April 19, 2005 - The Grand Geneva ResortSM,
located in beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, operates a full service destination
resort complete with exceptional golf, spa and dining experiences. As a
destination with a full range of seasons, the characteristics and interests
of its guests vary year round.
The resort asked Incite Response, a direct marketing agency specializing
in highly personalized programs, to develop a monthly direct marketing
campaign to provide incentives to past guests, inviting them to return.
Incite Response quickly implemented its self-managing, turnkey direct mail
program called Boomerang.
Boomerang is a mailing strategy and process developed by Incite Response
to increase response to direct mail, resulting in a direct increase in
repeat guest rates. In the case of Grand Geneva, the strategy was to send
a unique offer to past guests on the anniversary of their last booking
date. To lift response even further, each postcard displayed an image relevant
to the past guest�s last experience and cleverly integrated the guest�s
name throughout the card to enhance the personal nature of the offer. If
a previous guest played golf, a golf photo appeared on the card, if the
guest used the spa, a spa photo was displayed, and so on.
By mailing to past guests on the anniversary of their last booking date,
the average size of each mailing was reduced. Smaller, more targeted, mailings
generate higher response rates. Each month, approximately 1,500 past guests
were identified and received an offer.
The Marketing Database
The Grand Geneva Resort utilized the services of the IDT Group to extract
their guest history from various platforms at the resort. IDT has built
an effective marketing database that provides the ability to segment and
target past guests in a way no property management system can.
In addition to expanding the uses of the property data, the IDT system
gives an expanded menu of valuable information in which to make marketing
and sales decisions.
�Having a clean, usable resource for direct marketing is extremely valuable,�
according to David Metze, president of Incite Response. �IDT does an exceptionally
good job when it comes to unlocking the potential of guest history. We
take it to the next logical step, creating revenue from it.�
Passive Tracking
The IDT Group built a very sophisticated marketing database for The
Grand Geneva Resort, giving Incite Response the opportunity to append individual
recipient household records with vital information about the campaign they
received. Incite monitored those households for bookings and stays, providing
a clear picture of the dollars that each recipient spent at the resort.
This is called �passive tracking� since it requires no active participation
on the part of reservations or other hotel staff.
One of the best traits of passive tracking is the ability to see what
was booked and when. When the reservations staff successfully up-sells
or redirects callers into need periods, it can create a tracking problem
in the property management system. This does not affect passive tracking.
Call Tracking
Shortly after the start of the Boomerang program, the resort added Incite
Response�s new Call Tracking System. This greatly enhanced the resort�s
ability to see how the strategy was working.
The online call tracking system assigns a unique toll free number to
each campaign. The resort was able to look at the number of calls being
generated by the postcards and listen to online recordings of the calls.
The added benefit was the ability to easily track the response rate
and the conversion rate. The number of calls was compared to the bookings,
and when conversion rates were unsatisfactory, the calls were reviewed
for training opportunities in reservations.
The Results
The program, now in its eighth month has generated a net response rate
of 4% earning Grand Geneva 14 times expenses in gross revenues.
About Incite Response
Incite Response produces and manages specialized direct marketing strategies
and campaigns with exceptional results. We accomplish this by analyzing
and planning the entire marketing process, from initial strategy through
creative execution to detailed scrutiny of results. We provide the people,
skills, systems, management and support you need to generate targeted,
successful, sustainable direct mail and e-mail campaigns. We offer a complete
selection of tracking capabilities to see if your efforts are meeting expectations.
About IDT
IDT
Hospitality Group is the leading provider of customer intelligence and
data integration services to the hospitality industry. For more than a
decade we have helped hospitality marketers reach a deeper understanding
of their guests, differentiate them, and better measure the returns on
marketing investments.
About the Grand Geneva ResortSM
Grand Geneva ResortSM is a premier
Wisconsin resort with sophisticated accommodations, creative culinary options
and award-winning service, set in beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. From
skiing to golf, horseback riding to deluxe spa packages the Grand Geneva
Resort offers a variety of experiences unique to each change of the seasons.
The Grand Geneva Resort is also the meeting place of choice for companies
throughout the Midwest and beyond that has been honored with the Pinnacle
Award from Successful Meetings magazine. Grand Geneva presents 50,000 square
feet of outstanding function space able to accommodate from 10 to 1,500
guests in style.
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