The Henry Jones, located in downtown Hobart, Tasmania, is an internationally recognised 5-star hotel … and for good reason. It’s an amazing product in an equally amazing location.
It was the brainchild of today’s guest – Richard Crawford – who along with his business partner Flora De Kantzow – very cleverly won the tender against a 28-strong field including some of the world’s biggest hotel chains (like Intercontinental). Oh, and without any previous hotel experience. You gotta love that!
Opening in 2004, The Henry Jones very quickly established itself as a leading hotel and destination within Australia thanks to a segment on the renowned travel show Getaway … then, shortly after, a half-page review in The New York Times. Boom!
In this wonderful fireside chat I had with Richard, we cover:
- Where the idea for a 5-star art hotel came from.
- How they won such a competitive tender.
- How Richard went about marketing the hotel on a global stage without spending a fortune.
- The power of publicity and how to do it better than your competitors.
- How to ensure your staff are inline with the brand vision you are trying to create.
- The importance of brand.
There really is marketing gold dripping from this interview. And whilst there are far more than three key marketing learnings, here are my top three:
- Be clear on your brand pillars. For Richard, The Henry Jones needed to get the mix of art, history and design absolutely spot on.
- Don’t underestimate the power of PR. And chase it hard. Afterall, it costs next to nothing.
- Look to mentors for guidance and advice.
Oh, and the quote of the episode?
“We offered black tie service with a blue jeans attitude!”
PLUS in this episode of the Small Business Big Marketing Show, I announce a lunch time Meet Up I’ll be having in Melbourne on August 29, 2013 following the Victorian government’s Small Business Big Marketing event that Netregistry are sponsoring (no, it’s not related to the show!)
Links & Resources Mentioned In This Episode.
Netregistry – Check out these three exclusive packages for SBBM Listeners. Each one designed by myself and Netregistry to help get your online marketing sorted.
The Small Business Big Marketing Forum – Chat with me daily about your marketing conundrums.
The Henry Jones story – Learn all about this amazing 5-star hotel.
Grab your FREE ticket to the Small Business Big Marketing event here – Use promo code NET-BIG.
Source Bottle – The site that connects experts to journalists. It’s all about getting free publicity
The marketing keynote I gave was similar to this one, although it went for an extra hour!
Here’s my new website promoting Tim Reid as a marketing speaker.
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