STARWOOD’S SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE

WHY IS SOCIAL MEDIA AN IMPORTANT PLACE TO TELL YOUR STORY?

83% of Mad Men’s time-shifted audience fast forwards through the commercials -Tivo % of people believe companies lie in advertising Vizu Answers, 2009 Yankelovich, 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer,.

Power of Social Influence #1 trusted source in selecting a destination – Recommendation of a family or friend: 79% The Key factor in selecting hotel – Recommendation of a friend or associate: 64% – Source: 2009 Travel Weekly Consumer Trends; 2009 Leisure Travel Monitor

2008 – 2009 Changing Tide YOUTUBE = 44% FACEBOOK AGGRESSIVELY RISING INFLUENCER FROM 9% > 33% REVIEW SITES RAPIDLY DILUTING THEIR INFLUENCE TRIP ADVISOR ALONE IS DOWN FROM 44% > 27% +/- BASELINE = HOTEL WEBSITES 43% 19% OF PEOPLE WHO USE THE WEB TO RESEARCH TRAVEL CONSIDERED SOCIAL MEDIA WHEN MAKING DECISIONS VS. 1% IN 2008

Social media is changing the way people travel. It's replacing recommendations from experts and strangers with a targeted selection of information from acquaintances and their networks. Social media rewrites rules of travel AP: December, 2009

+350,000,000 Friends

130 Friends Average

+350,000,000 Friends 130 Friends Average

+350,000,000 Friends 130 Friends Average 20+ Unique impressions per user interaction.

45.3 million active US users in the last 30 days Fastest growing segment: Women over 55, up 175.3% in the last 120 days. Faster growth with women than men in almost every age group. 56.2% of Facebook’s audience, up from 54.3% late last year. 45% of Facebook’s US audience is now 26 years old or older.

Today, over three fourths of Facebook’s US traffic comes from people over 25: 28% are % are 35-44, 18% are % are over 55.

Burt’s Friends now know that he has become a fan of something. 20% Katie’s friends have been made aware that she would like to know more about what Burt is a fan of. Martha’s friends have been made aware that she approves of Burt’s Fandom. 20%

Burt’s Friends now know that he has become a fan of something. 100 Katie’s friends have been made aware that she would like to know more about what Burt is a fan of. Martha’s friends have been made aware that she approves of Burt’s Fandom Positive Brand Exposures

Gateway to Mobile - Publish everywhere - Always available - Cross platform - Highly distributed

Structure Content & promotion Marketing tool Revenue generation

Structure

OVERLAPPING INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVES THAT GAIN EXPOSURE, BUT DON’T MULTIPLY IT OR SHARE IT ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION

VISIBILITY BETWEEN PROPERTIES SHARED CONTENT PERSONAL BEST PRACTICES CUMULATIVE GROWTH ACROSS ALL PROPERTIES

Structured Social Media Presence Standardize formats across all property experiences Share best practices and successes across all properties Actively use destination to engage in social media Entice brand engagement through Unique Content Compelling photography Property branded content Establish editorial calendar

Content Strategy

STARWOOD CONTENT STRATEGY "Social media and travel are a perfect fit, because they both are built around this idea of sharing experiences and storytelling." Mary Madden, a senior researcher at the Pew Internet and American Life Project in Washington, DC.

Utilize Facebook as the primary “blog” or conversation starter – Users are more comfortable and passalong is easiest within this medium Secure blogger(s) from each island to write content on property and destination Create photo and video library – Proactively pursue excellent user generated content Identify on property content participants – Chefs recipes – Mixologists – Directors of Fun – Directors of Romance Allow for “managed” user generated content – Always particpate, elevate, and reward users for participating Identify offers/memberships – SPG STARWOOD CONTENT STRATEGY

Editorial calendar: co-created content Contract bloggers for each island to post regular island activity based blog posts – Family activities & soft adventure: Liza Pierce, A Maui Blog – Romance & weddings – Robyn Aiea, Pacific Rim Weddings Magazine – Cultural experiences – Peter Apo, Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association Contract Flickr photographers for monthly photo albums – Haiku Gary – Kurt Chambers

