Hoteliers, if you are not following Hollywood's, Madison Avenue's and the media's lead with an obsession for the new "echoboomers" you are missing the boat on heavy-spending, brand conscious consumers for years to come.

The largest generation since the '60s, "echo boomers" are coming of age. Born between 1982 and 1995, there are nearly 80 million echoboomers that will become the next dominant generation of Americans.

What does this have to do with spring break? Hotels? Destinations? And the Future?

The oldest echoboomers are just out of college, in their first jobs. The youngest echoboomers are still in grade school, but possess the same spending and branding attributes as their older counterparts They already spend $170 billion a year. What brands do they buy? Sony, Patagonia, Gillette, Aveda, W Hotels, Hyatt, Louis Vuitton, Juicy and more.

Notice the hotel brands... not your average limited service... but upscale, boutique types.

So what does Spring Break have to do with all of this? I would bet that hoteliers are noticing a different spring break crowd, spending more money on the luxury side of rooms, clubs and transportation.

There is a burning desire to be "above average" and this plays itself out at work and outside of work. They want to buy the things they might not be able to afford, but they feel entitled to buy it anyway. It's first class all the way, from the newest iPod to the most chic hotel.

Most notable for hotel marketers and destination marketers is that with this generation the greatest attribute is word of mouth. Buzz is more important than ever, and is usually started on the Internet. This can be a great way for marketers to get in the flow of information with their brand, but only if the echoboomers relate to the brand. How do you get your brand in front of and "buzzed" by this group? What could this do for your brand and revenues in the future if you can tap in?

This is a huge target market. These are the destination visitors of today and tomorrow, the hotel guests of today and tomorrow and one of the biggest spending audiences ever. Tapping into the $170 Billion they spend every year is critical, because of course, the amount will increase as they age.

Leah

Posted at 07:29 PM

Last week I spoke at the Atlanta Diversity Summit. It was an enlightening and very multi-cultural event. My hat is off to the Atlanta CVB and their sponsors for making this such a great event. My learning session was the Interactive marketing and how to address the diverse global marketplace. I realized that so many companies do not see the real business advantage in addressing these diverse groups as niche markets. Here are some top line eye opening facts. For more information you can email me at lwoolford@usdm.net.

General Use by Ethnic Groups

• 75% of Internet Users are White
• 11% of Internet Users are Black
• 13% of Internet Users are Hispanic

African American

• More than 10 million African Americans are online
• Online Spending of African Americans continues to rise
  • Projected to spend $852.8 billion online in 2007
• African-Americans spend $35 billion on travel

Hispanics

• More than 14 million Hispanics are online
• Hispanics rely on the internet more than the average consumer
  • Spend 9.2 hours a week online -- above the 8.5 hour national average
• Hispanic travel is outpacing other minorities and growing 10 times the overall rate for the traveling population as a whole

Gay/Lesbian

• Median household income is $87,500
• 53% spent $5,000 or more per person on vacations in the past year
• The American gay and lesbian community represents a US $65 billion travel market
  • That is 5% of the annual $1.3 trillion U.S. travel industry
• Gay and lesbian travelers took an average of six overnight trips in the last 12 months
• 41% book hotel accommodations online

It's easy to see why you would want to communicate with these groups in a way that is both linguistically and culturally effective for your business development efforts. Here are some key observations and some recommendations that we make to our clients.

Key Observations:

• Use images that "talk to the group"
  • The Black or African American population wants to be represented online with images of black people and black families having fun, using products and participating. They do not respond to "white images" in black magazines or as ads on black web sites
  • Using the right images tells the audience that they are "welcome"
  • Hispanics want to see Hispanics represented in online marketing and advertising, and not the old stereotype Hispanic, but much more of a hip, stylish Eva Longoria representation

• Use headlines and copy that are culturally correct
  • Using a headline and copy that works for a white audience does not work as well as well for other diverse groups if they do not identify; this applies to Hispanics, Blacks, Asians and Gays

• Use online marketing tactics that target the group and measure your response
  • Very targeted email marketing
    • Geo targeted
    • Ethnicity targeted
    • Income targeted
    • Preference targeted
  • Affinity marketing programs to gain opt ins to your database
  • Search Engine Optimization linking to the specific section or micro site for the diverse audiences

If you look at the stats above, you realize how important these markets are to your business bottom line. I would love to hear your comments on what you are doing with diversity marketing.

Leah

Posted at 08:54 AM