Annaïk SIMON

Hotels' blogs

2008-02-25T03:33:00.000-08:00

I choose to speak about hotels blogs. Actually, we can see on the internet more and more hotels and restaurant blogs.
I will try to explain this new trend by taking the example of the Hotel Bel-Ami in Saint Germain des Prés where I am working as the Assistant of Direction in charge of Human Resources.

Here is the Bel-Ami Hotel’s website: http://www.hotel-bel-ami.com/fr/accom.php

According to me, blogs are a good way for the hotels to catch a new clientele on the internet. Actually luxury hotels like the Bel-Ami are known by the word of mouth or by big companies who are used to book rooms for their employees. The Bel-Ami is also known by foreign families who have booked their room through travel Agencies or via the Design Hotel group. But what about the young people who are surfing on the web to find THE good idea? On hotel blogs they have another point of view than on the hotel website. http://bel-ami-trend.com On the Bel-Ami blog we can find the events which take place in the hotel, the comment of people who were staying at the hotel, we can find the human dimension of such a hotel with the “Bel-Ami Staff”.

I think that this trend helps the hotel being more visible and in a different way than the common one (hotel website, trip advisor, travel agencies…). The hotel can thus touch a new kind of clientele, and can show what happen is the hotel whereas show only the rooms and services that it offers.
In the Bel-Ami Blog there is a “Revue de Presse” that shows the position of the Hotel: a design and fashion hotel, which is not necessarily expressed by the agencies. We also find the Director’s advice and explanation of his hotel that he knows perfectly. He is obviously selling his product, but other people’s comments support his words.

According to the hotel clients (regular visitors and new ones) it offers them a new way to see the hotel but also a way for them to give their comments and opinions directly to the hotel direction, not like tripadvisor. Clients can discover the real life of the hotel and the sensation they can feel inside this “house”.
As for example on the blog, there is a part on “The Marché de la Saint-Valentin” which was organized with luxury partners such as Daum, Swarowski, Façonnable… here people who came can write their comments on their feelings and what was good or bad in this event. Thus, the hotel can take into consideration those comments and advice for the next year. It is a way for the client to get involved in the Bel-Ami life.

This video shows the Bel-Ami describe by the Director but in an informal way. This can change the way people were used to see their favourite hotel, or to attract new customers

As far as the partners are concerned, they are obviously here. It is a way for them too to be advertised and to be seen differently as in the real life. Moreover, if a client like the Bel-Ami, he will be curious to discover a brand he does not know yet. The Bel-Ami is organizing lots of events with Saint-Germain des Prés neighbours and partners. It is a way for the Hotel and the partners to be linked together.
The partners can be as in the blog the partners of the Marché de la Saint-Valentin: Daum, Façonnable, Swarowski, Eden Park, Payot, Organdino… but also magazines like in the Revue de Presse:Elle, Marie-Claire, l’Art de la Maison…
The group GLA hotels is also linked in the blog.

The customer group served here is the regular customers who can get more information about the hotel he is used to stay, but most of all,the new customer that is not familiar with the hotel.
So, as the identified clientele of the Bel-Ami is most of all composed by business people and foreigner, why not getting the young French customers? The hotel is affordable even for young people.

The revenue source is not money here but what all the hotels want: being more known. Getting more client, become the usual address of each customer who came one time.

The competitors here could be other boutique hotels that have their blog too. But I think there is no real competition here, because all the blogs are different, and they are linked to the hotel, the neighbourhood, their own style, their events…
The danger could be that all the hotels have their blogs and that it become too common and thus not interesting, but as it is just the beginning, we have time, and according to the Bel-Ami, because of its location Rive Gauche at Saint-Germain des Prés, it has not dangerous competitors.

This trend can definitely not being applied offline, as the blog is by definition a diary online.

The hotel blog is a model that can be sustainable, if it is regularly updated, and if people participate to the blog by putting comments. But as I told before, as the trend is quite new it is scaleable. But when all the hotels will have their blog, if it happens, the blog will not have any utility anymore.

The blogs can be used for other ideas. I think that if a hotel wants advice about the decoration of its rooms or new services that it can offers to the customers what about asking to the more concerned people: the customers. Through this trend people could be part of the renovation of a hotel.

