Hyatt Makes Move In Down Economy to Snag Share

Subtitle: Q&A With John Wallis, Global Head of Marketing and Brand Strategy, Hyatt

Brilliant. Love it.

Ad Age: What has the past year been like for Hyatt?

Mr. Wallis: Like everybody else, we have been totally walloped. ...

Ad Age: How have recessionary pressures affected your role, responsibilities and the expectations placed upon you?

Mr. Wallis: The current economy has increased the importance of marketing within our company, because we have all agreed that in an uncluttered market, we have a great opportunity to increase market share. ...

Ad Age: Has one part of the marketing mix increased in importance during the downturn?

Mr. Wallis: The company that better understands its analytics can gain market share. We are spending a lot of time really focusing on what our customers are telling us both by stay pattern and by stay behavior. From Sept. 16 onward, you could throw away all of your old travel databases and algorithms because so many people who used to travel lost their jobs.

Ad Age: Have you shifted marketing spending to reflect that?

Mr. Wallis: It has shifted dramatically and it will continue over time because our goal is to become a database driven company that's in the hotel business.