Empathica Sponsors the National Restaurant Association?s Spring 2012 Marketing Executives Group (MEG) Conference


Toronto, Ontario, Canada (PRWEB) May 01, 2012

Empathica Inc., a leading provider of Customer Experience Management (CEM) solutions to more than 200 of the world?s most respected brands, announced today that two of its food services industry experts will attend the National Restaurant Association?s Spring 2012Marketing Executives Group (MEG) Conference held May 2-4 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago.

 

MEG is a community of restaurant marketing professionals who come together twice a year to raise the level of industry excellence by connecting, inspiring, teaching and challenging each other. At the conference, more than 200 industry influencers, leaders and consumer behavioral experts will discuss strategies around the theme of this year?s event, ?Rock the Status Quo; Gain Your Marketing Edge.?

 

The event is open to members and non-members of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) who are responsible for marketing their restaurant?s brand. Empathica?s Steve Prodger, VP of Food Services, and Dr. Gary Edwards, Chief Customer Officer, will be in attendance.

 

Empathica works with top brands within the food services industry, helping to elevate their brands through tailored CEM programs aimed to deliver better customer experiences. Last month, the company launched Empathica Local, a new CEM product that focuses on helping multi-unit location managers deliver consistent and memorable customer experiences at their restaurants, retail locations, grocery stores and banks. A streamlined, easy-to-understand interface presents only the most relevant information for a location manager and then suggests action plans to help execute real behavioral change among staff members to improve the customer experience.

 

Smashburger, the fast casual restaurant chain named America?s Most Promising Company by Forbes in 2011, recently launched a pilot program with Empathica Local. In the first two months of the program, Smashburger has seen a 5.5 percent increase in customer satisfaction in test locations and more than two million friend impressions of positive online recommendations via social networks.

 

?In order to drive brand advocacy for multi-unit restaurants, location managers must constantly fine-tune their operations to consistently deliver a great customer experience, but managers do not have the time to analyze detailed customer reports,? said Edwards. ?Empathica Local simplifies the data and prescribes specific actions, allowing location managers to spend more time engaging with their employees and customers to ensure an excellent experience and build brand loyalty.?

 

Over the past three years, Empathica’s GoRecommend Advocacy Engine has also played a large role in enhancing customer advocacy by driving positive brand recommendations via social media. This empowers supporters of the brand to drive advocacy through authentic word-of-mouth reviews. GoRecommend has been used by more than 100 brands and has driven recommendations that have been shared across more than 110 million friends via social networks.

 

The three-day MEG event kicks off with an opening night dinner and reception and also includes keynote speeches and numerous networking opportunities with industry experts and consumer behavioral leaders. For more information or to register for the Spring 2012 MEG Conference, visit http://www.restaurant.org/education/studygroups/meg/meeting/index.cfm.

 

About Empathica:

 

Empathica provides Customer Experience Management programs to more than 200 of the world’s leading brands, ranging from multi-unit retailers, to banks and restaurants. Its rich analysis of survey data using state-of-the-art surveying and dashboard reporting software allows for performance-improvement solutions, evidence-based marketing insights, and customer experience management consulting. Annually, Empathica’s 30 million customer surveys in 25 languages reach more than 70,000 locations. A privately-held organization, Empathica is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has an office in Birmingham, England, and U.S. executive consultants in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Bozeman, Mont. For more information about deriving actionable insights that enhance a brand’s operational excellence, visit Empathica at http://www.empathica.com.


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London Based Travel Business Selects New Website Designer From Marketing Quotes To Help Re-Design Website.


Basingstoke, UK (PRWEB UK) 9 April 2012

Website designers in London range from freelancers working from home, up to large centrally based design agencies that work with top global brands; this is why a London based travel business contacted Marketing Quotes in January 2012. They were looking for a website designer that was not too small, but not too large, one that was local and had experience in designing websites for travel agents.

