Just Sign Here - Cara Dee Page 0,9

of our Washington locations, but one of our brands stood out in the statistics to the point where I’d requested to meet the man in charge of advertising.

It was for Westwater Wild, our line of hotels always located near nature. We’d launched the brand in 2009, if I remembered correctly, and it was one of the few lines that consistently performed well.

When Peyton and I arrived at the restaurant, Bennett Brooks was already there.

“It’s an honor to meet you in person, Mr. Delamare.”

I shook his hand firmly. “Likewise. I hope to learn a lot from you.”

He was a handsome man with a kind smile, and he greeted Peyton too before we took our seats and ordered coffee.

“I understand you’re a busy man, so I took the liberty of putting together a virtual tour of a selection of the Wild locations for you.” Bennett extended a USB drive, and I gestured for Peyton to keep it. “You’ll see the rooms up close, the front desk areas, the dining areas, as well as some of the exteriors we’ve used to distinguish the series.”

“That’s excellent, thank you,” I replied. “My main question is, from a marketing point of view, why is Wild doing better than some of our more upscale brands?”

“May I be blunt?” he asked, with a hint of a British accent.

“I’d prefer it.”

He cleared his throat and sat forward slightly. “I’m not sure it’s about marketing. I believe it’s partly due to the demographic. The guests at Wild are, well, not as demanding. Despite that we’re nearing a decade since our agency helped you launch Wild, the hotels are still new and fresh. They were built for this specific theme. They’re not old buildings that you bought to redesign or give a makeover.”

I nodded pensively. “We’re also fairly alone in this market, yes?”

Wild had been my baby once upon a time, a project I’d started working on when my grandfather became ill. I suspected it was the biggest reason he’d asked me to get more involved in the company, because he saw the originality of it as well. No other hotels catered to outdoor lovers the way we did. They didn’t see the point, as backpackers and campers didn’t tend to spend much money on hotels. Which was technically true. However, if you controlled the market, those who did prefer staying in a hotel were essentially yours.

“Absolutely,” Mr. Brooks replied with a nod. “But if we’re discussing ratings, the demographic matters more because it’s a group of travelers that doesn’t demand as much comfort, something that reflects in how they respond to surveys and reviews. The hotel is a place to sleep before they explore the nearby hiking trails and so on. At a hotel for business travelers, you need to be the slice of heaven where guests can unwind from a long day.”

“Of course.” I glanced at the server as she arrived with our beverages, and then I processed what Mr. Brooks was telling me. None of it was new to me, but by pointing out how we catered to our guests, he made me wonder if we’d reached the point where we had to reinvent ourselves.

When we were alone again, I pressed forward. “It’s an aging industry. We don’t keep up with the new trends, partly because it’s expensive. Renovations and alterations cost millions—per location. But the fact remains—we are losing the younger generation of business travelers to Airbnb and the like. Our target demographic is getting smaller, which creates a significant gap in our loyalty program. The seasoned business traveler stays on top. They’re not likely to leave us. But we’re not gaining new, hungry travelers who want to collect the rewards like they used to.” I leaned forward and took a sip of my coffee. “And I think that affects the ratings too. We have a young generation that follows their superiors into chain hotels—maybe they sign up for our loyalty program—they try it out, and they’re disappointed. Their friends tell them about cost-effective alternatives, and so, they leave.”

Bennett appeared well-read on the topic; he nodded along and added his own two cents. “It’s the same generation that prefers to fly with low-cost carriers. Messenger bags are replacing the briefcases.”

I chuckled. “Too true.”

“So it means it’s uncharted territory for upscale chain hotels,” he noted. “Our agency did a local campaign for JetBlue last year, and I’m convinced there are plenty of opportunities to appeal to their travelers. But you do have to renew some of your locations