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Hospitality Marketing in the Post-Pandemic World
4 Plays2 years ago
According to EY, despite the economic pressures and challenges of this year, the hospitality industry defies expectations with rising demands. This was attributed to the years-long pandemic that created a pent-up demand for leisure and encouraged people to explore new destinations.
In this episode of the Onya Mic Podcast, Ashley Monk interviews Tina Crawford, Area Director of Sales Hotel Indy. Join in the conversation as they talk about the hospitality industry and marketing.
It is no secret that you need to tailor your marketing to cut through the noise and get the attention of the community that you want to attract. Tina talks about the collaboration done for the marketing of Hotel Indy and the strategies their team utilized to bring people to the hotel with diverse interests and backgrounds.
Marketing challenges and opportunities are also discussed and Tina shares the differences in marketing after the pandemic concerning hospitality. Investing in public relations is an opportunity that is also highlighted in this episode.
We are excited to deliver this conversation to you. Don't wait and dive right into it.
Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first one to hear about the new episodes we release. You know your potential. Let us get you there. Onya mark, get set, grow!
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Transcript
Introduction to Anya Mike Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Anya Mike podcast, a podcast where we discuss the ins and outs of marketing, running a business, and tips and tricks the industry may just not be telling you, but we will.
00:00:14
Speaker
If you're looking for inspiration on exactly how to grow your business with ambition, innovation, and confidence, while creating maximum impact to influence your clients like never before, you're in the right place.
00:00:26
Speaker
Grab your AirPods, pen, paper, or laptop, and let's get on your mic.
00:00:31
Speaker
Get set and grow.
00:00:33
Speaker
And now, here's your host on the mic, CEO Ashley Monk.
00:00:39
Speaker
All right.
Meet Tina Crawford: Marketing Maestro
00:00:40
Speaker
Well, I am so excited to introduce everyone today, Tina Crawford.
00:00:45
Speaker
And Tina has put Hotel Indy on the map, and she has so much extensive work.
00:00:51
Speaker
marketing and sales experience to share with us.
00:00:53
Speaker
So Tina, welcome to the show.
00:00:55
Speaker
I am so excited you're here.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thank you.
00:00:58
Speaker
Thank you.
00:00:58
Speaker
I'm so glad to be here.
00:01:00
Speaker
So looking forward to it.
00:01:02
Speaker
Well, I would love for all of our listeners and our audience to hear just a little bit about you, how you got into marketing and sales, a little bit of your background and what prompted you to really take Hotel Indy to the next level.
Tina's Journey from California to Indy
00:01:15
Speaker
Well, I think I'm probably one of the few that actually has a degree in all of this and in the hospitality business.
00:01:21
Speaker
It seems like we come from a lot of different places and end up in hospitality.
00:01:25
Speaker
So we actually moved back to Indy, my husband's from here, from California about 16 years ago.
00:01:35
Speaker
So really have just always been in hospitality and working my way through.
00:01:41
Speaker
I started in the ski business.
00:01:43
Speaker
and then out in Utah and did that for a while and then got hired with Hilton and they moved me all over the United States for years and years and years and then we I met my husband in California we moved back here when we were going to have our daughter so it's just been really great it's been really great to be a part of Indy and the growth that we've just seen in the short time that we've been here we live downtown we like to be a part of where we are
00:02:13
Speaker
So it made being a part of Hotel Indy a lot better.
00:02:19
Speaker
I was actually on the road before COVID, like many of us were.
00:02:24
Speaker
And I had 25 hotels all over the East Coast.
00:02:27
Speaker
So it was nice.
00:02:29
Speaker
I kind of lost track of being what was going on in Indy by being on the road so much.
00:02:33
Speaker
So it was great to be a part of this really, really fun boutique place.
00:02:38
Speaker
Marriott Hotel that we get to come to every day and welcome others to as well.
00:02:45
Speaker
I love that.
00:02:46
Speaker
I was also born in California.
00:02:47
Speaker
What part of California were you and your husband in?
00:02:50
Speaker
Well, since you know California, we were in Northern.
00:02:54
Speaker
So we were in Los Gatos.
00:02:57
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:58
Speaker
Melpitas.
00:02:59
Speaker
My husband was in Melpitas.
00:03:01
Speaker
He worked for Intel.
00:03:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:04
Speaker
So, and then I was always in the hotel business.
00:03:06
Speaker
So we had, I had a hotel in San Jose.
00:03:08
Speaker
So amazing.
00:03:10
Speaker
Amazing.
00:03:10
Speaker
Yes.
00:03:10
Speaker
Northern California girl.
00:03:12
Speaker
So new, okay.
00:03:13
Speaker
Newport beach, but so beautiful, beautiful.
