It’s about becoming so clear and consistent in what you do that you rise above your category.

That doesn’t take a massive budget. It takes observation. Identifying what you do better than the others. A bit of courage to tell that story. And a lot of repeated consistency.

For hotels and businesses navigating the increasingly noisy, price-driven world of digital distribution, growing one’s brand isn’t a luxury. It is what puts you in the drivers seat of your distribution. Build it well, and it becomes your leverage. Build it poorly, and you’re just another room in the list.