The hot adland headline last year was, “The consumer is in charge.” Well, Cummins&Partners has put Art Series Hotel Group in charge of its reviews. Six Art Series Hotels are going to review their guests.
That should get social media talking.
The new program called Reverse Reviews, will run from April 17 to May 31. And unlike Trip Advisor reviews that are inflicted on hotels whether they like it or not, guests choose to opt in to this program.
Why would they? Because after their behaviour and demeanour has been scrutinised, assessed, ranked using a point system and published online, guests scoring a rating of four or five stars will be rewarded with complimentary stays, upgrades, food and drink.
Art Series Hotel Group marketing director, Ryan Tuckerman explained, “With more than 40 million reviews of hotels and restaurants on Trip Advisor alone, Reverse Reviews flips the process on its head and provides a way for us to recognise and reward good behaviour in a fun and light-hearted way.
“We are really proud of our review results and it’s no secret that hotels are incredibly competitive on these sites. We think our guests will respond in the same way.
“More than 60% of our penthouse stays are already deriving from upgrades and ‘comps’, so now we’re looking at rewarding our best customers in a more formal and structured way.”
The idea follows research conducted by independent research company, Galaxy Research, and commissioned by Art Series Hotel Group, that revealed that guest behaviour is better than most people expect, but petty theft and deliberately parading naked in front of windows is taking place, nonetheless, under the veil of anonymity.
Findings from the research showed that of the 1,054 people surveyed:
- On the whole women are slightly better behaved than men
- People believe the most common acts of bad behaviour are taking items and not paying (19%), and not declaring mini bar items on departure (18%)
- 30% of those surveyed have participated in some form of anti-social hotel behaviour including walking in front of the windows naked (20%) and small-scale hotel theft (10%)
- Women from Queensland with incomes of less than $40K are less likely to trash a hotel room than men from Sydney
- The wealthier you are the more likely you are to be rude to hotel staff (76% of people with incomes of $90K and more)
- The poorer you are the less likely you are to take an item without paying.
Who, then, are the hotel guests to beat? Women from Perth, aged 50-plus, married with no children who don’t work (or who work in white-collar jobs) with an income of $40K or more a year.
Adam Ferrier, from Cummins&Partners noted, “Working with Art Series Hotel Group is always exciting. As brand marketers they are world class, always looking for avant-garde ways to express their brand, while engaging their guests in interesting ideas. With this idea we believe Review Culture is a weird and complex emerging phenomenon, and we think turning reviews on their head is an intriguing way to get people’s attention”.
Creative credits:
Agency: Cummins&Partners
PR: Soda Communications
