News Briefs

Salata has promoted former vice president of operations, Michele Maerz, to president. Maerz joined the growing salad brand in 2021.

The role was previously occupied by Michelle Bythewood from 2019-2023; Bythewood was an integral part of selecting Maerz to step into the role.

• Check out more people on the move in the hospitality industry

Michele Maerz brings over 30 years of restaurant industry experience to her role as president of Salata. During her time as vice president of operations of Salata, Michele and her team improved operational procedures; solidified a partnership that opens new revenue streams on major corporate campuses and facilities in Houston and Dallas; rolled out several new menu items including a Certified Angus Beef steak protein to the salad menu; and launched the Salata Mobile Kitchen to assist operations during restaurant remodels and create an opportunity for greater community involvement.

Prior to joining Salata, Maerz served as regional vice president of On The Border Grill & Cantina  and Lazy Dog Restaurants.

In her role as president, Michele will be responsible for the overall strategic vision and leadership of the Salata brand and ensuring operational excellence across Salata’s more than 90 corporate and franchised restaurants along with franchise expansion across the country.

For electric vehicle owners in British Columbia, Tim Hortons is now fueling road trips in more ways than one.  The company has announced the expansion of its electric vehicle charging station pilot launched earlier this year in Oakville, Ontario, by unveiling six new charging stations at restaurants throughout  British Columbia.

Tim Hortons announced the pilot in February in an effort to study the technology, its usage and opportunities.

"We have been thrilled with the results of the pilot so far.  Usage of the charging station in Oakville has surpassed our expectations and we received many calls with requests to expand the pilot," said Paulo Ferreira, Senior Director, International Strategic Restaurant Design and Building Standards, Tim Hortons. "With more than 3,300 eligible restaurants across the country, we continue to look for opportunities to expand the pilot and contribute to the EV infrastructure."

The BC expansion, supported by the Province of BC's Community Charging Infrastructure Fund and Koben Systems Inc. (KSI), placed charging stations strategically in Nanaimo, Langford, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Abbotsford and Coquitlam to create paths within the province, allowing guests to travel from restaurant to restaurant strictly on electric power.

Tim Hortons offers charging stations as a courtesy to guests at six locations.  As of March 31st, 2013, Tim Hortons had 4,288 system-wide restaurants, including 3,453 in Canada, 808 in the United States and 27 in the Gulf Cooperation Council. 

Aavgo, a cloud-based SaaS solution for contactless check-in, partnered with the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center to elevate the guest experience while benefitting from new operational efficiencies through its proprietary Smart Reception Technology. Through the agreement, AAVGO has augmented the hotel’s check-in experience while expanding remote support to include nearly any task performed by the front desk.

Using Aavgo’s innovative 360 Platform and Smart Reception products, the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center offers a fully personalized and contactless guest experience supported by secure transitions from check-in to check-out. The partnership gives hotel staff more liberty to focus on creating unforgettable guest experiences, all while reducing operational costs by up to 35 percent. These efficiencies can lead to long-term benefits amid rising costs across the industry, with some hotels in Aavgo’s system reporting savings of over $150,000.

Located in Kissimmee, Fla., the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center is convenient to a wide variety of local attractions, including Walt Disney World Orlando, Sea World, and Universal Studios Orlando, all accessible via a free shuttle. The pet-friendly resort also provides guests with access to two outdoor pools, two dining options, a fitness center, and meeting & event space for up to 1,500 attendees across eight venues.

Glen A Vlasic, General Manager of the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center, said, "When we adopted Aavgo’s Smart Reception kiosk, our team was anticipating a tool reminiscent of airline kiosks, but we couldn’t be more pleasantly surprised with the reality of the tool. Smart Reception includes a live person capable of forming a jovial, impactful connection with guests while serving all their needs. Travelers enjoy using Smart Reception, and their looks are priceless when they see a live person on the other end of the kiosk. Aavgo’s ongoing support has effectively helped our hotel adopt new features over time, and we are excited to see how the tool evolves next.”

The franchisee that owns the Wyndham Celebration is eager to prove the worth of this emerging technology.  Jon McMillian, AD1 Global’s Corporate Director of eCommerce and Marketing m said, “Aavgo’s technology has a bright future in the hospitality world, and we are excited to partner with them to provide a natural, human alternative to contactless check-in at possibly several of our hotels. Smart Reception not only helps our hotel manage operations and control costs, it’s also a new avenue for our property to earn positive reviews from guests who are looking for a high-quality contactless experience.”

Mrunal Desai, CEO and Founder at Aavgo, said, "At Aavgo, we are thrilled to deepen our relationship with AD1 Global and the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center. This collaboration empowered the hotel and its operations team to deliver exceptional service alongside cutting-edge operational optimization and cost savings. Our integrated 360 Platform and Smart Reception products are streamlining hotel operations, elevating staff away from transactional encounters with guests, and allowing them to create unforgettable experiences. Together, Aavgo and the Wyndham Orlando Resort and Conference Center are offering guests access to the most exceptional technology on the market, setting new standards for innovation, personalization, and profitability.”