00:03:16
Speaker
I know.
00:03:17
Speaker
Can't complain.
00:03:18
Speaker
At least in Indy this week at the time of recording, we've got beautiful
Branding Hotel Indy in the Local Market
00:03:21
Speaker
weather too.
00:03:21
Speaker
So.
00:03:22
Speaker
not quite new burp beach but still right it's beautiful so well and i think global warming has been very good to indiana yes i mean so i i'm not a fan of it but i'm glad that we are you know we're we're enjoying it i agree i am with you 100 well you are a veteran tina you there are oh my goodness you bring so much experience from the hospitality side and in the marketing side too and you know we were talking before we hopped on to everyone listening and
00:03:50
Speaker
I have just been so amazed with all of the efforts and all of just really putting what you have done.
00:03:56
Speaker
And what I'm very excited to hear the story of is I think a lot of times the Marriott and the Hilton hotels, they're all great, but they all feel a part of just like the overall brand.
00:04:08
Speaker
And what you've done is I feel like you've taken Hotel Indy and it's got this, it's got the Marriott backing behind it, but you've got so many unique fingerprints that you've done such a great job of taking the hotel and
00:04:19
Speaker
hand tailoring it to the indie market.
00:04:22
Speaker
And then as someone that's attended some of your events and been inside, I mean, one, the property is beautiful.
00:04:28
Speaker
So if you're looking at this, you need to go check it out.
00:04:30
Speaker
But number two, you've just tailored it so well to the Indianapolis community and the market as well.
00:04:37
Speaker
And they're just, your hotel is so different from what else I've seen downtown.
00:04:41
Speaker
I would love to just hear kind of the story of how you began to create a lot of the brand awareness that you did with what it sounds like we're a lot of grassroots efforts, but I'm sure that's a much more oversimplified way of all of the hard work that really went to putting on the map.
00:04:55
Speaker
So I'd love to hear that story.
00:04:57
Speaker
Well, just, I mean, real briefly, I could go on for days about it, but, um,
00:05:02
Speaker
You'll have to come down and have a drink and we'll do that.
00:05:04
Speaker
I love it.
00:05:05
Speaker
But yeah, I think that I was fortunate to walk into something that was really great and then hire just a great, great team of folks.
00:05:18
Speaker
And you kind of see people, you know, they get it when you see that switch in their eyes.
00:05:25
Speaker
And I think that's part of being a veteran is that a lot of people can tell you they get it.
00:05:31
Speaker
But you can see when people get it.
00:05:34
Speaker
And I think that a lot of the times it takes that passion and that want to make it different to make the difference, right?
00:05:45
Speaker
Because a lot of people go to work and we come to a hotel and have a great time, right?
00:05:51
Speaker
So we make that.
00:05:52
Speaker
And as a leader,
00:05:54
Speaker
I like to make my office about that and very collaborative.
00:05:57
Speaker
So although I'm the one that gets to deliver the message today, there's 20, 30 people behind me that make all that happen, right?
00:06:07
Speaker
Because I can't execute everything and all my ideas aren't good ones.
00:06:11
Speaker
So I think that having that collaboration is very important.
00:06:15
Speaker
But I think a couple of main things that we did with this building, if you haven't seen the building, it's a very much a concrete cube on the outside.
00:06:23
Speaker
And
00:06:24
Speaker
it's not as inviting as you might think.
00:06:28
Speaker
So what we did is we tried to make everything soft and really every corner is rounded on the inside.
00:06:35
Speaker
Everything is a soft velvety fabric or a leather that you just kind of melt into.
00:06:42
Speaker
And every, like all of our mirrors, all of our corners have round edges because our building is square.
00:06:50
Speaker
It has a lot of metal.
00:06:52
Speaker
And so you might not think that you wanna go into this cube, but as you come in and as you make your way through, and there's a beautiful keyhole entrance into the Holman restaurant.
00:07:03
Speaker
And as you come up, the Cannonball Lounge has a beautiful arch when you come in and
00:07:09
Speaker
Everything is just so welcoming.
00:07:12
Speaker
We hope, anyway, that's always the hope.
00:07:15
Speaker
And the fabrics and every touch point that you have is very soft and inviting and hopefully makes you want to stay a little bit longer.
00:07:26
Speaker
We did have a beautiful, I have to give a shout out to Ratio.
00:07:29
Speaker
They were architects and ESG was our design firm.
00:07:32
Speaker
So again, the team behind this vision and our ownership group
00:07:38
Speaker
We just got to take it and show it to everybody, right?
00:07:41
Speaker
So those are kind of the things that make us different.
00:07:45
Speaker
And I think understanding where you are and who you are and not trying to be everything to everyone.
