I received this topic as a request to write a blog post a few days ago. Anyone who has some connection or experience at a hotel can become an ambassador. Employees, for instance, are probably the top ambassadors of the hotel and its brand. Repeat guests, corporate clients, and community members are also excellent ambassadors.
What happens however when the ambassador is a celebrity chef, or award winning sommelier who works at the hotel? Obviously, there is much PR value to be had from a celebrity who is sought after to do TV shows, interviews, etc., to promote the hotel. And this is absolutely fine, as long as the hotel’s message is in line with the PR strategy.
The fact is that many chef celebrities need media training. Period. As PR professionals, we cannot expect a chef, or sommelier, or GM to know all the right answers on camera. They may be very reserved, or overly enthusiastic, to the extent of blurring the hotel’s message. It’s clearly the PR team’s responsibility to train and make them understand the message and help them deliver it. For instance, talking points are great but they must be repeated, especially on camera, where a quick cooking performance could take all day to shoot, but is edited down to a few minutes.
Striking a balance between respecting the celebrity’s value in the hotel, and appreciating their talent is important to do in this process. Through media training techniques PR pros help the celebrity look good as they plug in the hotel. Yes, there are exceptions of chef celebs who are great PR ambassadors because they just get it right away. There are others who require more attention.
Either way, arm yourself with patience and tact when prepping a celeb.
Of course, if you’re in PR and reading this, you already know that it’s one thing to say this and another to actually follow through with it!
Tags: celebrity chefs, employee ambassadors in hotels, hospitality media training, hotel ambassadors, hotel pr, media training, pr and hotels, social media PR, sommelier in hotels, tv shows for hotels
Indeed, every hotel benefits from ambassadors with a well directed voice.
Recently, I was reminded of the value of PR services when Hotel Advantage was selected to be a featured business account in Salem Five Bank’s Spring marketing campaign.
The bank’s PR agency helped coach me through a 2 hour photo shoot, and later a radio studio recording where I was sharing my own message about my experiences as their client.
I also saw how they prepared their ambassador-athlete-celebrity Dustin Pedroia for a press conference, VIP client reception, and customer appreciation event.
Having PR professionals on your team to guide, groom and direct is required for all companies, including hotels.
Today on the Hotel Advantage Facebook page, I posted a video of a Chicago Hotel GM that was on Hotel Chatter’s “Pitch Your Hotel” series. There, GMs go on-camera to share what makes their hotel special.
GMs are in many ways, a hotel’s most important ambassador. In their role as captain of the ship, they are frequently in the limelight sharing all kinds of messages about their property. Working with a PR professional can help Hotels GMs optimize their spotlight moments for both planned events, and also for times of unexpected crisis.
Ann Manion
http://www.hotelreputationmanagement.com
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