 

Anne Richards (who works with the website designers at Marketing Quotes) commented ‘finding a website designer is hard, there are over 20,000 of them in the UK and each one is different. Most companies prefer (given the choice) to work with one that is local, so meetings are easy to arrange; and someone that knows their industry. We are pleased this travel client was able to find a local web designer that had designed travel websites in the past.’

 

A source from the travel company in London said ‘we did have some issues with our previous designer so were looking for someone that had a great design flair; we need our website to stand out and have a good conversion, we are pleased to have appointed Michael’s team to do the work. They had a great portfolio and have done a few adventure holiday websites, so they were the best choice we felt.’

 

Michael (who is the senior designer at the successful design agency) added ‘we have had a few meetings and are really excited about getting started on the project; they are a great brand to work with and we feel we can create a website that is really unique for them.’

 

About Marketing Quotes – Marketing Quotes is a free service to UK businesses to help them get free advice and quotes from local website designers that know and understand their industry.


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UK Travel Agency To Select New PR Agency From Marketing Quotes To Help Develop Company Brand And Strengthen The Company Image.


Basingstoke, UK (PRWEB UK) 30 April 2012

PR for travel agents is something that is very important in today’s climate, due to many online travel agents offering bargain holiday’s, taking bookings, then closing. This is why a leading online travel agent approached Marketing Quotes, as they were looking to conduct an aggressive travel PR campaign to reassure UK holiday makers of the travel agents security.

 

A spokesperson from the travel agent commented ‘we are concerned that the industry is seeing so many closures and many holiday makers are having their holiday plans scuppered due to the travel agencies closing. We are wanting to assure holiday makers that we are a safe bet, a great online travel agent that offers holiday packages all around the world. We have been around a long time and have strong backing to be around for a long time to come. The agency we selected from Marketing Quotes has got a great background in the travel sector, so we are confident that the campaign will help strengthen our brand and ensure that holiday makers see us as a secure agency to book their holiday’s with.’

 

Anne Richards (who works with many of the PR companies at Marketing Quotes) added ‘the best advice to a business is to select a PR agency that knows their industry. There will be no learning curve and they will have all the business connections to hit the ground running. With thousands of PR agencies around the UK, it only makes sense to be selective on choosing the right one with the right experience. We have thousands of PR agencies on the site, so can certainly point companies in the right direction to get sound advice from industry experts.’

 

About Marketing Quotes – Marketing Quotes is a free service to UK businesses to help get free advice and quotes from local PR agencies and marketing agencies that know and understand their industry.


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Boot Camp Marketing Drives Personal Trainer Salaries Up, Despite Recession

Chino Hills, CA (PRWEB) April 16, 2012

When the economy weakened, Americans started dropping their personal trainers like flies. However, industry professionals are fighting back with innovative solutions. Boot camps have soared in popularity in recent years, largely due to the fact that small groups of ten or less people can share the cost of a fitness trainer. Twenty-year industry veteran, Fitness Concepts CEO Sam Bakhtiar, shares his professional wisdom on the growing trends he sees in boot camp marketing and proliferation.

?You can call it a perfect storm in a sense,? Sam explains. ?On one hand, you had clients who wanted to save money. On the other hand, you had trainers who wanted to charge $ 100 or more per hour, but feasibly couldn?t. Group training has always been around, but it lacked the level of personal interaction and the results of one-on-one sessions. Now we?ve found a way to improve our services and give clients what they need, all the while driving our salaries through the roof.?

Sam Bakhtiar went from running a modest fitness studio and making a $ 30,000 salary to launching a $ 2.4-million-grossing boot camp in Chino Hills. ?I don?t want to give the illusion that it happened literally overnight,? Sam chuckles, ?but I can certainly share the steps I took to get there with other personal trainers who want to make the jump.? Sam explains that there was a painfully long learning curve at first ? due, largely, to the lack of credible boot camp marketing information out there.

?I knew that I wanted to invest in my education,? Sam says, ?but I didn?t know where to turn. There was this marketing guy and that marketing guy ? all offering carbon copy videos, e-books and programs that charged me a small fortune for results that were NOT guaranteed. But I didn?t want information from a marketing hustler? I wanted information from someone who has been in the trenches? someone who was passionate about training and could take me under their wing to show me the ropes.?

