Organic and artificial positioning of a hotel

 
Three concepts to understand the basis of this article.

The first is positioning about which I wrote previously. This word shelters the “place” or “position” that our products occupy in the customer´s head regarding of an intern absence (for more information check Maslow´s Needs Scale). If you are thirsty, for example, the brand wants you to think about their product (Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc.) and not the regular commodity: water.

The ideal scheme for the marketing manager of Coca Cola would be: I´m thirsty, hence I´ll grab a freezing Coke. The core intention is the brand to pop up in your head first. Remember, it took the company more than a century to diagram this method. It´s not just about the product, because this has to be constantly pushed by crossed communication and advertising and developing new solutions to the always changing consumption habits.

Now, the positioning concept can be spited in two categories: organic and artificial.

The first classification appeals to a natural status that flows on a constant rhythm, without additives. The brand is not forced to become highly recognized rapidly. Means that time is taken into consideration so the brand can thrive on the right pace, without knocking down phases and to respect the PLC (Product Life Cycle), which has its stages: the first one is investigation and development, followed by introduction, then growth, through maturity and finalizing with declination.

The second definition can be described as the organic antithesis, due to the imposition of the artificial. It´s forced, the contrary of a natural status without harmony and equilibrium.

Taking this concept and its two categories to analyze the hotel industry (especially in Argentina what it applies to most mid-sized hotels): the competition in the Palermo District (Buenos Aires) became fierce and belligerent with the boost of Boutique Hotels and their owners had to plan different and unique strategies to position themselves to reach maximum occupation as soon as possible. Hence they end up entangled with the artificial method: they hire third parties (Venere, Expedia, Booking, etc.) to avoid vacancies. The sooner, the merrier. For this reason they contract enough staff to satisfy the growing demand.

Depending on others the hotel works on its maximum capacity but overlooking the actual scenario, there is something evil, which soon or later, lunges the owner with a strident blow: due to the crescent inflation and a frozen dollar (actual economic situation in Argentina) new incomes have to be generated to keep the business structure. In that situation the proprietor decides to close the third parties´ contract, thinking he made a savvy move to gather more money, but the entire contrary occurs. The occupation falls drastically.

Why? The hotel has a fictional positioning, because it wasn´t due to its own merits but the people who chose the hotel which appeared on the third parties´ website which invest more than 6 million dollars a week just on Google Adwords. Someone who thought about visiting Buenos Aires went directly to Expedia or Booking, for example. As the hotel did not generate an organic positioning in time it reflects the problems it can have.