News Briefs

Think Simplicity, a cloud communication technology provider of all-inclusive voice and chat solutions for the hospitality industry, announced today Spark by Hilton™ will utilize the company’s communication platform at its Germantown Washington, D.C. North location.

Spark offers modern hospitality at a budget-friendly price. The brand brings to the metropolitan DC market a fresh, practical, and comfortable alternative for travelers seeking a convenient and high-quality stay. The Germantown property will be the second Spark by Hilton to debut in less than a year after Hilton announced the new hotel brand. It is the first in the Washington Region and the next in what Hilton has announced as a pipeline of more than 400 expansion opportunities in various stages of development around the country.

Selected for its scalability, reliability, and affordability, Think Simplicity worked with the hotel operations team to ensure the new property was outfitted with the latest in cloud communication technology. Charges are provided in a fixed monthly invoice that is easy to understand for on-property and above-property managers. In addition to cost savings, the Spark by Hilton Germantown Washington, DC North relies on Think Simplicity for its ongoing innovative software updates and 24/7/365 support. 

Patrick Keenan, assistant vice president and director of hotel performance support, Spark by Hilton, said: “Deciding on a communication system for our newest property was made easy by the Think Simplicity team. We understand the importance of partnering with a communication company that can provide our hotels with the latest technology via software upgrades, but also the service and support we need as we open our newest location.”

Joseph De Ciantis, co-founder of Think Simplicity, said: “We are proud to welcome this exciting and fresh hotel brand to our list of clients. We provide the highest quality hardware, software, service, and support, and we look forward to being a part of Hilton’s bold focus in the premium economy segment.”

Domino's Pizza Inc. introduces its new and improved loyalty program. 

Domino's Rewards offers loyalty members even more opportunities to earn and redeem points across its corporate and franchise store locations. Domino's enhanced rewards program allows customers to:

• Earn points for less
  • Loyalty members will now earn 10 points on every order of $5 or more
• Redeem points for even more menu items – and earn free Domino's after just two orders
  • Members can redeem a variety of points for more menu items:
    • 20 points: A free dipping cup, a 16-piece order of Parmesan Bread Bites or a 20 oz. drink
    • 40 points: An order of Bread Twists or Stuffed Cheesy Bread
    • 60 points: A medium, two-topping pizza; pasta; Oven-Baked Sandwich; or a 3-piece order of Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes
• Earn more rewards
  • Loyalty perks are now even better, as members will have exclusive access to member-only deals, special discounts and opportunities to earn bonus points!

"We are thrilled to give the brand's loyal customers additional ways to earn free Domino's items more often," said Mark Messing, Domino's vice president of digital experience and loyalty. "At a time when most brands are scaling back their loyalty programs and making it more difficult to earn and redeem points, Domino's is doing the opposite. We want to make it easier to reward our customers and give them more options so they can get rewarded faster."

Marketing a LTO 

From now until Oct. 22, 2023, rewards members can take advantage of a limited time offer to redeem 20 points for a free order of Domino's new Pepperoni Stuffed Cheesy Bread, which is normally a 40-point redemption, in celebration of the product's recent launch. 

SoundHound AI, Inc., a provider of voice artificial intelligence, announced a definitive merger agreement to acquire SYNQ3 Restaurant Solutions, a leading provider of voice AI and other technology solutions to the restaurant industry.

The deal will make SoundHound the preeminent U.S. provider of voice AI for restaurants, significantly extending its market reach by an order of magnitude to over 10,000 signed locations and accelerating the deployment of leading-edge generative AI capabilities to the industry. SYNQ3 will add large brands spanning drive thru, fast casual, casual segments, and convenience stores to SoundHound’s fast growing customer base – bringing the total to more than 25 national and multinational chains.

The highly complementary businesses will match nearly two decades of SoundHound AI innovation with decades of SYNQ3 industry expertise and established relationships. The SYNQ3 team brings deep restaurant sales, product, and customer service experience with an increasing focus on AI. Seasoned executive talent like CEO and Co-Founder Steve Bigari, a former McDonald’s operator, will strengthen SoundHound AI’s leadership as the company moves to rapidly roll out its best-in-class proprietary AI solutions to restaurants across the U.S. and beyond.

Other immediate business benefits include:

• Over 100,000 restaurant locations in the combined pipeline, and over 10,000 signed
• A broad suite of AI products to offer SYNQ3’s established customer base additional value added services, including Dynamic Interaction, Smart Answering, and Employee Assist
• Revenue synergies with SoundHound’s existing restaurant business
• Enhanced AI models using data from over 50 million interactions to strengthen product performance
• Omnichannel voice and conversational AI offerings that allow restaurants to engage across multiple touchpoints
• An acceleration of SoundHound’s monetization strategy via voice-enabled food and drink ordering in millions of cars, TVs, and IoT devices

“In joining forces, SoundHound AI and SYNQ3 will be the go-to standard for cutting-edge voice and conversational AI solutions for the restaurant industry,” said Keyvan Mohajer, CEO and Co-Founder of SoundHound AI. “Restaurant operators are turning to technology en masse, and voice AI is now playing a key role in helping them drive sales, reduce costs, and alleviate the burden of increasing demand on their employees.”

“SoundHound AI and SYNQ3 will provide our restaurant partners with a formidable voice solution that we believe significantly surpasses the competition,” said Steve Bigari, CEO and Co-Founder of SYNQ3. “Our businesses are highly complementary, with both AI and industry expertise at the core of who we are. Together, we plan to capitalize on those synergies to provide best-in-class AI ordering methodologies backed by the largest library of restaurant AI orders in the world. This will power a rapid acceleration of our growth!”