More information:The Bel-Ami blog has been created by hoosta.com. http://news.hoosta.com/blogs/

Hotels' Blogs

2008-02-25T03:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the Bel-Ami Hotel’s website: http://www.hotel-bel-ami.com/fr/accom.php

According to me, blogs are a good way for the hotels to catch a new clientele on the internet. Actually luxury hotels like the Bel-Ami are known by the word of mouth or by big companies who are used to book rooms for their employees. The Bel-Ami is also known by foreign families who have booked their room through travel Agencies or via the Design Hotel group. But what about the young people who are surfing on the web to find THE good idea? On hotel blogs they have another point of view than on the hotel website. http://bel-ami-trend.com/ On the Bel-Ami blog we can find the events which take place in the hotel, the comment of people who were staying at the hotel, we can find the human dimension of such a hotel with the “Bel-Ami Staff”.

I think that this trend helps the hotel being more visible and in a different way than the common one (hotel website, trip advisor, travel agencies…). The hotel can thus touch a new kind of clientele, and can show what happen is the hotel whereas show only the rooms and services that it offers.
In the Bel-Ami Blog there is a “Revue de Presse” that shows the position of the Hotel: a design and fashion hotel, which is not necessarily expressed by the agencies. We also find the Director’s advice and explanation of his hotel that he knows perfectly. He is obviously selling his product, but other people’s comments support his words.

According to the hotel clients (regular visitors and new ones) it offers them a new way to see the hotel but also a way for them to give their comments and opinions directly to the hotel direction, not like tripadvisor. Clients can discover the real life of the hotel and the sensation they can feel inside this “house”.
As for example on the blog, there is a part on “The Marché de la Saint-Valentin” which was organized with luxury partners such as Daum, Swarowski, Façonnable… here people who came can write their comments on their feelings and what was good or bad in this event. Thus, the hotel can take into consideration those comments and advice for the next year. It is a way for the client to get involved in the Bel-Ami life.

This video shows the Bel-Ami describe by the Director but in an informal way. This can change the way people were used to see their favourite hotel, or to attract new customers

As far as the partners are concerned, they are obviously here. It is a way for them too to be advertised and to be seen differently as in the real life. Moreover, if a client like the Bel-Ami, he will be curious to discover a brand he does not know yet. The Bel-Ami is organizing lots of events with Saint-Germain des Prés neighbours and partners. It is a way for the Hotel and the partners to be linked together.
The partners can be as in the blog the partners of the Marché de la Saint-Valentin: Daum, Façonnable, Swarowski, Eden Park, Payot, Organdino… but also magazines like in the Revue de Presse:Elle, Marie-Claire, l’Art de la Maison…
The group GLA hotels is also linked in the blog.

The customer group served here is the regular customers who can get more information about the hotel he is used to stay, but most of all,the new customer that is not familiar with the hotel.
So, as the identified clientele of the Bel-Ami is most of all composed by business people and foreigner, why not getting the young French customers? The hotel is affordable even for young people.

The revenue source is not money here but what all the hotels want: being more known. Getting more client, become the usual address of each customer who came one time.

The competitors here could be other boutique hotels that have their blog too. But I think there is no real competition here, because all the blogs are different, and they are linked to the hotel, the neighbourhood, their own style, their events…
The danger could be that all the hotels have their blogs and that it become too common and thus not interesting, but as it is just the beginning, we have time, and according to the Bel-Ami, because of its location Rive Gauche at Saint-Germain des Prés, it has not dangerous competitors.

This trend can definitely not being applied offline, as the blog is by definition a diary online.

The hotel blog is a model that can be sustainable, if it is regularly updated, and if people participate to the blog by putting comments. But as I told before, as the trend is quite new it is scaleable. But when all the hotels will have their blog, if it happens, the blog will not have any utility anymore.

The blogs can be used for other ideas. I think that if a hotel wants advice about the decoration of its rooms or new services that it can offers to the customers what about asking to the more concerned people: the customers. Through this trend people could be part of the renovation of a hotel.

