Steve Heyer CEO is a strong believer in the concept of constant adaptation in the industry in reaction to changing times. It is clear at present that the man was right in his tips, delivered long years ago. He delivered a keynote speech bearing this message to a group of 400 media, ad agency and entertainment executives during an “Advertising Age” conference in 2003.
The man occupies a top position in Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Heyer was already in this seat when he began to expound on his original message to marketers in 2003. He stated that his aim for the company was to have it market the experiences that could be had in the hotels instead of the quarters themselves.
Experiences are the products to Heyer, not the rooms. The goods, for Heyer, were the entertainments to be found in the resorts. Technically, what is being offered has not really changed: it is simply the way of looking at it that has.
Another of the points he made was that businesses had to face a powerful trend towards customization in goods and services. This is precisely what one now observes in businesses: customization. Nowhere is this more visible than in the technologically-centered industries.
We are seeing old forms of entertainment being given a run for their money by fresh avenues of media distribution. The development of applications capable of ripping sound from CDs, for instance, led to music producers suffering. Consumers went online in droves when songs started becoming downloadable on sites for free.
The music industry momentarily went into chaos, which is a scenario referred to in Steven Heyer’s keynote address. It was an object lesson along the lines of Heyer's theme of continuous adaptation to handle a shifting market. To Heyer, the new cultural trends dictating the market could influence even TV itself, one of the biggest entertainment industries of all time.
Steve Heyer argues that modern marketing efforts should focus on the creation of cultures, not products. An experience that is not easily replicable is the primary product Heyer is looking to market for Starwood. This marketing tactic would lead to emphasis being placed on the entertainment possibilities of each hotel.
Indeed, Starwood has even come up with unusual partners in the enterprise, such as Victoria's Secret. Only certain persons in the Starwood hotels are allowed to attend the runway shows. This is a case of the product being an experience.
The proliferation of brand names in films has also drawn attention from Heyer, who dislikes it. The CEO has spoken of it as a random, ill-advised technique. Heyer argues against the practice by calling it both a useless appendage to the plot as well as a useless tool for a business.
A look at Coca Cola's roster of past chiefs shall show Steve Heyer CEO on it. Some of his services for that company actually demonstrate what he is trying to say by "contextual" brand placement. He managed to get Coke cups on the table of the judges for a certain talent competition aired on TV, ensuring contextual visibility.
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