Branding

No, not on cows and horses. I'm talking about the brands that companies spend billions upon billions of dollars a year to develop, market, keep, and monetize. It's an important thing...you'd think.

I the last several days, I've been witness to some severe brand erosion. By erosion, I mean the most important thing of all to those companies -- brand loyalty. Loyalty means business and companies are in business to make money (though some actually have other motives, good, or bad, as well).

On our vacation, I had the occasion to stay with my family at a hotel who's current marketing tag like is "Look again" according to their website. We've stayed at this chain of hotels on many occasions in the past with pleasant experiences. When we travel, we like to just stop when we're ready and find a hotel at that exit. We're not particularly loyal to one brand all the time, but there are certain brands that come to mind and are on our short list to check for room availability when we stop. This was one of those.

Through their share of the billions and billions of dollars spent, and through past experiences, we have a certain set of expectations for our stay at this hotel chain. Suffice it to say, we were more than a little let down this time.

I just finished sending off a three page letter to the General Manager and the corporate offices detailing my displeasure. Yes, I gave them a chance to address the issues while on-site, and yes, they comp'd my stay, and no, I don't expect anything more from them. Except one thing -- that they take my complaints and suggestions to heart and do something about them. If I have a bad customer service experience and I don't tell someone about it, that's my fault. If no one tells them, they don't know and so they can't do anything about it. If, on the other hand, I tall them and they don't do anything about it, then it's their fault for losing me, and others as a customer.

Just last night, at an "arch" restaurant around the corner, we had some pretty bad service -- long lines, slow service, expired food, employees smoking at the customer entrance, dirty floor, etc. I took the time to mention my concerns to the manager, who, while she listened intently, gave no indication that she was really interested in what I had to say or that she would do anything about it. Unfortunately, their customer service hot line has the same attitude, and I just haven't' gotten around to looking up their District Manager, or someone else to take my complaints to.

There are a handful of companies that will never see another dime of my money if I can help it, and I spread my stories to others who will listen.

On the other hand, we were very pleasantly surprised by another choice of hotels that we stopped at. Drury Inns and Suites in Columbus, OH was incredible. Clean, new, friendly (not just professional), great value for the price (we paid more for a heck of a lot less during our trip), safe, nice pool... Everything we needed to erase our memory of the other hotel. Drury doesn't spend a lot on advertising (at least not that I've seen), but I'll be doing some word-of-mouth advertising for them free of charge. That's what people do when they experience good customer service. I've told no less than 5 people since we've been back -- plus all 3 of you that read my blog :-)

In a time with high unemployment, you'd think that people would want to work hard to keep their jobs. In a time with so much competition for everything, companies should want to do what they can to keep current customers and gain new ones. I just haven't seen that happening enough recently. It's a shame. Did I mention what a great experience we had at the Drury Inn and Suites in Columbus, Ohio?