More information:
The Bel-Ami blog has been created by hoosta.com. http://news.hoosta.com/blogs/

InnoCentive

2008-02-11T04:45:00.000-08:00

InnoCentive has been launched in 2001 by Jill Panetta and Alpheus Bingham.

This “open innovation” company takes R&D problems in diverse domains such as Engineering, Computer Science, Math, Chemistry, Business… InnoCentive frames this problems as “Challenges” and opens up to people who can try to solve them. The best solution is rewarded by cash.

In December 2006 the company signed an agreement with Rockefeller Founadation to add a non-profit area designed to generate science and technology to pressing problems in the developing world.

InnoCentive calls the scientists who attempt the problems "solvers" and the companies these problems come from as "seekers".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InnoCentive

For the InnoCentive’s customers, the great advantage is to reduce their cost of R&D.

For the solvers the advantage is the reward. In fact, it is an easy way to get money.

The company earns money with the problems that are posted, because the seekers have to pays for it.

The customer group served is in most cases companies who are mostly the seekers. According to the solvers, individuals are the main segment.

The competitors of InnoCentive are:
NineSigma
Yet2.com
YourEncore

I think, this model could not be apply offline or at a little scale which could be a company, a university…
In fact, InnoCentive is a success thanks to internet. It is easy to reach. It is fast to pay to put a problem on line.

In the hospitality industry, this business could be a great opportunity. In fact more and more hotels have their own blog. They could put “problems” online and ask to the guests to try a solve them, or to put their ideas. For example, if a hotel want to improve the service or the design of the rooms, the hotel can put online the “problem” and guests can then give their ideas, advice… as they are users of the hotel, so they know what they want.

Social Entrepreneur

2008-01-20T02:48:00.000-08:00

1- Definition of a Social Entrepreneur

According to: http://ashoka.org/
“Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.
Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps.
Social entrepreneurs often seem to be possessed by their ideas, committing their lives to changing the direction of their field. They are both visionaries and ultimate realists, concerned with the practical implementation of their vision above all else.
Each social entrepreneur presents ideas that are user-friendly, understandable, ethical, and engage widespread support in order to maximize the number of local people that will stand up, seize their idea, and implement with it. In other words, every leading social entrepreneur is a mass recruiter of local change makers—a role model proving that citizens who channel their passion into action can do almost anything.
Over the past two decades, the citizen sector has discovered what the business sector learned long ago: There is nothing as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur.”

According to: http://en.wikipedia.org/
“A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.”

2 - www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_18/b3881047_mz007.htm?chan=search

3 - In your opinion, is the concept a trend...or real shift to corporate responsibility?

According to me, Social Entrepreneurship is a real shift to corporate responsibility. In fact, in our society, still lots of “companies” and “businesses” think according to profit, return, performance, MONEY! But the society is in the same time changing. People are more aware of their environment. Actually, people are more thinking of their well being and well being of other people, socially speaking: illiteracy, education, unemployment, poverty…People realize that they have a role to play in the process of optimization of the society. Today, even if we don’t feel that, people are more standing together. And if the organizations which help the society to become better are not link to the government people feel more concerned.Perhaps at the beginning social entrepreneurship was just a trend, but with the time, those social organizations understand and realize that people were more open-minded and concerned by the social problems. That’s why I am saying that today, it is a real shift. Social entrepreneurs have power, and they can do great social advanced without help of the government.

Vente-privée.com

2008-01-19T07:03:00.000-08:00

1. Ventes Privées

The business:

Vente Privée is a private club that organizes on internet, and exclusively for its members, exceptional sales of big brands products with reductions that can reach – 70% in comparison with the price in shops.
In vente-privée.com we can find all we want: clothes, accessories, games, sport articles, watches, high tech, house articles…
The sales are limited in time: one or two days.

Big brands are selling their product with high reductions that can reach – 70%.
Big brand are usually using “ventes privées” to destock the previous collections without blemish their image.
People, who are register on this website, receive invitation when there is a new sale.

According to the suppliers:

Vente-privée is a good solution to destock the previous collections. Moreover, through this concept, big brands are no blemishing their image.
Sales are totally free for the supplier and enable him to dispose very quickly his products from previous collections. Thus, the supplier has no problem and cost of stockpiling.