Editorial calendar: Branded content Director of Fun weekly posts – Activities/excursions taking place on property Concierge – Planning and activity tips – Local insights Director of Romance – Destination wedding tips – Unique honeymoon experiences Property hosted events: – Creation - A Polynesian Journey – Sheraton Maui Cliff Diving Ceremony Property branded recipes and activities – The Royal Hawaiian’s Signature Mai Tai – Aha Aina STARWOOD CONTENT STRATEGY

Use Twitter as a way to broadcast other content 1 – 2 tweets per day Event reminders Special offers Facebook content Press Live event comments RT positive content RT brand content RT destination specific content STARWOOD CONTENT STRATEGY

FAN BUILDING

Utilize promotions to drive social activity and engagement Objective: Generate “noise” across social properties Link Facebook & Twitter together to generate a strong and engaged following Strategy Give away super-trips at each of the properties based on user’s social media participation Utilize PR, social media, partnerships and traditional advertising to promote and execute reward vacations STARWOOD FAN BUILDING STRATEGY

SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

Monitor reviews on community sites Elevate to appropriate hotel staff to respond when issues arise Work with GM to craft responses to posts on site, briefly. – Take conversation one on one to resolve when necessary Post positive response summaries regarding resolution SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

Reporting on social trends: Social Sentiment Tracking – Baseline at project launch – Track Starwood – Track top Competitors Summary of online reviews – All properties, monthly reporting Total fans Interaction rates Learnings and optimization suggestions SOCIAL MEDIA MONITORING

Point of Contact Point of contact: – Lynette Eugenio: Oahu – Lyssa Omori: Maui – Josh Martin: Big Island, Kauai – Bill Weeshoff & Patrick Spargur: Starwood Hawaii Structure social media initiatives, tactics and optimization.

Due Dates Monday, February 8: Due from properties – Point of contact for each property identified – Admin access to facebook pages – Access to twitter pages – Names of potential content providers from on property – List of key initiatives/topics for each property

Due Dates February 8 – February 12: – MVNP to structure social media presence – MVNP to provide draft editorial calendar to each property for feedback/approval – MVNP to provide operational structure for updating/managing content February 17: – Feedback and approval due on editorial calendar February 18: – Properties and MVNP implement editorial calendar – MVNP to establish relationships with external content providers

Next Steps February 19 – Meet with remaining Starwood properties to complete social media structure and editorial calendars February 26 – Structure for Hawaii region complete Week of March 8 – Editorial calendars complete and operating April – Fan Building promotion

Monitoring & Reporting Monitoring – Establish Criteria for positive and negative responses working with Starwood’s staff and in consideration of Starwood’s Corporate policies. – Create escalation procedure for each property for feedback on issues that need to be resolved Reporting – Develop reporting format for monthly reports – Determine the types of monitoring required – Establish an appropriate reporting mechanism

9 tips from 5 companies Don't pick fights, Be the first to correct your own mistakes, and don't alter previous posts without indicating that you have done so. Try to add value. Provide worthwhile information and perspective. IBM's brand is best represented by its people and what you publish may reflect on IBM's brand.

9 tips from 5 companies With conversations, participate online. Don’t “broadcast” messages to users. With moderation, only police where we have to. Trust users.

9 tips from 5 companies Always pause and think before posting. That said, reply to comments in a timely manner, when a response is appropriate. But if it gives you pause, pause. It's a conversation. Talk to your readers like you would talk to real people in professional situations. In other words, avoid overly pedantic or "composed" language.

9 tips from 5 companies Separate opinions from facts, and make sure your audience can see the difference. Aim for quality, not quantity. Offer your contribution with context whenever you can. Provide links to other blogs, media articles or whatever sources you think are necessary. Make your content rich and interesting for others to read.

9 tips from 5 companies Be Real.

Thank You.