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Showing posts from August, 2019

How to find low prices when more travel companies are adopting the dynamic pricing strategy

Marriott is set to introduce dynamic pricing to its Bonvoy reward travel program. Effective in September, travelers will need to spend 14 – 33 percent more reward points in exchange for an award night when a hotel is busy. Meanwhile, travelers may also receive a discount on an award night when a hotel has low occupancy.   Dynamic pricing   Dynamic pricing is a common tactic in revenue management (also known as yield management ), allowing service firms to respond to consumers’ fluctuating demand for the perishable inventory with a fixed capacity. In other words, a service provider will increase the price when the demand goes up and lower the price when the demand goes down. Dynamic pricing turns out to be a very effective way to maximize a service firm’s revenue performance. It is hence not surprising to see more travel companies are now introducing dynamic pricing to their reward programs. For most consumers, however, dynamic pricing often means th...

NEC Future Creation Hub: A sneak peek of the tech firm's enterprise solutions for hospitality businesses

I met with the hospitality team of the NEC Global Enterprise Solutions at NEC Corporation ’s headquarter in Tokyo last week. The team gave me a brief introduction of what services NEC provides and a tour of the NEC Future Creation Hub, an interactive showroom for the company’s latest tech products. The trip to NEC’s headquarter was, in fact, a follow-up visit after I met with the company’s hospitality team at the HITEC 2019 in Minneapolis in June. Through a sneak peek of what NEC offers, I wonder whether the tech firms or the hospitality companies are the force that drives the transformation of the industry . Dr. Linchi Kwok and the NEC's Hospitality Team The traditional business solutions offered by NEC NEC Corporation was established in 1899 as a telecommunication company, which later introduced the first PBX (private branch exchange) system in Japan. Even though PBX is not as crucial in hotel operations of today, NEC remains to be a top service provide...

McDonald's eliminates its CMO and forms a new partnership with DoorDash: What is the future of marketing and delivery business?

--> McDonald’s just announced a new organizational structure in its marketing division and a new partnership with DoorDash. Is McDonald’s betting on the right trends in today’s tough market for restaurants ? McDonald’s chief marketing officer (CMO) is replaced with two SVPs McDonald’s Global CMO, Silvia Lagnado will be leaving the company in October, but there is no direct replacement for such a prominent position . Instead, the company promoted two men who reported to Lagnado to two newly-created positions at the senior VP level, including SVP Global Marketing and SVP Marketing Technology. As the Global CMO, Lagnado oversaw a variety of marketing functions, ranging from brand development, menu strategy, media, and customer relationship management. The new role of SVP Global Marketing will be taken over by Colin Mitchell, with a focus on business insights and menu innovation; he will report directly to Steve Easterbrook, the CEO. Bob Rupczynski will become ...