So, Sam networked until he found a millionaire personal trainer who was living the lifestyle of BMWs and Las Vegas vacation homes that he wanted. Through mentoring, Sam discovered the industry?s best practices for boot camp marketing and developed a system to apply these methods to his own business model. Now he would like to give back to the community by offering educational materials to others who are currently facing the same situation. To date, Sam has trained 100 personal trainers to earn a $ 100,000+ salary.

?At one time, all you needed was to say you had a boot camp and clients flocked,? Sam says. ?But nowadays, it?s a fierce, competitive market out there. If you don?t have the right automated personal trainer marketing systems or the right focus in your campaigns, you?ll find it?s not so fun to run a business after all. In fact, the business ends up running YOU!?

To learn the tools of the trade, free up more personal time for family/friends, and get step-by-step instructions on achieving six and seven-figure income.





WebiMax Launches London Internet Marketing Initiative Assisting London Businesses Capitalize on Rise in Visitor Web Searching


London, UK (PRWEB) April 24, 2012

WebiMax, the top-rated search engine optimisation (SEO) firm in the United Kingdom, has recently launched their London Internet Marketing Initiative offering a comprehensive suite of web-based marketing services. The initiative brings their award-winning solutions to London-area and UK businesses catering specifically to the influx of visitors to the city and surrounding areas in the coming months.

 

“It’s a unique time for the city and all of the UK,” said WebiMax founder and CEO, Kenneth C. Wisnefski, “We simply recognised an opportunity for our services to enable local businesses to capitalize on the web-searching trends of the summer traveler to drive more business.”

 

The initiative acts on industry trends to position businesses for their best possible return on the influx of consumer spending this summer.

 

“The amount of money that travelers will spend is significant with estimates at

Alex Ecklund Discovers Viral Marketing While Watching the Annual Victoria?s Secret Fashion Show, Says Author of ‘The Casual Christian’


Wheaton, IL (PRWEB) March 21, 2012

Perhaps the first time you heard of viral marketing was when the middle-aged spinster, Susan Boyle, auditioned on the popular TV show, Britain?s Got Talent. She was a very dowdy, unimpressive contestant who had no previous record of accomplishment other than a single CD that sold about a thousand copies. But her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserable left the judges slack jawed. The video soon appeared on YouTube and within a week had become the most viewed clip in their history with over forty million hits. In this age of instantaneous global communication, such sudden exponential spread of information is called ?going viral.?

A more recent example of viral messaging came when Alex Ecklund updated his facebook status after reading comments like these by young women who were watching the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, ?I?m going to have to hit the gym after this? and ?I?m going to starve myself for a week.?

Concerned about the message the show was conveying, he posted the following, “?I?d rather have a Proverbs 31 woman than a Victoria?s Secret model.? Proverbs 31 is a biblical reference to the qualities of a virtuous woman that have nothing to do with looks and everything to do with character. Responses both positive and negative immediately flooded his wall.

This type of viral response is the holy grail for marketers. As Markus Pfeiffer, a digital media professor at Regent University, says, “An unknown person or ministry can reach a very wide audience and get discovered, because of the viral capabilities?because they are watching trends.? (Charismanews.com, 3/15/2012).

Capturing a trend and riding it is like catching the big wave on Hawaii’s Banzai Pipeline. You and your product are suddenly thrust onto a huge stage that you never would have reached through regular marketing methods. The potential for increasing sales or promoting a message is exponential and has launched careers that otherwise may never have materialized.

“The gospel is the most compelling message of all time because it tugs at a need we all have for spiritual restoration. If any message has the potential to go viral, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet we try to quarantine that virus in the familiar confines of our church buildings and programs,” says Craig Olson, author of The Casual Christian.