SoundHound is expected to pay a total consideration of $25 million. Over the next three years, based on certain revenue targets being achieved, up to $4 million of additional consideration could be realized. The aggregate consideration payable to stockholders of SYNQ3 consists of approximately 20% in cash and approximately 80% in shares of SoundHound’s Class A common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Additional details will be provided on SoundHound’s fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call.

McDonald’s is opening the first CosMc’s location  in Bolingbrook, Illinois, this month – with 10 locations to be opened in the next year.  

CosMc’s will have “a uniquely seamless digital and drive-thru experience” with ”dynamic menu boards and cashless payment devices to breeze through the ordering and payment process, allowing for guided exploration and customization along the way,” according to a company statement. Drive-thru pickup windows are assigned once the order is ready. 

Demand for Drive-Thru

Drive-thru traffic rose 30 percent from 2019 to 2022, according to a report from the food service research firm Technomic and reportd by the New York Times. 

Brands including Chipotle, Shake Shack and Sweetgreen are among the fast-casual brands expanding their drive-thrus as consumers shy away delivery and fees and instead opt to pickup their off-prem orders.  

CosMc’s menu features specialty lemonades and teas,  blended beverages and cold coffee – think Sour Cherry Energy Slush, Tropical Spiceade and S’mores Cold Brew. Customizations are available and include popping boba, flavor syrups, energy or Vitamin C shots, and  more.

The food menu includes  Spicy Queso Sandwich, Savory Hash Brown Bites and Pretzel Bites served with dipping sauces. On the sweet side, there's a Blueberry Lemon Cookie Sundae and Caramel Fudge Brownies, to name a few. And there will be a few of the McDonald’s classics on the menu.

Visit cosmcs.com or follow CosMc’s on Instagram, TikTok and X.

IDeaS, a provider of revenue management software and services, announced the launch of the IDeaS’ Resorts Revenue Council, a dynamic in-person and virtual community where industry leaders, creative thinkers, and innovators from the resort and all-inclusive space will meet regularly to discuss key industry challenges and catalyze the evolution of a holistic approach to commercial management for resorts. 

The Resorts Revenue Council held its inaugural summit in Mallorca, Spain, in September 2023. The focus of the two-day event delved into an area of hospitality that continues to grow, resorts, and all-inclusive properties, with discussions around the key opportunities required to expand successful profit optimization in this niche hospitality business. 

The gathering resulted in the development of strategies and agreed-upon next steps to leverage data-driven insights, drive operational efficiency, and elevate profitability in the definition of a revenue management model for resorts. 

Twenty-five industry leaders from 18 brands in seven countries convened in Mallorca to help shape the discussions around where future needs lie – whether in enhancements to what exists today or in the identification and development of required capabilities. 

Russ Stanziale, chief sales and growth officer, IDeaS, said: “We are in a unique position at IDeaS to provide engaging opportunities where we can listen to our industry, identify the challenges they face, and develop solutions through practical applications. This inaugural meeting provided a forum at which a unique group of industry leaders had an unbridled discussion on how revenue management can help solve the challenges they face in areas for resorts, such as critical KPI’s, forecast allotments, appropriate demand data sources, and more.” 

The group plans to meet on a quarterly basis with annual in-person meetings, with the next meeting scheduled as a virtual discussion in early January 2024. Those interested can request to join the Resorts Revenue Council community here. 

Mews has reached a significant milestone in the successful rollout of its Property Management System (PMS) across all Strawberry Hotels (formerly Nordic Choice Hotels). The largest hotel group in the Nordic region, with over 225 hotels and 18,000 employees, chose to migrate to Mews because of the platform's flexibility, scalability, and security.

Mews Hospitality Cloud has now been deployed in over 100 properties within the group. The rollout is across all brands and hotel types, including Comfort Hotels, Quality Hotel, Clarion Hotel, Clarion Collection Hotel and standalone hotels across the portfolio.

“We’ve always had innovation at our core, and it’s clear to us that modern hotel technology is the key to leading the industry in terms of guest experience, efficiency and revenue opportunities,” said Eirik Bogsnes, Executive Vice President at Strawberry. “Mews is the perfect solution to build a tech stack around, and we’re delighted with how it’s already helped to transform our operations over the last year.”

The hotels now using Mews include properties in the Nordic Hotel Resorts chain as well as the Kämp Collection Hotels. Adoption has been smooth, with the help of a bespoke ‘Train the Trainer’ program that allows Mews experts within Strawberry to train fellow employees for even faster onboarding.

“The best technology is empowering to its user,” said Kari Anna Fiskvik, Vice President Technology at Strawberry. “Mews empowers our teams to work smarter, and spend more time with their guests, while at the same time giving guests the power to define their own stay experience.”

Mews Marketplace, with its easy connection to over 900 integrations, is also vital to the hotel group. Numerous brands sit within Strawberry, and each has different requirements when building its tech stack. Mews allows each brand to connect to exactly what they need and build directly to the Mews Open API whenever necessary. Strawberry has selected the full range of features available, including Mews Operations, Mews Multi-Property, Mews Guest Journey and Mews Payments.

“We love working with Strawberry because they push us to keep innovating and improving,” said Matthijs Welle, CEO of Mews. “An industry-leading organization like Strawberry embracing digital transformation motivates us to continue transforming the hospitality industry. Our partnership shows how big brands can use cloud technology to be flexible, scalable and innovative.”