00:07:53
Speaker
And I think that's very, very important so that you can make those that come in very, very happy and listening to what needs are of your guests and being able to pivot.
00:08:04
Speaker
I think those are all very good things.
00:08:07
Speaker
Our first year, we've been opening about a year and a half now.
00:08:10
Speaker
And I think understanding how we see the building isn't how people are using it.
00:08:14
Speaker
So we have to pivot to make those changes.
Design and Collaboration at Hotel Indy
00:08:17
Speaker
And I think we're really good at that.
00:08:19
Speaker
And I think the executive team here and everybody that's involved with marketing sees that.
00:08:25
Speaker
And having that collaboration so that you can come to the me's and the general manager and say, hey,
00:08:32
Speaker
we're seeing the guests use this area in this way.
00:08:34
Speaker
Can we make it so it is, you know, you know, put more pillows, do, you know, or take the pillows away or whatever that might be.
00:08:42
Speaker
And I think having that collaboration throughout the whole building is really, really important.
00:08:48
Speaker
That's so good, Tina.
00:08:49
Speaker
And that's one of the first things that I noticed too, is the brand is very distinct.
00:08:53
Speaker
And to your point, like you see this building from the outside and you walk in and it's just totally transformatory what you've done.
00:09:00
Speaker
And I think
00:09:01
Speaker
So that was really what stood out is the attentiveness, the detail and the overall experience.
00:09:07
Speaker
Everything is so intentionally designed and laid out.
00:09:10
Speaker
And so what were maybe not to throw you too much of a curve ball, but from your leadership team, like what were some of the things that you were communicating over and over to marketing to kind of keep that heartbeat central to what you're doing so that the team was unified?
00:09:25
Speaker
Like what were they looking for and what were you telling them so that everything came together so smoothly?
00:09:31
Speaker
I think it's just the understanding the vision, right?
00:09:36
Speaker
Understanding the Marriott partnership, but that we are not, we're not a big box hotel.
00:09:43
Speaker
So what makes us different?
00:09:46
Speaker
And again, listening to what others see that difference is, right?
00:09:50
Speaker
Not just my vision, but everyone from the person that checks you in to the person that serves you your craft cocktail up in Cannonball.
Marketing Strategies and Social Media Importance
00:09:58
Speaker
You know, what do you see and what's important to you?
00:10:02
Speaker
Because we all span different age groups, different demographic groups, different everything.
00:10:07
Speaker
And at Hotel Indie, we want to be everything to everybody.
00:10:12
Speaker
You know, nobody is excluded because
00:10:15
Speaker
In Indy, no one is excluded.
00:10:17
Speaker
We have everything represented here, you know, and I think it's also being purposeful about recognizing the events that are going on and being a part of that.
00:10:28
Speaker
Something that is so wonderful is like the whole month of June, we have a rainbow on the top of our buildings.
00:10:34
Speaker
So we have a rainbow light on the top of our building.
00:10:38
Speaker
When the Pacers are playing, we are blue and gold on the top.
00:10:41
Speaker
When the Colts are in, our building is blue.
00:10:45
Speaker
We just had in, I mean, we have lots of like work truck.
00:10:50
Speaker
They are green.
00:10:51
Speaker
Their event is green and they bring 45,000 people to downtown.
00:10:55
Speaker
And so the top of our building is green.
00:10:58
Speaker
So we have little things like that that are somewhat subtle
00:11:03
Speaker
but I hope people notice.
00:11:06
Speaker
Ferrari's in house, the top of our building is red.
00:11:09
Speaker
And then I think too, it's just important to support the people that are around you.
00:11:18
Speaker
Indigo does a big event over at the bus terminal and we're blue and the top of our building is blue.
00:11:25
Speaker
So we just try to be aware and listen.
00:11:30
Speaker
Listen with not knowing, but with anticipation to know.
00:11:35
Speaker
I think that's important.
00:11:36
Speaker
I do, too.
00:11:37
Speaker
I mean, and everything that you're saying, too, ties back into who is the client, who's walking in here.
00:11:42
Speaker
Like you're doing such an intentional job of getting feedback, because I think a lot of brands, even though it's marketing 101, right, is what is your market or what is your client want?
00:11:53
Speaker
I think a lot of times marketing teams and leadership teams forget that and overcomplicate it to where we get so in the best way, like we want to preserve the brand and you know, there's, there's validity and there's no, it's, it's a good thing to want to preserve the brand itself, but also.
00:12:11
Speaker
brand is the client and what is the customer, what does that experience look like?
00:12:15
Speaker
And I think that's what's so distinctive about the work that you're doing is that you're really looking at what does the client want, what is inclusive to them, what does that look like and how can you bring those fingerprints.
00:12:26
Speaker
So I love that that alignment exists on your team.
