Skift Take
Can a single brand ever really own a customer? We think Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta is onto something here, but that won't necessarily stop his travel peers from trying to do that in their own ways.
At a time when a number of travel and hospitality CEOs are increasingly concerned with the idea of who "owns" the customer — and are attempting to build extensive "experience platforms" to do just that — Hilton CEO Christopher Nassetta has a slightly different take on those efforts versus peers.
Whereas AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin and Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson see technology companies such as Google, Amazon, Apple, and others as direct competitors, Nassetta doesn't necessarily see things in the same light.
"We're not trying to compete with Google, Amazon, and Apple," Nassetta told Skift recently at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit. "We're not trying to. We're a platform and a network, and our view is that we're on the fulfillment side, that we're the experience. We're the hearts and souls that make that stay different, and we make sure that product is right, along with the amenities, and the service delivery. I don't think those guys are going to want to be in that form of fulfillment for a long, long time. I mean, I may be wrong, but … we jointly own the customer."
Not only that, but it's imperative that Hilton make sure those customers stay loyal to Hilton when they choose where they want to stay.
"I think we own more of the customer because, here's the deal: Shame on us if we don't own the customer," Nassetta added. "They sleep with us, they shower with us, they do everything personal with us. They don't do that on there with anybody else."
"We own the relationship in the sense that we have a physical connection to the customer that nobody else can replicate, and so we just need to make sure we don't forget who we are, what we do, and that we're in the business of fulfillment," he said. In other words, Hilton doesn't need to try to expand into other businesses, or attempt to be all things to all people.
That being said, the importance of investing in technology and the digital aspects of the guest experience aren't lost on Nassetta.
"Now, that doesn't take away from the fact that we need to be a great technology company too," he said. "We need to connect the physical and the digital, so things like the Connected Rooms, Digital Key, all of this stuff we're doing, we're investing huge amounts of money into it. And we're, I think, way ahead, objectively, of the competition."
Nassetta's claims aren't without merit. Hilton
