Event-Led Growth: “Put Some Paint Where It Ain’t.”
Susie Park, Donte Johnson, Gamal El Fakih (credit: ILHA)
Lindsey Davidson Wyatt of Wyatt Creative states, "If you're not considering Event-Led Growth (ELG) for your property, you're missing a crucial chance to stay competitive and drive meaningful engagement in this pivotal year.” 91% of consumers stated they would be more likely to buy a brand's product or service after taking part in a brand activation or experience (G2, Dec 2023). I've got a feeling we'll be hearing statements and statistics like these quite a bit over the next couple of years.
As we put a ribbon on the year, I've heard from leaders across the industry that staring down the barrel of 2025 has hospitality strategists urgently identifying sustainable possibilities for incremental revenue lift. Leaders are ideating "like the rent's due" because, in many cases, it is. So here's an unoriginal but timely thought: Event Led Growth. I tend to agree with Lindsey. Events and activations, large and small, can add to a business financially and meaningfully elevate brand cache.
Since moving to Atlanta, I've dramatically scaled back my participation in industry events. But, I attended the International Luxury Hotel Association's Inspire Conference at The Fontainebleau in Las Vegas earlier this month. I spoke on a panel entitled “The Future of Travel & the Experiential Guest.” A week prior, I spoke on a panel at The AH&LA Hospitality Show about marketing in a competitive environment. There was endless conversation at both events about programming and adjacent topics. For those in the lifestyle swim lane, this isn't uncharted territory. However, Mckinsey released a study by Jules Seeley, Ryan Mann, and Vik Krishnan with Alex Gersovitz a couple of months ago where they noted that "despite the enduring excitement about experiences and the large pool of value they represent, the travel industry has yet to crack the code on an approach that can simultaneously please travelers, make sense for experience providers, and produce profit at scale for distributors and larger stakeholders." In a sea of recent think pieces about the "experience economy" the prevailing notion seems to be that we're falling short.
An Old Friend
Just as it became clear that many of us were deeply aligned on this in Vegas, I bumped into an old friend and long-time collaborator, Freddie Wyatt. A little over 9 years ago, I reached out to him and the Wyatt Creative Team to pull a rabbit out of a hat to quickly piece together what would become the last major event I hosted as GM at the Kimpton Surfcomber in Miami Beach. Our original New Year's Eve plan fell through at the last minute. And with the most enormous backyard footprint on the beach, it would've been a shame to miss the opportunity to finish the year strong. December 31st fell on a Thursday, which set us up for multiple days of activation. The plan was to take the opportunity to tap into various key audiences for the hotel to generate revenue and reinforce our position as the go-to spot for major events on the beach. In a surprise to no one in the know, we landed on EDM and Hop-Hop—three headliners for three days. Cash Cash, then Busta Rhymes, followed by Diddy (along with Fab and French Montana) for the finale. By all accounts, the weekend was a tremendous success and a testament to the power of relationships and collaboration.
Miami is one of those places where everyone seems to understand the value of this intuitively. But Freddie initially landed on my radar when he was almost singlehandedly launching the hotel rooftop scene in DC a few years before this. Moreover, he was working with brand heavyweights from fashion to automobiles to do so. Growing up professionally, I learned a lot watching event curators work. The value and differentiation that resulted from these activations were evident. Hotels that might otherwise be swallowed whole by the amount of firmly entrenched competition in their immediate neighborhoods emerged as the talk of the town after maintaining a robust calendar of events and activations.
A little over three years after that legendary New Year's Eve weekend, I found myself in Baltimore. Revival was an incredible canvas to paint on from a programming perspective. After a few weeks on the job, I met Jason Bass. The team at Revival embraced the strategy, and we've now fully embedded this approach into our business model at Thompson-Atlanta Buckhead. Over the past few years, I've received calls from general managers across the country who are curious about how all of this works. Some have even asked for his job description so that similar roles could be implemented on their teams. It's catching on. It's not always plug-and-play. Most of our operating models weren't built with this idea in mind. The alignment work can be challenging, but it's worthwhile.
Freddie Meets Jason
On Friday the 13th (you can’t make this up), I had the pleasure of connecting these two on a call to explore possibilities. Freddie's partner, Lindsey Davidson, also joined for the meeting. In the conversation, we discussed ELG through the lens of what's worked and what's been difficult. We also talked through ideas in development on both sides that we could work together on at the hotel. There was clear synergy from beginning to end. Lindsey noted, "Hospitality, particularly in the luxury sector, has evolved beyond providing exceptional service—it's now about crafting branded experiences to resonate deeply with guests." The wellness wave is a space where brands are investing heavily in tapping into this. We frequently host rooftop yoga classes at the pool. I attended this a couple of months ago. The instructors are incredible. The experience is uber-relaxing. But, at this point, this is entry-level. Alone, this is a nice guest amenity. As a part of a comprehensive programming strategy, this works wonders. We see the tipping point as 200 items per year. Loosely defined, this can be anything that leverages otherwise unutilized real estate to add value to the brand or the business. Strategic partnerships and collaborations can add meaningful bandwidth and resources to the pot. I've seen some brilliant examples of this in 2024, inspiring us to examine how we can elevate our game in the future.
Lindsey Wyatt- credit: Wyatt Creative Hospitality
Magic in Middleburg
On the ILHA panel, the final question was, “What’s your favorite luxury travel experience?” I was the final panelist to respond. Without hesitation, “The Family Reunion” at Salamander Middleburg. Our friends at Michelin define the cream of the crop (3 stars) as “exceptional cuisine worth a special journey.” This is the reputation Chef Kwame Onwuachi, Food & Wine, and the team at Salamander have built around this event. Beyond that, it’s the first signature luxury travel event I could think of that’s firmly rooted in Black Culture. This is likely a big part of why it fell into a blind spot for most of the panel audience. I received several comments from attendees about how nice it was of me to consider my family reunion a luxury event. Sigh.
This is a great example of identifying a white space in the market or even the Chain Scale, then “putting the paint where it ain’t.” A robust ELG strategy can be a few major events throughout the year that ignite the entire “family.” Or it can be a steady drumbeat of programming consistent enough to own the “there’s always something interesting going on over there” real estate in the minds of your audience. When we hear the Thompson tagline “Culture Lives Here,” we see that as a mandate to activate. How else would the culture get here? We aspire to blend accessible “low lift” events with provocative programming that stretches the boundaries of where the hotel ends and the community begins. We’re not perfect. It doesn’t always hit the way we’d like. But when it does, people feel something. And as Maya Angelou told us, “People will never forget how you made them feel.” We’re betting on that.
Salamander Middleburg
