Brand Butler Event Recap

written by guest blogger, Andy Crestodina, Strategic Director, Orbit Media

It was a chilly night, but more than 100 marketers made it to the AMA Chicago Chapter "Brand Butler" event at The Hotel Palomar on Wednesday, January 18th.  This was one of my first AMA events, so I was looking forward to learning from experts and making new friends.  I quickly met lots of fellow Chicagoans, in a variety of marketing roles, and I even met a few marketers who had driven down from Milwaukee.  We were all there to learn about customer loyalty.  

The presenters were introduced by Dyana from Flanigan Communications, a Chicago PR Firm and an AMA board president Scott Ablin.  In case you missed it, here's a quick summary of the presenters... 
 

Luanne Calvert, Vice President Marketing, Virgin America

Although she's only been on the job a few months, she did an excellent job presenting the airline’s positioning and expansion plans.  She explained how Virgin aspires to "elevate" the entire customer service experience, and that the industry has a lot of room to improve. (Consumer satisfaction in the airline industry is only slightly better than that of the IRS)  In fact, Elevate is the name of the loyalty program.  It's a bit different in that it's based on how much you've spent, rather than how many miles you've flown. 

Luanne also explained how they are embracing digital. All the planes are fitted with wifi, personal screens for each passenger, and the lighting in the planes...a soft pinkish/purple that gives the cabin a certain club feel. 

They also embrace digital in their marketing.  For example, you can get Elevate points by using social check-in services like Foursquare.  They tried using a service that connects brands with social media influencers, but it didn't work well because the social media celebs they found had a certain sense of entitlement ("brats," she called them). She didn't name names, but I'm sure she was talking about Klout.com. 
 

Nabil Moubayed, General Manager, Hotel Palomar Chicago

The next speaker was also our host.  Nabil is the general manager of the Hotel Palomar (which was beautiful, service was excellent).  He's been with the Kimpton hotel group a long time and apparently worked his way up over time.  It's not surprising.  Nabil's manner exuded service. His body language, his tone, his words all gave the impression that he truly cares about his guests.  Although not a traditional marketer, Nabil is clearly an expert service provider. 

It sounds as though as a hotel general manager, he's empowered to do anything necessary to achieve the highest level of client satisfaction. And yes, giving away a free night's stay can make a cranky guest happy, but Nabil does much more than this. He invites his guests to go jogging with him once a week. (Fun!) And where does this service ethic come from? Clearly, at Kimpton, it starts way up at the top. The top members of their loyalty program are given the CEOs cell phone number. This is extraordinary and a bit inspiring.
 

Mark Shevitz, Director, Brand Strategy & Planning, CBD Marketing

Rounding out the roster was a speaker who was both in a marketing role and with some actionable advice. Mark is a veteran in brand strategy and it showed. He started by making a simple point in a clever way.  "Think the brain is rational? Then tell me this (Mark steps behind a curtain, returns wearing a blanket with sleeves) how have they sold millions of Snuggies!"  

Mark then explained how branding must connect with people in two ways: rationally and emotionally.  Beyond this, it's important to consider the reasons people take action (opportunities) and the reasons they don't (objections).  Both of these reasons have rational and emotional triggers.  In the end, it becomes a sort of matrix.  It was one of those "Aha!" moments, realizing that there was a much broader way to think about how marketing connects.  But the Mark's obvious competence was also a reminder of the value of working with experts. It felt like the tip of the iceberg. 

As the event wrapped up, Dyana and Nabil picked some raffle winners, drinks were served and pita chips were eaten.  All together, it was a nice mix of a high-profile, leading-edge brand (Virgin), a courteous host, leading by example (Kimpton Hotels) and some practical advice from an expert (CBD Marketing).   

But the night wasn't over yet.  Those of us headed to the bar downstairs, grabbed whoever had the misfortune of being in our elevator and camped out for a few drinks at Sable.  The drinks? Delicious, but with unusual names (I suspect Mark could have done a great job rebranding my cocktail).  The company?  Smart and friendly.  It was a great way to cap off the night. 

Learned something new? Check.  Made new friends? Check.  Registered for the next event?  No check yet, but there will be as soon as I get the email invite... 
 

Andy Crestodina is the Strategic Director of Orbit Media, an award-winning Chicago web design firm.  Feel free to connect with Andy on Twitter or read his latest web marketing article, Content Chemistry: The Periodic Table of Content.