The first recorded example of a message that went viral in the Bible was the massive response to the gospel at Pentecost. The book of Acts describes the scene this way, “Now when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent wind blowing came from heaven and filled the entire house where they were sitting. And tongues spreading out like a fire appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:1-4)

Apparently the Holy Spirit caused such a great commotion that it drew a crowd of Jews who had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate a national holiday – the day that commemorated their exodus from Egypt under Moses. They were amazed that these Galilean Jews were all speaking in their native tongues.

Pentecost had the makings of the perfect viral moment. The timing was right. Jews had gathered from all the surrounding countries for a religious holiday. It came while the land was still abuzz with the news of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. News of these momentous events was fresh in everyone’s thoughts. So Peter struck while the iron was hot, urging the people to confess their sins and turn to Christ. And the result, according to the Bible, was that about 3000 people were baptized and added to the church that day.

One can increase opportunities for viral moments by moving church ministries into the public arena and meeting people on their own familiar turf. Community centers, civic centers, club houses, restaurants, retirement homes, public auditoriums, believers? homes, public parks, hotel conference rooms, movie theaters, camps and recreation centers all hold more promise for creating viral moments than the traditional church program held on the church campus.

Equipping believers to minister to each other in practical ways, utilizing social media, replacing small groups with extended faith families and programs with ministry task forces that meet needs on the ground, are all ways ministry can be organized to capitalize on viral moments. For more information on how to transform your traditional church ministry into a dynamic vehicle for capturing viral moments see The Casual Christian by Craig Olson.





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London Based Obesity Clinic Gets More Aggressive With Adverting Campaigns After Advice From Marketing Quotes Website


Basingstoke, UK (PRWEB UK) 16 April 2012

Advertising the importance of a healthy lifestyle and regular exercise is of vital importance according to a leading weight loss organisation in London. The growth of fast food, snacking, sugary drinks and traveling by car instead of walking has sparked a change in lifestyle leading the the problems of obesity. This is why a leading weight loss clinic in London has decided to try and confront the problem head on through a more aggressive TV advertising campaign, online marketing and traditional marketing through press and radio advertising. After seeking advice from Marketing Quotes about possible routs of marketing, they have started their quest to select an advertising agency to spearhead the advertising campaigns across the UK.

A spokesperson from the clinic commented ‘we live in an instant society now, food bought pre packed, driving instead of walking, excess alcohol, smoking, the list goes long. Peoples lifestyles are the problem and radical changes are made. This can only be tackled by re-educating people, encouraging children to play outside instead of on a computer, cooking homemade soups instead of microwave meals and taking time to do regular exercise.

Anne Richards (who works with Marketing Quotes) added ‘we have many advertising agencies using Marketing Quotes that are more than capable of handling above and below the line marketing campaigns, we have advertising agencies that have worked in the healthcare and sports sectors, so certainly there are many to choose from to take on this type of campaign. It is important to get the message right if this problem is going to be addressed and changes made to peoples lifestyles.’

About Marketing Quotes – Marketing Quotes is a free price comparison service to UK businesses to help them get free advice and quotes from local advertising companies that have specialist industry experience.





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Party-Destinations Marketing Launches Video to Show how to Increase Hotel Marketing & Bookings in the Dynamic Travel Niche for Party Holidays


Bridgetown, Barbados (PRWEB) March 07, 2012

Party-Destinations.com, which offers tip and reviews, special deals and promotions to party travelers, announces a new video detailing opportunities for hotel marketing and tourism companies who want to promote their brands to the fast-growing market for party vacation seekers.

 

This segment, which is one of the hottest travel markets, is very competitive and allows few opportunities for independent hotels to gain direct market access. With party-destinations.com, resorts can quickly gain prime exposure on relevant search terms.

 

Party-Destinations Marketing can create highly social indexed and SEO-optimized theme websites for selected hotels and travel suppliers. These customized sites contain unique SEO content to help tourism suppliers get listed on the search engines. An example is http://partyplaces.yellowbirdbarbados.com. This customized site is owned by the hotel and managed and marketed by the Party-Destinations Marketing (PDM) team.

