A case study by Philip Kotler
The publication cited examples of innovation by 36 leading enterprises in 18 countries in Asia of which Cinnamon Hotels is the only hospitality brand from South Asia to be featured. Air Asia, Alibaba, Axiata, Banyan Tree and Hyundai are some of the other dynamic Asian brands to be featured in the book.
The book highlights Cinnamon’s effective use of social media and its various creative digital initiatives that have led to the brand winning the hearts of digital travellers in the forever connected, mobile-first world of today. These included Travel Blogger Conference Asia (TBC Asia), Cinnamon Immersive Video, a specialised Online Travel Agent Training Module, and ‘Treasure Hunt’ which was a familiarisation drive planned for travel agents. In the book, Kotler recommends successful brand strategies backed by innovation as a response to the growing dominance of various global hospitality brands.
Sealing Cinnamon’s place as a dynamic marketing brand, the book states the ‘unique experiences that the target audiences earned during the events promoting Sri Lanka and Cinnamon Hotels are expected to be spread through word of mouth, as well as online reviews and recommendation.’
Elaborating on the Travel Blogger Conference Asia (TBC Asia) that took place earlier in the year, the book recognises the fact that travel bloggers are major influencers in the tourism and hospitality industry by dint of sharing their journeys and experiences with aspiring travellers.
Kotler also observed that Cinnamon’s usage of innovative videos at the World Travel Mart in London, launch of a specialised online travel agent training module in 2015 which linked over 97,000 travel agents as well as its large e-learning library offering 200 educational programmes were all features that actively targeted tech-savvy travellers and online travel agents.
Cinnamon being used as a case study for the global marketing stalwart’s book is significant as Kotler chose to focus on brands considered to be disruptive across the continent, truthful, sincere, authentic, more socially and environmentally responsible, and believe and work towards their missions, visions and values. The book iterates that “in addition to building hotels and resorts at picturesque locations and with excellent facilities, Cinnamon realises the importance of providing an experience that suits customers’ needs.”
The UK’s Financial Times ranked him as one of its top 10 business thinkers.