According to the customers:

Customers make good business; they can afford a Gucci or Hugo Boss clothe without paying it hundreds of Euros. Furthermore, they feel very lucky, and the feel as they were belonging to a privileged group because of the invitation.
All the customers can be involved in this process of sales because this business works through internet. As the sales are limited, you can buy directly from your house or work. The payment is secured, you receive what you bought where you want (home, work, friend) such as a “La Redoute” or les “3 Suisses”, but on vente-privée you can find big brands that are at discount price all the year.

The owner of the business:

Vente-privée.com buy the product only after having sell it. The stock stay in the supplier’s firm because vente-privée is only reserving a number of products during the time of the sale.
There is no problem of “unsold” because vente-privée.com makes an agreement with the supplier to take him a minimum of 15 or 20% of reserved stock.
Moreover, the rate of “return” product is very law because customers are doing a good business (about 2 to 5% of return products).

Competitors:

www.brandalley.fr
www.Bazarchic.com
www.shoppingaddict.fr

Vente-privée is unique to the web.

Off line there are “bazaar” that sell discount products, but it is not big brands product and no limited in time. What’s make vente-privée a success is the fact that the sales are limited. People think that they have to buy now without thinking, because there won’t be enough products.

This model is obviously sustainable, but because it is the one! Others business like that open and close quickly.

2. Link to an article:

http://www.journaldunet.com/0608/060821-granjon.shtml

3. Link of 2 examples of businesses now using Vente-privée

http://www.touteslesventesprivees.com/
http://www.ventes-privees-zidi.fr/

'Freemium' Concept

2008-01-05T12:00:00.000-08:00

2. Write short post describing the concept with a text link to your info source
http://www.wordspy.com/words/freemium.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium_business_model

The Freemium concept is the fact that a company offers for free a basic service but charge the consumer for other special services.

3. List at least 2 online businesses utilizing 'freemium' business model

In my links there is the example of Skype. Is it free to talk with other persons worldwide but users must pay to connect to phone which are outside the skype network.

The French website http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com enables people to find people who were with them at school or in a previous company. It is free to search people and tell them a “hello” but if you want to see their photos or to let them a message you have to subscribe to a special package.

4. Post a list of 3 advantages + 3 disadvantages of 'freemium' concept.

3 Advantages:

- The basic service is free for the user and he knows that there are other possibilities for the same service but that are not free. The user has thus the choice.

-The advantage for the owner of the company is that the user often wants more so he is influenced to pay to get the special service.

-Financial transactions are very easy and fast on internet, thus users can have the special service quickly.

3 Disadvantages:

- Often the basic service is not enough for the user to make what he wants, so he feels obliged to pay to have a better service.

- All the users do not feel secure to pay online, and all the website have not secure transaction service.

- If I take the example of http://copainsdavant.linternaute.com as we are not able to talk or to let a message to former friends, people find other ways to get what they want. And according to me, I subscribe on facebook and I can talk with people for free. As a result websites like this one loose users because there are better competitors.

2008-01-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

2. Post a concise and insightful e-business model assessment in your blog. Please use the framework on the Word doc + cite and link to 2 additional online sources to support your e-business model assessment.

Easy group gamble on great value, many not few, relentless innovation, simplicity. The group wants to change people’s lives and habits by bringing honesty and fun. The group position himself on trends that already exists but in a different way notably the price and the innovation that is obviously links to the price. That is to say, that it has position himself on segments like airway, fast food, hospitality, cruise, cinema, but because of their low prices the group has to have a quality different of big brands but trying to reach the same target.

As the consumers are concerned, they have a new choice. As Easy group is leisure positioning, consumer can have the same as they were used to have but for lower prices. That is why the group is reaching so many social segments. As far as I am concerned, I feel very interested by such a group because I can have more fun because I am spending less money.

As Stelios is concerned he tumbles to a great business. He positioned his group in several businesses and thank to this he reaches a large scale of target.

