Hilton International

Hilton International is the most recognised hotel brand in the world, employing over 70,000 people globally in nearly 400 hotels. CACI is helping Hilton International to understand more about the types of customers and prospects on its database so it can increase response rates from its marketing communications.

The challenge

Hilton International needed a more effective way of identifying which of its prospects would be most likely to be converted via direct marketing. To do this, Hilton wanted to segment its existing customers according to their likelihood to respond to different leisure break offers. It also wanted to understand regional variations and the impact of distance traveled on response.

Hilton International have already been using two of CACI's analysis tools, ACORN and PeopleUK, for the past 4 years. The codes have been held on the Hilton customer database, allowing them to target and segment mailings based on an understanding of the likelihood of certain PeopleUK or ACORN types to book certain offers. This has helped Hilton International refine the marketing message to certain groups on the customer database and understand more about the key characteristics of each customer and prospect segment. Hilton International felt the next stage in their customer understanding was the ability to assess and visualise the impact of retail variations and proximity to the hotel.

The solution

Hilton International decided to add to the customer understanding results provided by both ACORN and PeopleUK by investing in InSite, CACI's market analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS). By taking InSite in house, Hilton International has been able to expand on their customer and prospect profiles by:

	Mapping where customers live and analysing how far they are traveling for certain types of offers and hotel breaks
	Profiling customers in more detail
	Targeting specific postcode sectors for marketing activity
	Becoming more regional in the way they market to customers and prospects

The results and benefits

InSite has added another dimension to Hilton International's current customer understanding. By becoming more regionally focused, Hilton International is able to react to individual customer needs more quickly and efficiently. InSite enables the Hilton International marketing team to target regional effort, as well as analyse and segment on a national basis.

The ability to refine selections has seen the response rates from Hilton International's direct marketing activity continue to grow and the mapping and analysis capabilities have given the regional managers a deeper understanding of existing customers and the future target market.

Hilton International comments,

“We decided to use InSite because we've been working with CACI for a number of years and we've built up a feeling of trust with them. InSite has greatly enhanced our capability to understand the 'Hilton International customer' by giving us the tools to profile and map customer locations.”