Wade Allen has joined Costa Vida, Fresh Mexican Grill, as EVP of Strategic Growth, he shared on LinkedIn.

The industry innovator is a frequent contributor to Hospitality Technology. At MURTEC 2023, he was one of three digital transformers to take the stage to share how digital channels and experiences are evolving.  Allen, Justin Falciola, Chief Insights & Technology Officer, Papa Johns; and Vadim Parizher, VP of Technology, Taco Bell  talked about everything from robotics to labor challenges to what the future might hold.

"COVID gave us the opportunity to press the envelope with drones, robots in front and back of house, and delivering food, and ghost kitchens, etc. I think all these things have a place. We decided to either fail fast or succeed quickly. We found that the horizon was a lot longer than we anticipated for many technologies. So we went back to see what was really driving profitability, sales, guest experience and team member experience. We’re getting everything to work perfectly so we can move forward with confidence," Allen said during the session. 
 

• WATCH: Digital Transformers Take the Stage at MURTEC

Allen is also a member of Restaurant Technology Network's Board of Governors.  Check out more people on the move in the hospitality industry in HT.

Sojern, a digital marketing platform for the travel industry, announces the latest version of its Sojern Travel Marketing Platform with enhanced Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered audiences. Sojern has leveraged its long-standing AI capabilities to provide expanded support for more than 10,000 travel marketers annually. Customers include hotels and resorts of all sizes, destinations, attractions and airlines.

“Our customers needed to respond swiftly to the rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape, so during the pandemic, we expanded our automation and AI capabilities. It all begins with data, specifically the Sojern Traveler Ecosystem™, which powers our platform with billions of travel intent signals from thousands of travel brands in every corner of the globe,” said Kurt Weinsheimer, Chief Solutions Officer at Sojern. “While AI is making headlines now, we’ve been harnessing its capabilities for years and are excited to announce these new updates. We have competitors that are just now building AI functionality, and I can tell you firsthand that it takes several years to develop and refine the sophisticated AI models that power our platform. Our 15 years of experience and deep technological expertise gives us a significant advantage in delivering results with AI-powered audiences in the latest iteration of our Platform.”

Sojern’s AI-powered audiences offer travel marketers a strategic advantage in optimizing their marketing investments. By leveraging AI technology, marketers can make informed decisions on resource allocation, effectively targeting the right customer segments for maximum return on investment and business impact. Through automated audience segmentation and optimization, brands engage with relevant audiences in real time, achieving greater precision, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. In response to increasing demand for personalized experience, and 71% expressing their expectation of personalization from companies, Sojern’s data-driven approach enables brands to deliver highly tailored campaigns at scale while adhering to data privacy regulations. The result is a more strategic and impactful marketing strategy that drives new traveler acquisition, boosts direct bookings, and maximizes guest loyalty.

Here are the three key enhancements to Sojern’s AI-powered audiences, built to address travel marketers’ objectives, on the Sojern Travel Marketing Platform:

1. Integration of 1st Party Offline Data: By integrating customers’ offline data - including unified access to historical booking data across various distribution channels - Sojern empowers marketers to gain greater visibility and develop more robust audiences. Combining offline data with AI-powered audiences provides deeper insights into consumer behavior and preferences, facilitating the creation of highly targeted and personalized campaigns. The platform also enriches and scores offline customer data, helping marketers identify and prioritize conversion-ready customers. Overall, this integration empowers travel marketers to build a holistic and data-driven marketing solution, leading to improved engagement and better business outcomes.
2. Enhanced Support for Reactivation: Sojern’s Platform enables marketers a distinctive capability to leverage AI-powered audiences to reactivate prior guests and loyalty members. This capability allows advertisers to identify and engage with previous customers who are currently in the market, driving loyalty throughout the customer journey. By combining reactivation with AI-powered prospecting and retargeting, Sojern’s full funnel strategy ensures increased return on investment and heightened customer satisfaction.
3. Expanded Audience Activation: Sojern’s AI-powered audiences can now be activated with more control and flexibility in activation through the Traveler Audiences To-Go offering. Advertisers can activate these audiences across multiple advertising platforms of their choice, such as DV360, Xandr, Meta and YouTube, broadening their reach and providing greater convenience and flexibility.

Another significant benefit of Sojern’s AI-powered audiences is the integration with extensive data partnerships. By enriching retargeting, reactivation and prospecting audiences with data from Sojern’s Traveler Ecosystem, advertisers gain a broader view of customers beyond their owned channels or walled garden media platforms. The use of durable identifiers illuminates blind spots in a privacy-compliant manner, enhancing audience quality and enabling real-time identification of consumers in-market. As a result, AI-powered audiences effectively reach the right audience at the right time with the right message.

“At Sojern, we’ve always believed in AI’s potential to enhance the travel experience. The latest iteration of our Platform benefits both our travel marketing customers and their end consumers,” Weinsheimer added.

Leveraging data-driven digital advertising, Sojern has consistently adapted to meet the changing marketing needs of travel brands. Today, Sojern has evolved into a robust platform business. To discover more about the benefits of AI-powered Audiences for your travel marketing campaigns, get in touch.