Intercontinental Hotels eyes wearable tech opportunities as monthly mobile revenue tops $50m
Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) is eyeing the potential of introducing wearable technologies into its marketing and digital plans as it reveals its mobile monthly revenues have topped $50m.
The hotel group is investigating the benefits of wearable tech, which could include products like Google Glass and smart watches, to see if they can play a role in its strategy.
Speaking to The Drum IHG’s senior vice president of digital and voice channels Michael Menis said it is weighing up the potential of wearable tech either as a marketing channel or as a way to boost its ongoing strategy to use digital channels to stay connected with customers throughout their hotel experience.
“I’m interested in the role wearables play. We are thinking about the role they could have in improving guest experience, and the opportunities it could deliver. We would approach it the way we would evaluate any new tech – we will evaluate it and if we find a particular form of wearable that helps on the marketing side then that is the lens we would put on it," he said.
However, he stressed the importance of not falling for hype around emerging technologies, emphasizing that it will only pursue wearable if it sees potential for genuine added value for customers.
He said connected TV is also an interesting area for the brand, which has already launched on Google TV.
“Being an early adopter like us means you can tackle innovation but it means you must be comfortable with a certain level of risk. So some things you have to be quick to move on, which is why we have rolled out on Amazon Kindle and Google TV. These are things you need to try and use to get a sense of where customer behaviour is heading. The biggest challenge is the speed at which things move,” he said.
For the immediate future though the group is honing in on refining its mobile strategy, with monthly mobile booking revenues topping $50 million, according to Menis - up from $40 million earlier this year.
“Mobile is one of the few technologies that lets us stay connected to the guests throughout the entire guest journey, therefore it plays a critical role in our strategy. The exponential growth we are seeing in mobile booking revenue is really exciting but to be honest it’s not the most exciting element of mobile – it is that connection it has with the guest across their entire journey.
“It can play a critical role in driving improvement of guest experience at the hotel, and therefore preferred brand experience," he said.
IHG will focus on opportunities around improving the check-in process for guests, including integrating with Apple's Passbook, while also exploring ways to let guests "earn and burn" loyalty points. This could include launching more personalised messaging signposting points of interest surrounding the hotel and offers within the hotels themselves.
Menis said the group's "horizontal" digital strategy has evolved from being viewed as a booking channel, to becoming a "guest experience" channel. It has separated its tablet and smartphone strategies, recognising that tablets are used more as "hybrid laptops" with added functionality.