The easyGroup profits by either selling shares in the businesses or by licensing or franchising the brand to reputable partners. Example of EasyCar: http://www.easycar.com/
” Affiliate Marketing
Commissions for each customer!For every customer that you send through to easyCar who hires a vehicle, you will receive 6% commission! As this is a new venture by easyCar, commissions will be reviewed in the new year with a view to increasing these for affiliates that are driving high volumes of bookings.
When will I start earning?We will be reviewing applications every 2-3 days so it should take no longer than this to get started. Payments are made every month.
The basicsAffiliate marketing is basically a relationship between yourself and an advertiser (easyCar) in which you send traffic to the easyCar site via banners on your website – you receive a commission for each customer you send through who carries out a specific action (purchasing goods/registering for a newsletter etc)
How it worksUsing one our preferred 3rd party affiliate networks, Commission Junction (CJ) or Zanox, you can pick up creative from your affiliate account and place these on your site. Behind these banners is coding that enables Commission Junction or Zanox to track all impressions, clicks and actions that you generate. These are displayed in your affiliate account.”
The model of EasyGroup is applied online and offline: Online for EasyJet, as it is said in the article “EasyJet (http://www.easyjet.com/en/book/index.aspbuilt) its business on the Internet: It books 95 percent of its tickets over the Web.” And according to Easyhotels, Easycruise, Easypizza, Easycinema… it obviously apply offline.
Easygroup is sustainable, but as we read in the articles all of Stelios ideas did not have success such as Car rental.

3. In your post, please include your comments on the role of Yield Management in the business model.

The role of Yield Management in EasyGroup process is incontestable: in fact as Yield Management is defined, it manages and optimises the turnover of a company. Yield Management is used to identify market segmentations; it evaluates potentialities and fixes prices according to the current economy, the competitors, and the events that are links to the business. 4. Choose one of the Easy Group's businesses (one that you find interesting)...Easy Pizza, Easy Cinema, Easy Cruise, etc. Post an explanation of how Easy uses Yield Management to increase profit while offering reduced prices.

For EasyHotel, Yield Managers determine prices of the room location according to the location of the hotel, to the historical background, according to the Year -1, to the events which are going to take place this year, to the demand, to the occupation rate, also according to the segmentation the hotel target (groups, individuals, families, business, leisure…) Yield Management in hospitality industry is essential and has to take into consideration lots of points.

4. Use screen shots of the booking/purchasing process in your post.

2007-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

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Musicovery

2007-12-15T06:36:00.000-08:00

2007-12-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Long Tail :

The definition of the Long Tail in Wikipedia is a very good one ;-)! But I am going to translate with my own words:

Some retailers such as Amazon, you tube … make a great business by offering to customers a large choice of products that are not “hits”. And as we are living in a society of sur-mesure, customers are demanding more and more non known product to differentiate themselves from each other and to discover a new market.
If the retailer offer a very large scale of those products, this niche market can compete the market that is known by all.

As the customers are very curious, they are used to search niche products or they are used to share their taste together. That’s why the Long Tail is a real business.
As far as the retailer is concerned, if the inventory and the cost of distribution are very low, the business is sustainable. But most of retailer that are concerned by the Long Tail are also selling the success products.
As for example, on Amazon, we can find bestsellers as we can find unpopular books.
Retailers are thus living thanks to the best one too, that are making a big part of the business.

Links to Long Tail Business:
www.youtube.com
www.amazon.fr
www.ebay.fr
www.itunes.com

The Long Tail is obviously sustainable!!! In a world where it is so easy to share information, and where people even if they are selfish they find a real interest to learn to know the others.

As to me, I think that the Long Tail can by applied offline and is already apply offline. If we take the example of La Fnac, we can find all the Hits and Bestsellers… but there are also “unpopular” products that are classified in special areas of the store.

I think that today in the society in which we are living, this kind of unpopular products are becoming necessary. In fact, people are trying to become ONE person and not being incorporated in a group. People discuss more and more online with people they don’t know, and when they buy something they like sharing their taste, to make discover a new thing to another person they don’t know. People want to share their culture, and thanks to the Long Tail, they are able to do it.

As I “live”, I am obviously facing the Long Tail. I realize that the society has change and that is the music world there is more and more choice. I am glad to know the name of this phenomenon!