W Hotels have managed to become proficient in the way they understand the principle of the Moment of Truth (MOT) for their branding. The moment of truth can be defined as “to the point in the buying cycle when the consumer researches a product” (Hannington, 2012). In this blog entry we will show you how the W Hotels have managed to be so successful in this domain.
It is clear that W Hotels is more societal oriented as the first thing that can be found on their website is a video, almost like a vlog made by an influencer, of guests enjoying their time at the various W locations, implying that W Hotels would like to attract their guests by making them feel as if they could be the ones living the life of an influencer if the go to the W hotels. The video can be found following this link;
https://w-hotels.marriott.com/destinations/w-escapes/
In the rest of the article we will be analyzing the different Moments of Truths that occur when a guest goes to the W Hotels.
- The Zero MOT can be defined as the time before the client has direct contact with the company, it is when they are researching about the brand of a company and are hesitant about buying the service of the brand. W hotel, the most digitally competent brand, utilizes different channels to successfully attracts guest’s attentions from exclusive events, industry news to social media and online advertising. W Hotels aim to succeed in this aspect of marketing by being very present on social media. In the world that we live in everything is defined by your popularity on social media, W Hotels have taken advantage of that majorly on Instagram, they have multiple accounts, one W Hotels worldwide, and one account of each city they are present in. This helps W Hotels have the edge over other brands for their market (millennials as stated in our previous article), by posting photos which show the clients living their best life, which will make the potential guests dream, they also use this platform to promote events happening in their hotels throughout the world.
- The first MOT is defined as “is the 3-7 seconds after a client first encounters the services of the hotel, usually when entering in the Lobby” (Wirespring, 2012). W Hotels are famous for having a very trendy scene in the lobby of their hotels, as they are often referred by the guests as “hip, flirty, and romantic”. Which straight away shows the type of hotel that W hotels are, young, relaxed and energetic hotel which organizes a lot of events for locals and guests. By doing this W Hotels manages to create a stimulus for their guests, and therefore this creates the first moment of truth for the clients.
- The second MOT refers tothe moment “when the consumer experiences a product or service following the purchase decision. The second MOT will determine the consumer’s brand perception and future buying decisions.” (Monash Education, 2019). At W Hotels this varies greatly, this is because of their target market, W Hotels aim more towards a young generation that likes to attend lots of events such as parties and concerts etc. After some research on the second MOT we clearly found that some guests were left unhappy with their experience due to the fact that “when I arrive at a hotel exhausted and jet-lagged, I just want to sleep. While I love a lively party, I’d rather grab an Uber to one if I’m feeling up to it than having one outside the door to my room.” (Kelly, 2018)From this we can see that the Generation X had a bad second MOT, as W Hotels uses their venue as some kind of club to make it easier for the guests to party, it is also cheaper for the guests this way, as there is less transportation. Furthermore, implying that W Hotels could be focusing more on their events by trying to create a culture within their hotels instead of taking into consideration the basic needs of a guest at a hotel which would be being able to sleep. This is enhanced by Brian Kelly talking about a stay at W Hotels If a hotel can’t promise you a decent night’s sleep, then what, are you even staying there for?” (Kelly, 2018)
Based on our research it was clear to us that the personality of W Hotels is a very easy-going, party goer, socialites, glamorous and provocative, this is highlighted in a video on the “About” page on the W Hotel website. Once again, we can see that this is indeed the case while browsing through the “Stay In The Loop” page of their website, which indicates all the different events that they have planned for the week, month. Most of the articles/events are about a famous DJ – “Martin Solveig doesn’t have a plan” (Marriott, 2019), this is just one of the examples of a party/ DJ attending a W Hotel event.
To conclude with W Hotels are very effective in setting out their personality through their website, which in turn allows the client to have the Zero Moment of truth, as the guest can straightaway see if this hotel is for them or not. Secondly, W hotels may not be so effective in taking the consideration of the guests as they don’t allow their guests to have a “decent night’s sleep” as mentioned in point 3, however this may be because in their personality W Hotels highlights that they’re partygoers.
Bibliography
Hannington, J. (2012, November 6). The Zero Moment of Truth: What Is It & Why Should You Care?Retrieved from Pardot.com: https://www.pardot.com/blog/moment-truth-care/
Hyken, S. (2016, April 9). The New Moment of Truth in Businesse. Retrieved from Forbes : https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2016/04/09/new-moment-of-truth-in-business/#5f7d6fcc38d9
Kelly, B. (2018, February 14). 4 Reasons Why I’ve Outgrown the W Hotel Brand. Retrieved from The Points Guy : https://thepointsguy.com/2018/02/4-reasons-ive-outgrown-the-w-hotel-brand/
Marriott. (2019, September 29 ). Stay In The Loop. Retrieved from W Hotels : https://w-hotels.marriott.com/
Monash Education. (2019, September 24). Second Moment of Truth (SMOT). Retrieved from Monash University : https://www.monash.edu/business/marketing/marketing-dictionary/s/second-moment-of-truth-smot
Wirespring. (2012, May 24). Examples of the First Moment of Truth (FMOT) in Digital Signage. Retrieved from The Digital Signage Insider: https://www.wirespring.com/dynamic_digital_signage_and_interactive_kiosks_journal/articles/Examples_of_the_First_Moment_of_Truth__FMOT__in_Digital_Signage-832.html
W Hotels 