InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - idiotic Machu Pichu advertising makes me want to stay at Priority Club hotels LESS!

A bit off-topic, but I found this intriguing and funny. Received a "reminder" e-mail from IHG about the 1000 points every night promotion going on through September 3, 2012. The graphic on the web-site is a photograph of Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley. Unfortunately, IHG doesn't have a property anywhere near here; closest property is in Lima, Peru, 640 miles away!

http://www.priorityclub.com/hotels/us/en/global/offers/q212/ptsmls?promoCode=4671&offerId=p4671&cm_mmc=EMAIL-_-BNL_AWA-_-CP_BNL_20120605-_-USEN-_-cardholder_y-body_pri_cta
(I hadn't remembered seeing the above post, but found it with a search and wanted to acknowledge it had been broght up before. But I also thought it deserved its own thread.)

I don't remember the email, but I keep getting this as over and over as a banner ad now (so I see it a lot more than just one email), and it's so idiiotic, it makes me want to stay with Priority Club less, because it just reminds me of how bad their coverage is in South America (beyond the very biggest cities), where I'm planning to travlel more these days!

Great advertising, job, Priority Club. :eek: :td: :td: :td:

Why in the world choose a photo from a country in which you have misearable coverage, just so that people can figure that out and thus use that photo to form a negative image of you, instead a positive one? I just don't get it!

(If I see advertising I identify as Machu Pichu, it makes me want to go there. I then reserach which hotels are near there, find they're not Priority Club hotels, and shift my stays to other hotel programs. That's what you wanted me to do when you created this ad, right?)

Just a bad marketing practise.

They should used a image of Lhasa as a new InterContinental is going to open in Lhasa. Or Khatamandu with one Crowne Plaza there already.

Marketiers in IHG are not very bright. The IT people are even worse. But hey we have a great program. Not to mention PB.

Haven't seen the ad, but in fact, with Hotels Anywhere you can stay even in Machu Picchu, spending points at that. It may not be a good value, but you can.

it just reminds me of how bad their coverage is in South America (beyond the very biggest cities)

It is the same for all hotel chains, as the Southern American market is very fragmented.

Accor is number one in most countries of the region with just a few properties.

By the way, do we expect IHG to be present outside major business/leisure destinations?

Just a bad marketing practise.

Marketiers in IHG are not very bright. The IT people are even worse. But hey we have a great program. Not to mention PB.

+1

But thinking twice about it.. it is a US hotel chain.. what to expect :D ?

+1

But thinking twice about it.. it is a US hotel chain.. what to expect :D ?

Huh...I thought IHG was British?

Huh...I thought IHG was British?

They are. As British as tea and crumpets in the late afternoon! :)

It is the same for all hotel chains, as the Southern American market is very fragmented.

Accor is number one in most countries of the region with just a few properties.

By the way, do we expect IHG to be present outside major business/leisure destinations?
I don't necessarily expect IHG to be anywhere. (But SPG has an "Inka Terra" resort or something similarly named in Peru that's far outside a major business destination, but I guess IHG doesn't do resorts the way SPG does?)

At any rate, obviously not at Machu Pichu town itself (there are only small indie hotels there in town), but Cuzco is a sizeable city and is the typical departure city for Machu Pichu. So I would expect a presence in Cuzco before bothering to promote your hotel program with Machu Pichu.

The text of the ad (when you see the ad in its larger form where there is more text) talks about Hawaii. Why was the picture not of, say, Hawaii (hopefully an insland on which they have hotels!), rather than Machu Pichu??? :confused:

Yes, I realize one hotel program won't get me through South America. At Igauzu Falls, on the Argentian side there's only a Sheraton (SPG), within the park no less, and on the Brazilian side there's I think only a Best Western, among hotel programs. In Salta, Argentina, again there's only a Sheraton, and then an hour north in Jujuy there's only a Howard Johnson (WyndhamRewards).

But until I looked up Machu Pichu after seeing this goofy ad, I didn't realize just how bad the Priority Club presence in South America was. It's not one of those "in this place, you can only use this program, and in that place, you can only use that program" programs there (like BW, SPG, and WyndhamRewards are). I think every single one of the cities it's in there are plenty other programs there too.

