📌 Hospitality Highlights: 1st July 2024
✨ Stay Ahead with the Latest Trends in Marketing, Travel, and Food & Beverage
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. I’m Dawn Gribble, your host. I'm on a mission to bring you the latest actionable insights to help you Delight Guests and Drive Growth.
Stay informed with TikTok’s AI-generated ads, Pepsi’s smart can, and young travellers’ guided tour preferences. Learn about Chipotle’s social media tactics, McDonald’s AI drive-through issues and more!
☕ Let’s Check In!
🧰 VIP Member Resources
🚀 Marketing News
📲 TikTok Revolutionises Ads with AI-Generated Avatars (NY)
📺 X to Make Live-Streaming Premium Only Feature Soon (X)
📌 Pinterest Expands Sharing Options for Pin Boards to Other Apps (PI)
🔍 Google Enhances Google Analytics with AI Insights (GO)
🏢 LinkedIn Unveils Premium Company Pages (LI)
📱 YouTube Picture-In-Picture for Shorts and Channel Mentions in Comments (YT)
👥 Meta Empowers Influencers with AI Avatar Creation (SMT)
🚨 Google Completes June 2024 Spam Update Rollout (SEL)
🍽️ Restaurant Marketing News
🎬 Caribou Coffee Launches TikTok Dating Show (QSR)
🌟 Rubix Foods: The Era of Food Influencers and Viral Trends (FI)
🍔 McDonald’s Discontinues AI Drive-Through Ordering After Viral Mishaps (FO)
🕹️ Chili’s Introduces Arcade-Inspired Video Game (MD)
🌟 Chipotle Extends Coveted Celebrity Card to Social Media Fans (CMG)
📞 Chrome Mobile Shortcuts: Call Restaurants Directly from the Address Bar (TV)
🍗 Boneless Wings Debut at Popeyes with Comedian Jimmy O. Yang (FB)
📈 These Restaurant Chains Achieved the Most Organic Growth Last Year (RB)
📋 Cracker Barrel Plans Largest Menu Revamp in Brand History (NRN)
📊 New Research Shows 42% of Gen Z Prefer Ordering Food Over Going Out on Fridays (FC)
🛎️ Hotel Marketing News
🌍 Young Travellers Favour Guided Tours, GetYourGuide Data Reveals (SK)
🏨 Amazon Enhances Alexa Smart Properties with Viator Collaboration (HT)
🏢 Bespoke Hotels Unveils Transformative Rebranding (HN)
♻️ a&o Hostels Releases 2023 Sustainability Report (HO)
🤖 80% Prefer Automated Front Desks or Self-Service Technology (ME)
🏖️ Americans Prefer More Local and Shorter Summer Escapes (HNR)
📱 Hotel Apps Ignore Permission-Based Marketing, Research Shows (BHN)
🧁 Food & Beverage Trends
🥤 The New Pepsi Smart Can: A High-Tech Soda Revolution (FC)
🍶 Heinz and Wieden & Kennedy London Create 'Every Sauce' Medley (CL)
🍧 Popsicle-Inspired Energy Drinks Capture Flavours of Summer (TH)
⚡ Starbucks Joins the Energy Drink Market (RBO)
🔮 Little Dipper Offers Astrology-Themed Cocktails in NYC (RH)
🍲 Posh Restaurants Tap into UK’s Asian Food Trend with New Sauces (TG)
🍯 Dunkin' and Mike's Hot Honey Collaborate on Hot Honey Snackin' Bacon (FB)
🍖 5-hour ENERGY Introduces Energising BBQ Sauce (BI)
🥇 Costa Coffee Launches New Golden Caramel Drinks Range (RT)
🌴 Travel Trends
🏜️ Tourism in Egypt Surges with Visa-Free and E-Visa Programmes for 74 Countries (TT)
✈️ Delta One Lounge Sets New Standard for Premium Flyers (FC)
📉 Oslo's Tourism Ad Brilliantly Downplays Its Appeal (FC)
💸 Amazon Unveils Prime Day Travel Deals (TP)
🚢 Amsterdam to Reduce Cruise Access to Combat Mass Tourism (SK)
💰 Saudi Arabia's $3.2 Trillion Luxury Tourism Boom (HME)
👀 Hospitality Industry Insights
🍬 Support Grows for German Sugar Tax to Improve Health (FIF)
💡 Taste and Prices Dominate Consumer Choices Amidst Decline in US Food Safety Confidence (FF)
📺 Samsung Enhances Hotel Stays with Apple AirPlay Integration on Hospitality TVs (HT)
🌏 Education and Diversification Recognised as Tourism Future in APAC (UN)
🥗 Specialised Diets for Older People (FN)
How do you see self-service technology and automated front desks affecting guest satisfaction in the hospitality industry?
⭐ Dawn’s Picks of the Week
🌙 Sleep Chronotypes and the Importance of Sleep for Health (SME)
🏨 Hilton CEO Discusses New Brands and Hilton Honors Loyalty Success (TPG)
☕ Starbucks Refigures Its Brand (FO)
👨🍳 How Sam ‘the Cooking Guy’ Zien Became a Content Creator (NRN)
⚠️ Dangerous Holiday Black Market Emerging (YH)
❓ Ask Dawn Gribble
Every week I answer your questions, email me with yours dawn@dawngribble.com
Hey Dawn,
I need your help with something urgent. We just sent an email to our entire 12,000 subscriber list with all the personalisation tags still there—like "Dear [Your Name]" 😔
What's the worst that could happen now? Are we going to lose brand trust? Will people be really upset? And most importantly, what should we do next to fix this?
Thanks a lot!
Mistakes happen, and you'll be fine if no personal info is compromised. Here’s what to do:
Assess the impact. Verify that no sensitive information was included in the email. If it was just the placeholders, you’re in a good spot and don’t need to worry too much.
Decide on your response. If this is a one-off mistake, consider moving on. However, sending an "Oops!" email to acknowledge the error can be a great way to connect with your audience and build trust. People appreciate honesty and a bit of humour.
When crafting the Oops email, keep it simple and light-hearted. Use a subject line like "Oops! Our Email Had a Mistake" to grab attention. In the body, acknowledge the mistake with a touch of humour. For example, “Looks like our marketing intern hit send too early!”
Then, clearly correct your intended message and keep it short and sweet.
For example
Hey [First Name],
Well, this is awkward. You might have noticed our last email didn’t quite hit the mark.
Here’s what we meant to say:
[Corrected Message]
Thanks for understanding!
Remember, people appreciate honesty and humour, which helps build trust in your brand. Just make sure this doesn’t become a regular occurrence.
Here's to Your Success 🥂