According to Steve Heyer CEO, marketers and media agencies should start changing the way they do business or else their corporations are headed to a collapse. It is clear at present that the man was right in his tips, delivered long years ago. Perhaps his most memorable words on them were given in 2003, during a notable address of his peers.
Heyer currently has the CEO seat in what is inarguably one of the largest businesses in the hotel industry. Heyer was already in this seat when he began to expound on his original message to marketers in 2003. Heyer's stated goal was the marketing of amusement, as opposed to the marketing of lodgings in the hotels.
Experiential value is of prime importance here. The goods, for Heyer, were the entertainments to be found in the resorts. Marketing in this manner was new back then, and quite an original concept.
He also emphasized the need to provide for the new powers of consumers nowadays. Interestingly, this too has proven true. You can see this most prominently in areas of the market devoted to the provision of digital services.
Nowadays, various businesses in media are in trouble because of the changes in technology. The development of applications capable of ripping sound from CDs, for instance, led to music producers suffering. Suddenly no-one wanted to pay for songs any longer, opting instead to get them free, off the Net.
Heyer's conference speech talked about the panic music-producers went through during this time. It was an object lesson along the lines of Heyer's theme of continuous adaptation to handle a shifting market. He also addressed TV executives and warned them to prepare and adapt to “the changing media consumption habits of younger generations”.
What Heyer advocated was the shift from emphasis on the item to emphasis on the experiences associated with it. In the interview explaining his marketing strategy for Starwood Hotels, he furthered explained that they are now a company engaged in distributing entertainment and unforgettable experiences. Heyer's intent, obviously, is to market something that is even more in demand than lodging in the present culture: an experience.
Indeed, Starwood has even come up with unusual partners in the enterprise, such as Victoria's Secret. The Victoria's Secret shows command a good bit of attention, and only select guests of the hotels are allowed. This is a case of the product being an experience.
The CEO was also critical of how Hollywood is “slapping” logos and brand names in movies out of context. To Heyer, this is absolutely devoid of context. 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. Some of his services for that company actually demonstrate what he is trying to say by "contextual" brand placement. Heyer set Coke glasses on the judging table of a famous talent show on television.
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