Wyndham Marketing Toward Generation X With Free Cell Phone Promotion

PARSIPPANY, NJ— Now that Wyndham Hotels and Resorts is attempting to differentiate itself from its upper-upscale competitors from an architectural and design perspective, the brand has also begun to try to separate itself on a technological and marketing level. As evidence of such a strategic move, the brand is now offering guests who book online at Wyndham.com and stay at any Wyndham hotel the opportunity to receive a free walkie-talkie GPS-enabled cell phone. This offer, which is also automatically available to Wyndham ByRequest members who stay at any Wyndham hotel, will expire on July 31. To be completely eligible for the free cell phone, guests must also become new Sprint Nextel customers who then activate a new line of service on a selected rate plan and commit to a two-year service agreement. The free cell phone is the Motorola i836. “One thing we wanted to do this year as we begin to look into the marketing of the brand was bring an extra value to our customers since it’s becoming expensive to travel within the upper-upscale space,” said Kevin Rupert, Wyndham’s vp of marketing and strategy. “So it’s a great way to marry our value as a brand in the segment with our presence with the Generation X travelers, which are savvy travelers. Motorola is also a great brand and this is a great cell phone. It gives the business traveler everything you need in a phone. “This also most definitely ties into our larger approach along with the philosophy of our design firm, Michael Graves & Associates,” he continued. “We’re trying to look at who the Wyndham customers are now and who they will be in the future. We’re looking to attract younger customers. We think Wyndham is better positioned with Generation X than the established brands in this segment.” The Motorola i836 will give those Generation X business travelers the ability to connect with up to 20 people nationwide; GPS technology for location-based services, including turn-by-turn driving instructions; a speakerphone; Internet and e-mail capabilities; and various other applications. According to Rupert, the cell phone offer was made available and is being fulfilled by InPhonic, Inc., which helped bring Wyndham and Motorola together in the deal. “It’s a partnership between InPhonic, Motorola and us, and there is no incremental cost to our franchise owners,” he said. “It’s more like a joint marketing promotion. We’re helping Motorola promote the new phone and Nextel in exchange for this discount.” Rupert further noted that once this promotion expires, Wyndham will focus on establishing others that bring more reservation value to customers as well as revenue-generating opportunities for franchisees.