 

“We build custom landing pages for hotels that are highly optimized for the hotel or travel partner for their specific campaign. With our content marketing and travel video promos along with our proprietary http://SocialIndexEngine.com technology our hotel and tourism partners can enjoy the benefits of top brand marketing at an affordable price,” says Kathy-Lynn Ward, COO of AXSES, who manages PDM initiatives.

 

With over 300 million pages vying for top billing on party holiday-related search terms, it is extremely difficult for individual hotels and even small hotel chains to gain exposure in these search results. Targeting the travelers who seek active holidays, fine dining and clubbing as well as fun adventures and activities by day AND marketing all of these things is a daunting task when competing with the big names and established brands in travel marketing.

 

PDM changes the landscape by giving all tourism and destination marketing companies and organizations first place listings on search results. This travel marketing leads travelers directly to the suppliers’ website, building a sustainable brand and loyal customers and increasing high profit direct bookings.

 

PDM is an exclusive marketing channel; advertising and promotions are available only to selected hotels. Kathy-Lynn Ward says, ?We do not want to saturate the market and will insure that each hotel and tourism supplier gets premium exposure in their own market. This also makes it easier for search-weary travelers who are often overwhelmed with choices.?

 

PDM selects hotels and tourism suppliers based on merit and will evaluate travelers’ reviews and other ratings. Suppliers must be close to nightlife and offer special packages and coupons that are only available to Party-Destinations.com. Travelers are encouraged to join the PDM Club to get news and special offers.

 

ABOUT

 

http://Party-Destinations.com is an AXSES Initiative built using the SocialIndexEngine optimization and marketing systems also pioneered by AXSES.

 

AXSES, a leader in travel marketing technology, was one of the first companies to develop a direct bookings application for Facebook, and has consistently been an innovator is all aspects of travel marketing. In 2011, AXSES was featured by the New York Times in an article on Social Media use in Travel.

 

The AXSES tourism marketing team works with professionals in the hotel, tourism and travel industries, to help build their businesses through all forms of social media and conventional marketing.

 

Travelers seeking a fun holiday in the world’s top party destinations are invited to subscribe to the FREE newsletter to get the latest news on party holidays and access to specials and deals only available at Party-Destination.com


CitySpoon Inc.’s SpoonerSpot Creates New Marketing Tool for Savvy Social Networkers


Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) February 29, 2012

CitySpoon Inc.?s new venture, SpoonerSpot, brings the whole world to the fingertips of its users in a brand new way. SpoonerSpot, a new social networking platform finalizing its first round of beta testing this week, allows users to create posts, called Spots, and place them around the world for their followers to see and discuss. But SpoonerSpot is much more than a large list of geotagged notes, a common criticism of other websites using map based sharing platforms, and instead is positioning itself to offer a variety of applications for real world business and pleasure, and is also working towards shrinking the world in such a way that everyone can come together via the site.

 

SpoonerSpot, at first glance, is a way for Spooners (SpoonerSpot users) to document their lives and share it with friends. By simply clicking on a location and writing a quick note or uploading an image, a Spot is created and every Spooner that follows the user can see the Spot, learn about the user and even start a discussion or share their own Spots. This, though, is the most basic component of SpoonerSpot, and something that many of SpoonerSpot?s current and future beta testers have overlooked as they quickly see the site for the social marketing tool that it is.

 

Several real estate agents have expressed interest in using SpoonerSpot as an effective method for displaying new property listings and advertising the areas that they specialize in, while travel enthusiasts see a way to set up tours of their favorite cities complete with recommendations and even full walking tours. Event planners and one restaurateur saw the site as a strong way to develop a buzz for upcoming events, receive customer feedback on potential event sites, and distribute coupons and discounts in a manner that promotes exclusivity by engaging with the SpoonerSpot community. Other businesses are looking at SpoonerSpot as a qualitative market research tool. SpoonerSpot?s initial application is to allow Spooners to document special moments in their lives, and marketing teams from hotels, resort destinations and the dining industry instantly saw the wealth of customer feedback knowledge that could be gained by reviewing Spots and discussions on those Spots.