00:12:29
Speaker
And I think too, we really tried to market the Holman, the Cannonball and the hotel separately
00:12:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:35
Speaker
And they all have three different socials.
00:12:39
Speaker
They all do their own websites.
00:12:41
Speaker
They all do that because then you don't feel like you're coming to a hotel restaurant or a hotel bar.
00:12:49
Speaker
So and I think that those things are important.
00:12:52
Speaker
We are a part of our community and we choose to be a part of our community as well as running a hotel.
00:12:58
Speaker
Right.
00:13:00
Speaker
I love that, though.
00:13:01
Speaker
And that isn't whose idea and whose genius was it to separate those as three distinctive brands, too, because that was one thing that I noticed.
00:13:08
Speaker
And I thought it was very, very clever in doing that and creating those separate entities.
00:13:14
Speaker
Well, I'm going to I'm going to hang out with you all the time because it was your idea.
00:13:21
Speaker
It was.
00:13:22
Speaker
Because I think that it is important, right?
00:13:25
Speaker
Because everybody's like, oh, a hotel bar.
00:13:28
Speaker
Well, no, it's my hotel bar, right?
00:13:30
Speaker
And so if it's different on social, then people think it is different.
00:13:37
Speaker
So, I mean, one of my funnest stories is that the white lodging team that does the JW, we love those guys, they brought their clients to the Holman for lunch, but didn't know I was attached.
00:13:52
Speaker
So they were like, we're just going to this new cool place.
00:13:56
Speaker
And I was like, well, hey, welcome.
00:13:58
Speaker
They were like, what are you doing here?
00:14:00
Speaker
And I was like, well, this is attached to my hotel.
00:14:03
Speaker
And they were like, oh no, you know, but it was so, I mean, not that they wouldn't have came anyway, because they're wonderful people, but they didn't know that they were coming to my hotel, bringing their clients.
00:14:14
Speaker
So that was kind of funny.
00:14:16
Speaker
And that's the piece, right?
00:14:17
Speaker
And that's those different angles and those different amenities are how you, I think,
00:14:21
Speaker
are able to bring so many different diverse groups of people together because each group or each different client that you're seeing is going to be pulled in a different direction.
00:14:29
Speaker
And I love that is you're exactly right.
00:14:32
Speaker
I would feel completely comfortable like at the cannonball hosting an event and not even realizing like it feels like its own separate, unique,
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah, that venue, but it fits in with the brand overall so well.
00:14:45
Speaker
So it's got the fingerprints of the hotel, but it's also a standalone, which I love.
00:14:49
Speaker
Just that kind of contrast, but also cohesion at the same time, too.
00:14:55
Speaker
Now, what have you struggled with?
00:14:58
Speaker
Because I mean, because the hotel is two years old, correct?
00:15:01
Speaker
Not quite.
00:15:01
Speaker
October will be too.
00:15:03
Speaker
So we're about a year and a half.
00:15:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:04
Speaker
I mean, in my regard, you have just blown up so quickly.
00:15:08
Speaker
There are so many hotels now.
00:15:10
Speaker
I mean, such as in any city, so many hotels, so many established hotels.
00:15:14
Speaker
What were the challenges that you faced in figuring out what those distinguishing factors and what those fingerprints were for your brand
Post-COVID Challenges and Solutions
00:15:22
Speaker
and how, what were maybe the greatest challenges to get that message out in Indy on why, why another hotel?
00:15:29
Speaker
Well, I think,
00:15:30
Speaker
When we opened, people weren't quite back downtown yet.
00:15:36
Speaker
So that's the, that was the other thing was just getting the word out, um, and just letting people know, but it was very different than pre COVID.
00:15:46
Speaker
So, um, you know, the people that I communicated with before were no longer here, you know, the people that, you know, so it was just finding those niches a little bit more.
00:15:56
Speaker
I'm quite frankly, using the Marriott brand more, I mean, a lot to get a lot of people in, um,
00:16:03
Speaker
But the world's awake again.
00:16:04
Speaker
So we have noticed though that Thursdays, people are still working from home on Fridays.
00:16:10
Speaker
I don't think they're gonna give that up.
00:16:12
Speaker
So Thursdays are, no way, no way.
00:16:16
Speaker
So Thursdays are new Fridays.
00:16:19
Speaker
But we have a lot of great just collaborations.
00:16:23
Speaker
I mean, I have to get Visit Indy, Downtown Indy, they kept downtown alive, right?
00:16:30
Speaker
So I went to them and I was like, okay, here we go, guys.
00:16:33
Speaker
And they're such, such wonderful partners.
00:16:36
Speaker
Chris Gall and Bob from Downtown Indy, Bob Schultz.
