Given the relentless march of progress and history itself, businessmen have to always be ready to react to new developments. Heyer spoke of such things years past, almost as though he could see the future with inhuman clarity. He delivered a keynote speech bearing this message to a group of 400 media, ad agency and entertainment executives during an “Advertising Age” conference in 2003.
The man occupies a top position in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. His words from some years past were eventually continued in subsequent interrogations regarding them. Heyer's stated goal was the marketing of amusement, as opposed to the marketing of lodgings in the hotels.
In this approach, what is being sold is the experience itself. Memorable experiences, in other words, would be the products. Heyer's innovation was in the lens through which he approached the subject.
He also emphasized the need to provide for the new powers of consumers nowadays. Nowadays we see that Heyer was right. And this is most apparent in the computer and digital industries.
Nowadays, various businesses in media are in trouble because of the changes in technology. Just for illustration, when software for musical piracy was introduced, the support from consumers was so overwhelming that the music industry almost immediately saw a setback in profits. Consumers went online in droves when songs started becoming downloadable on sites for free.
The musical industry suffered huge losses, as noted by Heyer in his 2003 speech. The circumstances had changed, Heyer said, and so should the methods of distribution as well as reproduction. Heyer said that even TV was no longer safe, and that new trends might well harm those in the industry.
Essentially, he was saying that the time had come for businesss to market a culture, not a product. The idea behind the marketing for Heyer's hotels company is now that of entertainment that cannot be found elsewhere. Their focus now is not anymore on the beautiful hotels with a total worth of billion dollars but on the opportunities to create memories.
Hence, the company has actually struck up a partnership with the Victoria's Secret brand in an effort to market the experience of being in a Starwood hotel (and watching a Victoria's Secret runway show, in this case). To tempt customers, the shows have been marketed as exclusive events. This is a case of the product being an experience.
The proliferation of brand names in films has also drawn attention from Heyer, who dislikes it. The CEO has spoken of it as a random, ill-advised technique. To him, such random inserts would serve little purpose, either for the film or for the company.
Steve Heyer CEO used to head Coca Cola Ventures. It is from that time that we may take an example of what he means by properly contextualized brand "cameos". Heyer set Coke glasses on the judging table of a famous talent show on television.
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