(There are, of course, other parts of the world, including the UK, where Priority Club is the program with propreties in places where no other points program has properties.)

Huh...I thought IHG was British?

They are. As British as tea and crumpets in the late afternoon! :)
Does this have something to do with it? Ie, are they more timid in South America because it's so far away and so different from their home base (compared to US-based programs)?

Do they make up for it by having a better presence in parts of Africa than other programs (that are based in the US)?

Wait you won't stay at IHG cause they have a picture of Machu Pichu? Do you not eat at McDonalds cause their burgers aren't as they look in the picture?

Wait you won't stay at IHG cause they have a picture of Machu Pichu? Do you not eat at McDonalds cause their burgers aren't as they look in the picture?
Did you actually read what I wrote??? :confused: Or you just misread the title (I said LESS, not "won't stay") and reply anyway??? :eek:

I explained that seeing the picture of Machu Pichu made me research the Priority Club locations in South America, and made me realize that it's a worse choice for there than I thought was, and thus makes it less important for me to earn Priority Club points (compared to points in other programs).

Why does that not make sense? :confused:

If they hadn't run that picture, I wouldn't have thought about "is this a good program for South America" (beyond major cities) and thus would have thought about "maybe I should stay more in other chains and less here". Now that they ran that picture, I gave it extra thought and figured out I need less PC points and more other points.

If, on the other hand, they had run a picture of some other place where do have hotels, I might have done research on that, and decided to steer my travels there. Why does that not make sense??? :confused:

Btw, your McDonalds analogy is flawed. The equivalent would be if McDonalds ran an ad showing burritos with a salsa bar, which they don't sell but La Salsa and Baja Fresh and Chipotle do. Then that would remind to go to those restaurants, instead of MdDonalds!

(There are other hotel programs with hotels much nearer Machu Pichu than Priority Club. So the ad made me want to stay in hotels in those other programs, rather than in Priority Club.)

They are. As British as tea and crumpets in the late afternoon! :)

They are as much as tax reasons dictate it ;)

If you have a closer look, the web tells you that "only" the registered office is in the UK, whereas all the other functions...

ADR depositary
JPMorgan Chase & Co
PO Box 64504
St. Paul, MN 55164-0504
USA
Telephone +1 800 990 1135
(US callers – toll free)
+1 651 453 2128
(non-US callers)
Email:
jpmorgan.adr@wellsfargo.com
www.adr.com

Stockbrokers
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Goldman Sachs
Auditors
Ernst & Young LLP

Investment bankers
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Citi
Goldman Sachs
Solicitors
Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer LLP

Anyhow.. it doesn't make that much difference in just having a rly bad advert here with a pic that shows a beautiful place but is away 650 mls from the nearest place to stay they could offer.. :D

Did you actually read what I wrote??? :confused: Or you just misread the title (I said LESS, not "won't stay") and reply anyway??? :eek:

I explained that seeing the picture of Machu Pichu made me research the Priority Club locations in South America, and made me realize that it's a worse choice for there than I thought was, and thus makes it less important for me to earn Priority Club points (compared to points in other programs).

Why does that not make sense? :confused:

If they hadn't run that picture, I wouldn't have thought about "is this a good program for South America" (beyond major cities) and thus would have thought about "maybe I should stay more in other chains and less here". Now that they ran that picture, I gave it extra thought and figured out I need less PC points and more other points.

If, on the other hand, they had run a picture of some other place where do have hotels, I might have done research on that, and decided to steer my travels there. Why does that not make sense??? :confused:

Btw, your McDonalds analogy is flawed. The equivalent would be if McDonalds ran an ad showing burritos with a salsa bar, which they don't sell but La Salsa and Baja Fresh and Chipotle do. Then that would remind to go to those restaurants, instead of MdDonalds!

(There are other hotel programs with hotels much nearer Machu Pichu than Priority Club. So the ad made me want to stay in hotels in those other programs, rather than in Priority Club.)