00:16:41
Speaker
Oh my gosh, I couldn't have opened this place without them.
00:16:44
Speaker
I'm sure they were a little sick of me, but...
00:16:46
Speaker
They were very, very collaborative and very helpful.
00:16:51
Speaker
Getting any type of media through the doors, helping me realize, you know, who's coming to town and they just such, such, such great partners.
00:17:01
Speaker
The Pacers have been a great partner.
00:17:04
Speaker
They're so happy that we're here and we're so happy that they're there, you know, and just really working with the people that I had already had relationships with downtown.
00:17:15
Speaker
But the struggle is staffing, right?
00:17:17
Speaker
I mean, yeah.
00:17:19
Speaker
How, where'd all those hospitality people go, you know?
00:17:23
Speaker
Where did everybody go?
00:17:25
Speaker
Where did the workforce go?
00:17:26
Speaker
When are they going to come back?
00:17:27
Speaker
That's the question, right?
00:17:28
Speaker
Right, right.
00:17:30
Speaker
And I don't know.
00:17:31
Speaker
I think it's cultivating new people.
00:17:35
Speaker
And so that's always a challenge.
00:17:37
Speaker
And we're such a unique product, too, that it's difficult to go from another, like a Chick-fil-A person can't really come in here and serve my home and dinner.
00:17:50
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:17:51
Speaker
How are we either we we put a really great training program in place where we kind of educate and we're training our own.
00:17:59
Speaker
And it just it's a longer process.
00:18:02
Speaker
It takes a little bit longer.
00:18:04
Speaker
And then, you know, all of our craft cocktails.
00:18:07
Speaker
How do we so we went to the bartending school.
00:18:12
Speaker
We said we got a beautiful product.
00:18:14
Speaker
We hold open houses for those products.
00:18:16
Speaker
We work with our suppliers.
00:18:19
Speaker
We had a big event up here for Bacardi.
00:18:21
Speaker
Bacardi was launching a tequila brand.
00:18:24
Speaker
And so they brought in bartenders and we tried to wow them with our space.
00:18:30
Speaker
So I think it's just looking at and being able to pivot.
00:18:34
Speaker
I think pivot is the word that we use so, so often.
00:18:38
Speaker
And just, you know, that word of mouth, I always say I'd rather get PR than spend dollars in marketing.
Social Media and Brand Presence
00:18:46
Speaker
Sure.
00:18:46
Speaker
So just, I'd rather have others sit talking about me.
00:18:49
Speaker
So I think that, that social piece, um, social media cannot be underused.
00:18:55
Speaker
It just can't.
00:18:56
Speaker
Well, I don't know how much you know about me, Tina, but we're an online advertising than social primarily agency.
00:19:03
Speaker
And
00:19:03
Speaker
It's so funny when we have these conversations with prospective clients or clients where they're coming on, social is always this kind of tension point to where for some marketing directors and CMOs and marketing leads, it can be challenging because they're looking at it and it doesn't directly tie into the bottom line because you can't quantify it.
00:19:22
Speaker
But it's when you think about what it's costing companies and brands to not invest heavily in social media.
00:19:29
Speaker
Oh my goodness.
00:19:29
Speaker
I mean, I can't even imagine
00:19:31
Speaker
if you being such a consumer and tourism heavy brand, like what would cannonball be like if you didn't have its own channels and brands, like would people be coming, be telling their friends.
00:19:40
Speaker
And I mean, you can't even, that type of exposure is priceless because you're free marketing from influencers and people that are in the community that have way more sway over their peers.
00:19:52
Speaker
And so I think that's anyone listening that if you're overlooking social, man, just think about what, what are you missing out on if you aren't,
00:20:02
Speaker
if you aren't on social or investing heavily in a lot of the free exposure that's available to you.
00:20:07
Speaker
Gosh, there's so much.
00:20:09
Speaker
Oh, go ahead, Tina.
00:20:10
Speaker
No, no.
00:20:10
Speaker
I was just going to say, it's so important to us that we have somebody on staff for it.
00:20:15
Speaker
I mean, we, and we call, I mean, we call everything we do here an activation.
00:20:20
Speaker
And so we have a curator that takes care of that activation.
00:20:23
Speaker
So my Saturday night, it's very purposeful.
00:20:27
Speaker
It's very intended.
00:20:28
Speaker
So I have to have somebody that does that.
00:20:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:32
Speaker
And she does other things.
00:20:33
Speaker
I mean, she's very, very talented.
00:20:36
Speaker
But she, I mean, that's her job is to create experiences throughout the hotel so that people come in and enjoy and people stay and enjoy.
00:20:46
Speaker
Right.
00:20:47
Speaker
So though, and it's, it's like you said, it's priceless and it's, and it's free.