 

?Social Networking has proven to be a great way for businesses to engage with their customers,? said Kevin Brooks, CitySpoon?s VP of Operations. ?For businesses that understand the benefit of sharing in the social networking action SpoonerSpot is going to be a strong new application for their marketing efforts.?

 

SpoonerSpot isn?t just focused on helping businesses learn more about their customers. Another level of engagement that SpoonerSpot offers is the growing amount of features on the site that comes directly from the sites users. Already included on SpoonerSpot is a community photo blog, called SpoonerShots, where Spooners can upload images to develop entirely Spooner developed stories about special events and holidays.

 

In addition, SpoonerSpot will also be employing the SpoonerSuggestions section, acting as an open forum for Spooners to discuss various Spots on the map, topics, and what new features they would like to see on SpoonerSpot in the future. This feedback will be used to enhance some of SpoonerSpot?s ongoing contests and will also dictate the topics for the aforementioned SpoonerShots section.

 

?If there?s one thing we?ve learned from this industry it?s that social networking websites need to evolve,? said Brooks. ?It would be arrogant of us to think we know exactly what our users want coming out of the box, and we look forward to hearing from the Spooner community to help us grow SpoonerSpot into the social networking site our users want!?

 

The site has many facets that beta users and those awaiting beta invites have already expressed, and even before its official launch SpoonerSpot is already growing and evolving into a fun, exciting and functional platform with a variety of uses. With more and more feedback coming in at the tail end of SpoonerSpot?s private beta phase, the implementation of these ideas will help engage the next round of SpoonerSpot beta testers as the site quickly moves towards its official launch in the second quarter of 2012. More information will be revealed soon on how to be a part of the next phase of testing, and CitySpoon encourages any interested parties to stay in touch with CitySpoon and SpoonerSpot on Facebook, Twitter and the company?s main website, CitySpoon.com.

 

About CitySpoon Inc.:

 

CitySpoon Inc. launched CitySpoon.com in the Summer of 2011. The site serves as a local guide for living bigger, better, and smarter by providing in-the-know recommendations, candid user reviews and expert advice for businesses and events in CitySpoon communities.

 

CitySpoon was created as a multi-platform resource for people to save money and help businesses grow. The site offers discounts on national products consumers already know and love while providing local businesses with an affordable avenue to market their current promotions. CitySpoon members are enthusiastic about life and the driving force behind the company.

 

CitySpoon has refocused its efforts to develop SpoonerSpot.com, a new Social Networking platform that uses an interactive map to display user information. This new endeavor is currently under development and holds great promise for CitySpoon Inc.

 

For more information please visit http://www.spoonerspot.com.

Follow SpoonerSpot on Twitter:@SpoonerSpot

?Like? SpoonerSpot on Facebook: facebook.com/SpoonerSpot

 

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Hampton Inn Freeport Names New Director of Marketing & Sales


(PRWEB) March 28, 2012

Boyer is a native of Freeport and a graduate of Highland Community College. She is a member of the Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors and brings over 15 years of experience in marketing and sales to the Hampton.

 

?I am very proud to be part of the team at Hampton Inn Freeport,? Boyer said. ?It is an outstanding hotel that offers so many amenities with such an upscale feel, and yet is surprisingly affordable. I am not only excited about what the Hampton offers the business traveler, but also what we can offer our local friends regarding accommodations needed for a family get together, class reunion, wedding, sporting or seasonal event.?

 

About Hampton Hotels

The Hampton brand by Hilton Hotels is an award-winning leader in the mid-priced hotel segment. With more than 1,800 properties globally, Hampton Hotels is part of Hilton Worldwide, the leading global hospitality company. All Hampton Hotels offer warm surroundings and a friendly service culture that share a common ?personality? supported by the 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. High-quality accommodations, in-room conveniences and the latest technology, combined with numerous locations and consistent offerings, have made Hampton a leader in its segment and one of the fastest growing hotel brands. For more information about Hampton Hotels, please visit http://www.hampton.com/pressandmedia, http://www.facebook.com/Hampton or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/HamptonFYI.


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