Personally, I can totally see your logic there. I've seen the ads, as I'm sure we all have, and have thought to myself "I'd like to go there one day". The difference is, I've never taken the next step and researched it. If I had, I probably would have gone to the PC web site (linked from their ad) and been disappointed that they couldn't really take me to the destination they advertised. As such, I'd have either chosen another destination or another provider. Either way, not good advertising in my opinion.

They are as much as tax reasons dictate it ;)

If you have a closer look, the web tells you that "only" the registered office is in the UK, whereas all the other functions...

ADR depositary
JPMorgan Chase & Co
PO Box 64504
St. Paul, MN 55164-0504
USA
Telephone +1 800 990 1135
(US callers – toll free)
+1 651 453 2128
(non-US callers)
Email:
jpmorgan.adr@wellsfargo.com
www.adr.com

Stockbrokers
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Goldman Sachs
Auditors
Ernst & Young LLP

Investment bankers
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Citi
Goldman Sachs
Solicitors
Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer LLP

Anyhow.. it doesn't make that much difference in just having a rly bad advert here with a pic that shows a beautiful place but is away 650 mls from the nearest place to stay they could offer.. :D

ADR (American Depository Receipt) tells you that their stock is really from another country, so don't think they are based in the U.S.A. from that.

I, like medic51vrf, have seen the banners, but never took that additional step of seeing what they had in the area.

Maybe a less inflammatory thread title would have been "Why would IHG advertisements show a location where they don't have hotels?"

Yes, I realize one hotel program won't get me through South America.

Properties are franchises for most hotel chains.

It is clear that if there is no actor to run a franchise, there won't be any hotel in the region (and the situation is largely dependent on the maturity of the market, the financial reliability of the partners/country, the level of investments required, etc.)

In strategic places, hotel chains will make the most to have a property. In other places, it will only depend on the dynamism of the local actors.

Properties are franchises for most hotel chains.

It is clear that if there is no actor to run a franchise, there won't be any hotel in the region (and the situation is largely dependent on the maturity of the market, the financial reliability of the partners/country, the level of investments required, etc.)

In strategic places, hotel chains will make the most to have a property. In other places, it will only depend on the dynamism of the local actors.
But doesn't it take staff on the ground there? Or can it all now be done worldwide from one location just because of modern technology?

Priority Club is stronger around the UK than many other chains. Isn't that because it's close to home and easy to find franshisees even if it requires meeting a bunch of them in person?

Whereas if they don't have much of a staff in South America, where distances between viable hotel locations are often vast, btw, compared to UK & Western Europe, might it simply be that they don't have the resources to find franchisees (beyond the biggest cities), while some other programs (being based in North America and thus at least somewhat closer to and easier to connect to South America) have taken more effort?

The IHG presence in South America seems to match only the cities that you can fly to nonstop from continents far away. It therefore seems as if maybe there are no people to talk to franchisees locally, and all the hotel franchises were set up by IHG people who flew into the only cities they could (without making connections in South America), set up hotels there, and flew back.

(So, relative to Machu Pichu, they didn't try in Cusco, because they couldn't fly directly to Cusco. They did get a hotel in Lima, because they could fly directly to Lima. Btw, Novotel, Best Western, and Marriott all did succeed at finding franchisees in Cusco.)

Of course, the "Inka Terra" resort that SPG recently opened (in Peru between Cuzco and Machu Pichu) brings up another issue: Does IHG ever open "resorts" in places where it's clearly just a resort, not an otherwise business location? SPG has a hotel inside Igauzu Falls National Park in Argentina that's also a "resort" and perhaps would be harder for them to justify it if it weren't. But I don't recall hearing about IHG "resort" hotels (the way a lot of threads in the FT SPG forum talk about SPG's "resort" hotels), so it makes me think the concept has probably not been used at IHG.

(Not that I'm implying that there's room for another resort in either of those places. It's just that if part of SPG presence in South America is because they have a "resort" concept, and IHG has no "resort" concept, that may be a limiting factor for IHG in some parts of the world where hotels that can command good rates are more in the "resort" mold than in the traditional city business hotel mode.)