Former Marriott Executive Launches Storified Hospitality Group
Storified Hospitality announces its official launch today with the roll-out of a diverse portfolio of consumer and b2b brands, services, and products that integrate content, community, and commerce, and a category exclusive partnership with Tickr, that introduces custom built data visualization products designed and priced for travel, tourism, and hospitality brands.
The launch of Storified Hospitality Group marks the official return to hospitality marketing for David Beebe and his leadership team, which includes former Marriott Digital Media executive Lucia Evans. Beebe was the first ever VP, Global Creative and Content Marketing at Marriott, where he led the internal creative agency and from the ground up, founded the Marriott Content Studio, Marriott Traveler Magazine, and M Live – Marriott’s real-time global brand command centers. Prior to Marriott, Beebe was VP, Digital Studios, at Disney/ABC Television Group. At Marriott, Evans was Senior Director, Digital and Social Media, and has helped to transform the J.W. Marriott, Marriott, Sheraton, Delta, and Courtyard brands.
Storified Hospitality Group has been operating under the radar for six months, during which time Beebe, Evans, and their team tested the market and refined their product offerings through creative workshops, training labs, and speaking engagements with brands including Southwest Airlines, Air New Zealand, Walmart, Destination Canada, and several hotels in the US and Canada, including One King West in Toronto, which serves as its beta test hotel for new offerings.
The Storified Hospitality Group’s portfolio of media, marketing, and technology brands, services, and products include Hotel Social Key, Storied Hotels, Storified Studios, and Storified Training.
Hotel Social Key –The Hotel Marketer’s Single Point of Truth
In a category exclusive partnership, Storified Hospitality Group partnered with Tickr, the enterprise data platform for digital business, to roll out a new media intelligence solution designed specifically for hotel marketers. The solution, called Hotel Social Key®, unlocks a 360˚view of the most important metrics for hotel marketers, including relevant social media activity, news coverage, user sentiment, and information about competitors -- all in real-time, in one place, with a single log-on. The team also built Tourism Social Key, for destination marketers, Culinary Social Key for Food and Beverage brands, Airport Social Key for airports, and Transit Social Key for public transportation operators.
Hotel Social Key was born from Beebe’s expertise as the Global VP, Creative and Content Marketing for Marriott International. There, he created the Marriott International Content Studio and its five global real-time social media command centers. The Command Centers were awarded Gold and Silver Creative Data Lions at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in the categories of Social Data and Use of Real-time Data, respectively. Hotel Social Key was designed specifically for hotel marketers, including the most important features that powered these command centers, but with a price point that fits within hotel marketing budgets.
Hotel Social Key doesn’t replace any of the current tools hoteliers are already using – instead, it serves as a mothership that connects all the relevant data together. By providing instant access to cross-channel metrics, including social media, PR, TripAdvisor, competitor data, trending news, digital, and paid media, on one screen with a single sign-on, marketers are finally able to see everything in one place. Hotel Social Key also addresses the biggest pain points hotel marketers face by eliminating the need for manual reporting. Hoteliers can choose from customizable views for different stakeholders, including a GM view, and even a Guest View for the hotel lobby.
Hotel Social is powered by Tickr 360, a media insight platform that uses artificial intelligence to provide dynamic awareness about specific brands, products, people, customers, competitors and the general industry. The Tickr platform has earned the confidence of some of the world’s leading brands and is currently deployed across market-leading companies in industries including consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, finance, manufacturing, and more.
To find out everything that Hotel Social Key can do, book a demo at http://hotelsocialkey.com
Storied Hotels – A story-driven media brand for the curious travelers
Storied Hotels is a multiplatform consumer brand connecting curious travelers with the world's best storied hotels, destinations and experiences by partnering with hotels, travel brands, and creators to develop original story-driven creative and content that inspires travelers to discover what’s next. Stories are available at storiedhotels.com and are created by local writers and video produces around the world. Storied Hotels is leveraging affiliate partnerships with Amazon to create content that drives commerce and book direct rev-share deals with individual hotels to create content that drives bookings. The team is already producing premium branded and native content for hotel partners through Storified Studios, including its first podcast series, with plans to launch print products and events in early 2019.
Storified Studios – Premium Story Driven Creative and Content
In the sea of sameness, Storified Studios is financing its own productions and partnering with hospitality marketers and creators to elevate storytelling to the next level with transformative travel creative and content. The studio is focused on inspiring marketers to think different, act like media companies, and partner with creatives to develop, produce, and distribute premium story-driven creative and content that transforms marketing from a cost center to a revenue center. The content studio is already in development on several hospitality brand supported original films, documentaries, and digital series set to premiere in the first quarter of 2019. The content studio’s first production is marked by a podcast series called “Uninvited Guests” which explores haunted hotels and is hosted by creator and influencer Stef Sanjati. The premiere episode featured the 1886 Crescent Hotel in the Ozarks.
Storifed Training – Storytelling Workshops, Labs, and Courses
From the front line to the back office, people are at the core of the hospitality business and they need to understand the power of storytelling. Unfortunately, hospitality brands are often forced to chase the next shiny object on digital and social media vs taking the time to train its people. Storified Training offers multiple digital and in person courses, workshops, and labs for travel, tourism, and hospitality brands who understand that the most important step in transforming an organization is taking the time to train the teams. Air New Zealand and Destination Canada are clients.
Storified Hospitality Group, based in Washington, DC with offices in Toronto and San Francisco, closed an undisclosed seed round of financing led by travel agency industry veteran David Odaka. The financing will be used to further solve the problems hospitality marketers face, scale the multiple brands in the portfolio, and invest in new offerings, especially storytelling training services and products.