Newhouse School of Communications
Puttin' On the Ritz
April 9, 2009
by Patricio Maya Solis
Marketing expert Bruce Himelstein spoke in the Joyce Hergenhan Auditorium in Newhouse
III on Apr. 2. Himelstein is Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company .
"Who is the Customer?" was the title of the lecture. Himelstein spoke of how marketing for such a far-reaching company has to be both careful and aggressive.
According to its website, the Ritz-Carlton Co., which is based in Chevy Chase, Md., has 73 hotels in 24 countries and employs 38,000 people. Some of its future hotel locations include Shanghai, Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles.
"You can't be fakely hip, but you've got to maintain the creativity," Himelstein said, speaking about advertisement. Part of that strategy is putting the brand where customers don't expect to see it. "It's about recognition," he said.
Last year the Ritz-Carlton premiered three short films, "The Delay," "Heads or Tails" and "Last Night," made by production house Anonymous Content and marketing agency Team One. The three films feature dramatic stories that also happened to advertise the brand.
The three films targeted younger customers, but also stressed the values traditionally associated with the brand. "Unexpected is good, out of character is not," Himelstein said. According to Himelstein the three short films, which were financed by American Express, have
produced 3 million worth of revenue and have only existed online.
When asked about the key to his personal success, Himelstein, who in 2007 received the American Marketing Association-DC Hall of Fame Award, said that you must look people in the eye and not have something to say before they're finished speaking. "Plus I surround
myself with people who are smarter than I am," he added.