00:20:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:55
Speaker
But it needs to be curated so that you control the narrative.
00:21:00
Speaker
So, yeah, you have to.
00:21:03
Speaker
And then I get, you know, with the three channels, with the three websites, it's a lot.
00:21:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:09
Speaker
It's a lot.
00:21:10
Speaker
But it is so worthwhile and just understanding how to boost that and how to take care of that.
00:21:16
Speaker
And I think also downtown, I mean, Indy uses Eventbrite more than any other market I've ever seen.
00:21:22
Speaker
So we're doing a drag brunch on Sunday.
00:21:26
Speaker
So we have it every four Sundays, a drag brunch here at the Holman.
00:21:31
Speaker
So we use Eventbrite.
00:21:33
Speaker
We boost on Eventbrite.
00:21:34
Speaker
I mean,
00:21:35
Speaker
It just is.
00:21:36
Speaker
And there's a lot of analytics that can justify all of that being, I mean, even if you're not paying attention to Google, you're not paying attention to the P that what people are using.
00:21:49
Speaker
Right.
00:21:49
Speaker
So, you know, putting an ad in the IBJ is great, but it just sits there.
00:21:55
Speaker
Right.
00:21:56
Speaker
Right.
00:21:56
Speaker
So.
00:21:58
Speaker
I would rather deploy somebody against activations than just, I mean, if you can do both, there's no better place to be.
00:22:07
Speaker
But it still is, you know, you need to, it needs to have a plan and action against it.
00:22:14
Speaker
A hundred percent.
00:22:14
Speaker
No, I'm with you.
00:22:15
Speaker
And to your point, so much of it's free.
00:22:17
Speaker
It's like, what are those underlying opportunities that so many people miss out on?
00:22:22
Speaker
Why do you feel like organizations struggle with that?
00:22:24
Speaker
Like, why do you think people are missing that or there's this untapped opportunity and they're not looking at those options?
Diversity and Community Involvement
00:22:31
Speaker
I think that people, I mean, don't identify the disposable income of that age group.
00:22:39
Speaker
Even though it spans over
00:22:42
Speaker
all age groups, right?
00:22:44
Speaker
Everybody uses it.
00:22:45
Speaker
Everybody looks at it, whether it's TripAdvisor or whether it's Instagram or whatever it is.
00:22:53
Speaker
I think, you know, I had somebody tell me the other day that they heard it was going away.
00:22:58
Speaker
I said, away to where?
00:23:00
Speaker
No, that's how we get away.
00:23:03
Speaker
It's not going away.
00:23:05
Speaker
That's how we get away.
00:23:06
Speaker
Exactly.
00:23:08
Speaker
I don't know.
00:23:09
Speaker
I think that it's just...
00:23:11
Speaker
We've always done it this way and we've always continued.
00:23:14
Speaker
And that's not, that doesn't work for what I'm doing.
00:23:18
Speaker
It does not work for what I'm doing.
00:23:20
Speaker
It doesn't work unless you, I don't know, even if you're selling post-it notes, I don't think it works.
00:23:27
Speaker
No, no.
00:23:28
Speaker
It just, it just can't.
00:23:30
Speaker
I said, you know, if you're not evolving, then your business isn't going to grow.
00:23:34
Speaker
Right.
00:23:35
Speaker
So, and again, I mean, the girl who does mine is like 28 years old, the coolest, you know, she's got it together and she may be like, no, that's a little too old.
00:23:44
Speaker
And I'll be like, okay.
00:23:46
Speaker
People aren't doing that anymore.
00:23:47
Speaker
And I'm, and, you know, I think it's just having the conversations and being mindful that I do Cannonball very differently than I do the Holman or even that I do the hotel.
00:23:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:59
Speaker
You know, people aren't buying hotel rooms on Instagram yet.
00:24:02
Speaker
They might be shortly.
00:24:04
Speaker
But, but people want to know what they can do.
00:24:07
Speaker
So there's always that feed into Cannonball.
00:24:11
Speaker
I love, you know, so it's just, I don't know, it's figuring out how to use it, but you have to be on top of it, right?
00:24:19
Speaker
You have to know.
00:24:20
Speaker
Oh, I mean, that's like our team.
00:24:22
Speaker
I feel like it's a full time job just to stay up on trends and what's changing because you're just cannot nothing about the online marketing landscape.
00:24:30
Speaker
is stagnant whatsoever and things come and go trends.
00:24:33
Speaker
I mean, especially on Tik TOK.
00:24:35
Speaker
Oh my goodness.
00:24:36
Speaker
Oh my goodness.
00:24:36
Speaker
We're gone.
00:24:37
Speaker
It's not even a week.
00:24:38
Speaker
It's a matter of days before something is there and gone.
