“We all have lobbies. We all have nice bathrooms. We all give away shampoo. What makes the difference is the perception of value.” Jonathan Tisch, President and CEO of Loews Hotel

When choosing a hotel, the customer’s perception of the hotel’s value is one of the largest determining factors in their decision-making. Through branding and integrated marketing communications, how can we help customers see the value of our hotels? Google, who facilitate countless number of hotel search queries are becoming increasingly relevant in how customers perceive hotel value.

Here are the top ways that Google is transforming the industry.

1. Inclusion of prices in Google Maps

Currently in a testing phase available only for English search results within the US, Google Maps now includes hotel price listings in their search results. This service will also grow to include prices listed on the maps themselves both in the inlayed map on the page, and in both traditional Google and Google Map searches.

With Google also pulling customer review information from leading third party travel sites, customers must make a quick value judgment based on hotel name, price, location, number of stars, and the one review included (as demonstrated in the picture below). Paid advertising on Google, also gives the Holiday Inn presence on the first search page, whereas they would normally only be found on the fourth page of the organic search results.

When this service expands worldwide, how will your hotel or hotel chain’s value be perceived?

2. Google’s purchase of ITA Software

Earlier in July of this year, Google purchased ITA, a leading provider of flight and airline data, for $700 million. Recognizing that information is power, ITA provides leading software solutions including a passenger reservation management system, an airfare pricing and shopping solution, an online travel booking engine and an advanced airline shopping mobile application. Google, the proud owner of these highly coveted services, is clearly preparing to move into online travel business. It seems as though its first interest will be in helping consumers find cheaper flights and better schedules, but rest assured hotel booking and pricing will be next.

In preparation for this shift, how do Google’s algorithms currently value your websites?

3. Google Maps- Not just for directions anymore

According to a case study released by Google and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), one of the world’s largest hotel companies, the hotel chain’s conversion rates increased 35% immediately following the implementation of Google Maps’ API onto their websites. This integration allowed customers to not only locate the properties on an interactive map, but to search nearby, search directions, and it gave potential customers access to any additional information they needed. Not only do customers spend one minute longer on search engine pages with maps, but visitors are 10% more likely to book a hotel stay if they are able to interact with a map on the hotel’s page.

Adding interactive maps to your website (à la Google) greatly increases the customers’ ease of booking, increasing the perceived value of your hotels to potential and current customers.

4. ExpediaHotelView

Expedia has teamed up with Google Maps and Google Street View to offer web browsers a new online search experience. ExpediaHotelView is currently being tested in the UK, and allows customers to search for a location or hotel, and view all the results on a map. The map provides information including Google street view, pictures, and results from Google’s organic search. This new online service will also allow potential customers to view hotel availability.

How will your audience find you on ExpediaHotelView?

As Google further develops these products and services, it is important to understand how potential and current customers will perceive your brand’s value as they search to find the perfect mix of amenities, location, price and familiarity.

 Let’s face it, sales and marketing departments are two sides of the same coin – they’re both put in place by businesses to essentially create more awareness, build relationships and boost revenues.

So what’s unquestionably puzzling in this current economic downturn is the question on every marketer’s lips – why aren’t these two teams talking to each other? What has led to this breakdown of communication and what can be done to solve it?

Well, let’s look at this logically and go back to basics. You wouldn’t expect a relay team to rely on one person to win a race, so why rely on a single area of your company to sell your product or service?

Of course, sales and marketing positions have independent roles – yet, they’re each striving towards the same goal. A sales department cannot afford to spend their time getting to know their customers inside out, just as marketers shy away from one-on-one meetings.

Indeed, the problem is not the two departments individual operations, yet the fact that they’re not melding their skills into a double act that could potentially see their business grow with twice the power and dominance at a time of shaky financial stability.

The irony is that the technique businesses need to focus on during a recession is precisely the one that most sales and marketing departments are weakest at – lead generation. In order for this dark art to deliver results, both divisions must pull together seamlessly.

So how do you send this sinking ship back afloat? Well, primarily there needs to be little, or if possible, no slashes through marketing budgets – whatsoever – not even a nip.

Consistency must make up the base of this business model – continuing to push your product, service and brand boldly, whilst retaining the highest level of contact between sales and marketing departments.

Once the communication barrier has been battered and the team is functioning productively as a whole, you’ll start to review the results and realise that those non-existent networks of communication between the sales and marketing departments have actually been detrimental to company performance and crucially affected customer commitment and loyalty.

Yet it’ll all be a learning curve to look back on, since your sales and marketing team is now a united force – with more insight, focus and passion than ever, and equally more capable of delivering effective lead generation campaigns in today’s wavering economic climate.

Well, it’s finally here. Google is now integrating real-time results from Twitter, Facebook and Myspace into it’s search, giving users the most update information on any given subject. This is sure to give social media a real awareness boost amongst those yet to embrace them, especially Twitter.

Watch this short video about Google real-time search:

What does this mean for brands and marketers?

Although in constant use by the technorati and celebrities galore, Twitter has yet to fully enter the mainstream. As marketers we know the potential of Twitter to reach out and engage, but for most people, its still an unknown. At MTD, we look to create innovative ways of integrating Twitter into our campaigns. Our recent Christmas campaign for Jarlsberg allows anyone to post a message about their best bit of Christmas on the Jarlsberg Sweet and Nutty Season website via Twitter. This encourages a deeper interaction with the brand and keeps the website fresh and interesting.

Real-time search will also encourage brands to start using Twitter more as a channel in its own right to promote products and services. Twitter, of course, knows this. It’s soon to launch a set of paid for business services which should hopefully make it a more professional tool for marketers.

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It seems that attitudes towards discount brands are changing rapidly here in Britain. Shoppers are swallowing their pride and embracing the likes of Lidl and Aldi in their droves. The other mid-market and luxury brands are fighting back of course, but it’s going to be tough. M&S, one of the worst hit, recently held an out-of-character 20% Discount Day and continue to run the popular ‘Dinner for 2 for £10’, which is great for a weekend dining treat, but less so for your weekly shop.

Tesco have decided to take the discounters on at their own game with Tesco Discount Brands. Tesco knows that middle-income shoppers are turned off by the Tesco Value brand and have made up new brands such as ‘Oak Lane’, ‘Daisy’ and ‘Trattoria Verdi’ to sell cheaper Tesco own brand products. It’s too early to tell whether this will pay off, but one worry is it could damage the Tesco brand. And a return to the old days of stack it high and sell it cheap would be shame for a brand that has transformed itself in recent years. Perhaps just a good old drop in prices would have been easier?

Sainsbury’s, who only a couple of years ago were struggling to keep up with Tesco, has been one of the other surprise winners. Seen by many as a better value Waitrose, it has seen its customer base stay loyal whilst acquiring those who wouldn’t be seen dead in the rest of them. And with Morrison’s new fresher brand look in place just in time, it too is in prime position to benefit from the downturn.

Anyone for a Aldi Snackrite Crisp?