Boca Raton, Fla. – May 16, 2013 – At this week’s Ataway Exchange 2013, the leading hospitality digital marketing conference, Cendyn presented invaluable information about how to compete in a data-driven marketplace.
 
Cendyn hosted 35 hospitality digital marketing professionals at the May 14 private lunch session/panel discussion at Waldorf Astoria® Orlando. Cendyn Vice President of Digital Marketing + Advertising Tim Sullivan presented Cendyn’s latest research and findings about how to successfully compete. He discussed how consumers have more choices than ever before, as well as a powerful voice in the conversation. He also discussed as the consumer moves through the conversion funnel and engages in pre- and post-stay online activity, they may interact with a brand 30 to 40 across a myriad of disparate digital channel and platforms – leaving a tremendous amount of data in their wake.
 
Sullivan proposed three components essential to a successful data-driven marketing strategy in order to achieve a competitive advantage:

• The ability to capture and store data
• The tools to segment, analyze and visualize data
• The resources to make meaning of and take action on the data

The session was complemented by panelist and Google Channel Sales Head of Travel, Automotive and Legal Services Christopher Fong, who reported on the latest Google traveler trends.
 
Sullivan then moderated a panel discussion entitled “Data is the New Currency of Hospitality Digital Marketing,” along with Fong and three other leading digital marketers in the travel industry: Neil Cantor, Vice President of Leisure Sales & Marketing, Revel Entertainment; Michael Bennett, Managing Director, Digital Marketing & Strategy, KSL Resorts; and John C. Tolbert, Principal and Managing Director, Revelation Consultancy. Topics the panel discussed included:

• Which of the three essential components to successful data-driven marketing strategy is most challenging for the hospitality industry and why
• Other essential components to successful data-driven marketing strategy
• How the approach and makeup of marketing teams has changed over the past few years in relation to the exponential growth in data
• How to leverage data and analytics to be more efficient and effective in reaching and retaining guests
• Experiences with BT (behavioral targeting) advertising and if these capabilities will continue to evolve and expand
• If the Facebook Exchange is a game changer
• How to leverage first-party CRM data in digital marketing strategy
• How digital strategy has evolved to keep pace with smartphones and tables

“Consumers are interacting with hospitality brands in new ways that don’t coincide with previous digital marketing strategies,” said John Tolbert. “To effectively communicate with target audiences, it’s absolutely essential for marketers to have cutting-edge, data-driven strategies. Cendyn did an excellent job presenting the latest strategies and leading a panel discussion to explore how the hospitality industry can maximize the effects of digital marketing.”
 
“Today, it’s crucial for hospitality brands to leverage the new data-driven digital ecosystem to drive bottom-line results,” said Cendyn President Charles Deyo. “Now more than at any other time in history, brands are able to reach their target audience with the right message, at the right time, more accurately. We were pleased to share our research and findings with digital marketing professionals at Ataway Exchange 2013.”
 
Going to HITEC 2013 in Minneapolis, MN on June 25th – 27th? Visit booth 1143 to meet with Cendyn’s team and RoundTableHQ to learn how we can increase your revenue with award-winning online solutions and strategies.

About Cendyn: 
Established in 1996, Cendyn is a full service agency specializing in turnkey solutions that drive bottom line results for the travel and hospitality industries. Founded by hoteliers and marketing professionals, Cendyn’s proven strategies and innovative Marketing, Sales, Reservations and CRM solutions raise online visibility, revenue and ROI for more than 14,000 hotels and travel destinations worldwide. Clients include: Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Hyatt Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott, and other chains and independent properties and hotel companies such as Trump Hotel Collection, The Breakers, The Broadmoor and Denihan Hospitality. For more information, please call 866-625-4518 or visit www.cendyn.com.

About Ataway Exchange:
The Ataway Exchange is a venue where leaders and executives in the travel industry network and interface with experts and thought leaders in the technology arena. With the rapid evolution of the marketing world inside the online space and the growing relevance of "soft metrics" given social media's rise, the race to identify new analytics which can distinguish between causes and correlations is on. The goal of Ataway, whether in our annual conference or more frequent, smaller sessions is to foster the conversations and lead them to new ways of realizing conversions. For more information, visit www.atawayexchange.com.