00:24:40
Speaker
So staying on top of it.
00:24:41
Speaker
And I think that's where a lot of teams really struggle.
00:24:44
Speaker
And my encouragement to everyone listening in, find a team or find a partner, find someone to make sure that they're being attended to those things and those shifts in the market because they, gosh, it can be challenging, but it'll be well worth it in the long run.
00:24:57
Speaker
And make sure it's not you, right?
00:24:59
Speaker
Don't find another you.
00:25:00
Speaker
Find another, somebody that's opposite or somebody that comes from a different demographic or different cultural backgrounds.
00:25:07
Speaker
Because unless you just want you walking in the door, you need a diversity of everything, which creates diversity of thought.
00:25:16
Speaker
So my team does not look like me and they do not come from where I come from.
00:25:22
Speaker
So, because that gives us that more well-rounded, diversified person.
00:25:27
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:25:29
Speaker
So I think that's so, so, so important.
00:25:31
Speaker
And I mean, even in Indy, right?
00:25:34
Speaker
I mean, in California, you can't help but do it.
00:25:36
Speaker
We have to be a little bit more mindful of it here.
00:25:39
Speaker
But I think that that diversity is what's going to keep your, whether it's a hotel, whatever it is, your business busy all the time, every night of the week, year round.
00:25:52
Speaker
So good.
00:25:53
Speaker
So well said, Tina.
00:25:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:54
Speaker
Okay, two more questions for you.
00:25:56
Speaker
Okay, great.
00:25:58
Speaker
You've talked about this too, but what are some of those other fingerprints of what you've done to position yourself uniquely?
00:26:03
Speaker
You talked about partnerships.
00:26:05
Speaker
You talked about diversity on your team.
00:26:07
Speaker
You talked about being so intentional about the experience inside the hotel down to the last detail and social channels.
00:26:15
Speaker
Any other different things that you've been very mindful of to set yourself apart?
00:26:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think that...
00:26:24
Speaker
that diversity piece is very important.
00:26:27
Speaker
I think that downtown Indy is a diverse community, but not all have been welcomed.
00:26:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:35
Speaker
So we are very, very mindful of that.
00:26:41
Speaker
You know, we on St.
00:26:43
Speaker
Patrick's Day, we had a Purim event up here, which is the Jewish holiday.
00:26:50
Speaker
So we did, we celebrate the Holman down in the Holman downstairs.
00:26:53
Speaker
We celebrated St.
00:26:54
Speaker
Patrick's day and up here in the cannonball, we celebrated Purim.
00:26:59
Speaker
So I think that at looking at making your world bigger, I guess, and welcoming all.
00:27:09
Speaker
And I think also not always looking at money as your driver.
00:27:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:16
Speaker
You can't, we can't be hotel Indy without giving back.
00:27:20
Speaker
And without, you know, not, I just talked to a group of women and we are looking at putting an event together for them.
00:27:32
Speaker
I always say, tell me what your budget is.
00:27:36
Speaker
And maybe we change the night.
00:27:38
Speaker
Maybe we just don't use all of your money this time.
00:27:41
Speaker
And maybe we, you know, we use it a different way here.
00:27:44
Speaker
But if it's important to you and you want to be here, then I want to make sure that happens.
00:27:49
Speaker
So I'm not, you know, I've been entrusted to make a top line dollar number, but there's lots of ways to do that.
00:27:56
Speaker
Right.
00:27:57
Speaker
And, you know, I'm not, you know, we're planning for the all-star game too.
00:28:01
Speaker
And everybody's paying to come.
00:28:02
Speaker
I know I'm on the committee.
00:28:04
Speaker
I am geared up.
00:28:05
Speaker
It's coming.
00:28:06
Speaker
I'm so excited.
00:28:07
Speaker
I'm so, so excited.
00:28:09
Speaker
Well, I'll have to tell you all the cool stuff that we're doing because we are, we're trying really hard to get Shaq in here.
00:28:15
Speaker
Okay, I'm gonna take you up.
00:28:17
Speaker
You and I are going to cannonball soon.
00:28:19
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it.
00:28:20
Speaker
I wanna hear about it.
00:28:21
Speaker
Definitely do that.
00:28:22
Speaker
We're gonna tent the parking lot.
00:28:23
Speaker
So there are times that we can make money and we are down to do that.
00:28:28
Speaker
That's my goal, but it's not my only goal.
00:28:31
Speaker
And we are not just driven by money, right?
00:28:35
Speaker
You know, somebody's apartment broke down the other day and it was, they're our neighbors.
00:28:40
Speaker
So I've got rooms available.
00:28:41
Speaker
Come on, come stay with me tonight, right?
