Sometimes, success really is about who you know. This is certainly the case when two brands come together and form a partnership. Recent examples include the brand partnership between Receipt Bank and Bill.com. This productive partnership is helping accountants, financial advisors, and business owners achieve their financial goals.
However, one of the most recent success stories has been the brand partnership between startup Hotel Tonight and world-famous arena Madison Square Garden located in New York City. In 2017, Hotel Tonight also established other successful partnerships. These included the Yankees, Chelsea FC in London, and AEG in Los Angeles.
Standing Ovation For A Successful Brand Partnership
Hotel Tonight CMO Ray Elias explained that this brand partnership has been a game changer. "Madison Square Garden is one of the most iconic and busiest venues in the world. It sits on top of Penn Station, one of the busiest commuter hubs in the world."
The partnership includes Tao Group, which owns some of the most renowned nightclubs and restaurants in the world. They are not just using a branding strategy with these partnerships. Instead, the booking brand is weaving HotelTonight into the fabric of these use cases. As Elias furthered, "This trifecta in New York City is perfect for reaching busy, mobile-savvy people who love to travel and to keep the night going."
It has been this partnership that has boosted the new brand's confidence to pursue the competition. As Ron Skotarczak, Executive Vice President, Marketing Sponsorships for The Madison Square Garden Company, stated, “Over the past year, we have witnessed how our partnership with HotelTonight has created incredible value for our respective companies. We’re thrilled that our relationship will continue."
Andrea Greenberg, President and CEO, MSG Networks, noted that Hotel Tonight understands fans of live events. They are an integral part of engaging with this audience. She cited that they have been involved with a wide range of MSG's assets. These assets include Knicks and Rangers telecasts and MSG GO.
Encore To The Brand Partnership
Not only is Hotel Tonight renewing their sponsorship with Madison Square Garden, but they are also looking for unique ways to evolve their approach. They know that it helps to get your foot in the door with your audience by partnering with a trusted brand. However, they still have to do a lot of the work to win the customers over. This is especially due to being in the competitive marketplace of online travel booking sites.
And, the brand continues to look for ways to differentiate itself from the Expedia's and Pricelines of the world. Elias peaked our interest with the fact that he and his company have some surprises coming in 2018.
A starting point to what's to come is the announcement that Hotel Tonight will allow users to reserve a hotel up to 100 days in advance. In response, Sam Shank, the company's CEO and Co-Founder, called this step the start of its differentiation strategy.
Use Cases
One of the first things Hotel Tonight plans on implementing is to expand the use-cases they’re looking to bring to life. This includes being able to focus on a longer window of the season for giving fans the lowest possible prices.
In adding value to the Madison Square Garden partnership, Hotel Tonight is offering Madison Square Garden attendees an extra 20% discount on its proprietary, location-based geo rates. Hence, this is a great test to determine how the travel-and-event sponsorship model can work more effectively with the hotels located nearby to Madison Square Garden. For example, some attendees to a concert or sporting event may be more inclined to stay the night if they can tap into great hotel deals.
Elias said, "We are seizing the transition to mobile, and Madison Square Garden is filled every night with our customers. We aren't just a sponsor. Our brand integrates with the venue's mobile ticket buying flow. Therefore, hotels can target potential bookers with fenced MSG Geo-rates. Whether you are planning in advance, looking for an alternative to a long commute, or staying late through over time, the HotelTonight-MSG partnership enhances the fan experience."
Event Mobile Experiences Trend
Innovative startups like Hotel Tonight realize that there is a tremendous opportunity to tap into the growing demand for event mobile experience at sports and music events. This is due, in part, to improved WiFi at venues across the country. And, Hotel Tonight bills itself as the Uber or Lyft of the hotel booking industry. This is because it has similarly emerged during the mobile-first era. As such, it is more flexible to innovate quickly.
Madison Square Garden already has superior WiFi. Therefore, the hotel booking site can encourage attendees to book on a last-minute, impromptu basis. Skotarczak added, "HotelTonight has had an excellent opportunity to showcase their leading mobile app for the millions of fans who come to Madison Square Garden for a wide variety of events throughout the year.”
Lessons Learned
Therefore, the main lesson is brand partnerships have to be continually nurtured. This means it can not get stale. Also, Hotel Tonight cannot expect a brand partner to do all the work. Instead, they've realized they had to pull their weight if they were to keep Madison Square Garden as a partner.
The company received a significant amount of venture capital. Initially, they burned through much of it before starting to recently earn a profit recently. Hotel Tonight has a new understanding of how to leverage and nurture a brand partnership. Therefore, this will be interesting to keep an eye on the company. Let's see if it can respond to the pressure to grow from those that put up the money to launch the brand. Additionally, the jury is out on whether they can speed past long-standing hotel booking brands.