00:28:44
Speaker
So I think that's important to not say that you're a part of the community, just show by your actions that you are a part of the community.
00:28:52
Speaker
So that's another thing.
00:28:54
Speaker
And I think that that'll come back to you.
00:28:57
Speaker
It'll come back to you in a million different ways.
00:29:00
Speaker
So being purposeful and mindful of not being just in your community, but a part of it is so, so important.
00:29:09
Speaker
It does.
00:29:09
Speaker
And I really think people forget what the community, what the relationships, you never know that one person you've helped that one conversation, it always comes back tenfold.
00:29:18
Speaker
You never know how it's going to, but.
00:29:21
Speaker
Man, when you can align yourself and plant in the community, especially I love that we've got listeners from all over the nation and some in different countries as well.
00:29:28
Speaker
But there is something, of course, I'm biased because I'm a Hoosier.
00:29:33
Speaker
And we do such a good job, I think, of just wrapping our arms around other people.
00:29:38
Speaker
Like you see someone hunting for a job around here.
00:29:41
Speaker
You see someone like.
00:29:42
Speaker
I think there's people, and I feel like that's true in many places, not just here.
00:29:46
Speaker
I'm again, because I, of course I'm, I'm in this market, but man, there's just something unique that happens when you tell people that you need help or that you want to partner with them on, on the conversation and the doors that open when you're willing to be vulnerable and to, and to be able
Advice for Listeners: Ask and Listen
00:30:01
Speaker
to do that.
00:30:01
Speaker
And I think it's incredibly undervalued and organizations that are really taking advantage of that are, are missing out.
00:30:08
Speaker
Yeah, and I think not giving to expecting to receive just to give because it's the right thing.
00:30:14
Speaker
I said, I don't always have to be right, but I always have to do the right thing.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:18
Speaker
So I think those are really important things just to run your organization on.
00:30:24
Speaker
It's so good.
00:30:25
Speaker
Any other advice for everyone listening that's maybe struggling with some of these things?
00:30:29
Speaker
Any other encouragement, best practices that you'd want to leave listeners with today?
00:30:35
Speaker
No, I just think that
00:30:37
Speaker
Women need to ask for what they want.
00:30:39
Speaker
I appreciate the men out there, but I just always wanna counsel younger women on ask for what you want and expect it to happen.
00:30:50
Speaker
Just do that.
00:30:51
Speaker
And then, like I said, listen, be a good listener.
00:30:56
Speaker
Listen with no expectation at all other than to help solve.
00:31:02
Speaker
That's all.
00:31:02
Speaker
And if you do those kinds of things,
00:31:06
Speaker
I just believe the world just opens.
00:31:08
Speaker
I agree.
00:31:09
Speaker
I agree.
00:31:10
Speaker
Tina, where can everyone find you?
00:31:12
Speaker
How can they get in touch with you or learn about Hotel Indy?
00:31:16
Speaker
Well, hotelindy.com, thecannonball.com, and theholman.com.
00:31:21
Speaker
All of that, easy peasy.
00:31:23
Speaker
I'm here probably more than my family would like.
00:31:26
Speaker
But also want to shout out if, I mean, if this airs soon, Sunday is drag brunch.
00:31:32
Speaker
Every Friday and Saturday we have DJs up on the cannonball.
00:31:37
Speaker
So much fun when the weather gets great.
00:31:40
Speaker
The Holman Restaurant, brand new chef coming online.
00:31:44
Speaker
Just all kinds of stuff.
00:31:45
Speaker
So on the corner of Delaware and Washington is where we sit.
00:31:49
Speaker
So just come on down and see us.
00:31:51
Speaker
I love that.
00:31:52
Speaker
So you heard it here first.
00:31:53
Speaker
If you're in India or if you're visiting India or traveling or maybe you just need to make a trip here just to go to hotel.
00:31:59
Speaker
And honestly, it's not exciting.
00:32:02
Speaker
Maybe during the all-star game, if you can.
00:32:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:05
Speaker
Challenging.
00:32:06
Speaker
I know.
00:32:06
Speaker
Right.
00:32:07
Speaker
Awesome.
00:32:07
Speaker
Well, thank you all for listening.
00:32:09
Speaker
We can't wait to hear what you think about this episode and be sure to reach out to Tina.
00:32:13
Speaker
Yes.
00:32:13
Speaker
Thanks so much.
00:32:15
Speaker
Thanks for joining us this week on the Anya Mike podcast.
00:32:19
Speaker
We'd love to hear from you.
00:32:20
Speaker
Make sure to visit our website, anyamark.com, where you can subscribe and never miss a show.
00:32:26
Speaker
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00:32:37
Speaker
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00:32:57
Speaker
Tune in for next week's episode, and we'll see you then.