Affinia Hotels Launches New Customer Service Program

My Affinia

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. October 14, 2008

MAY 27, 2008. With escalating airline restrictions making it harder than ever for travelers to take their comforts of home with them on the road, Affinia Hotels' recently launched My Affinia program allows guests to pack less without sacrificing their favorite necessities and indulgences.

My Affinia is a customer-driven service that John Moser, chief marketing officer of Affinia Hotels calls "a revolutionary step" for a national hotel brand. "Never before have guests at an urban hotel brand been able to log on and request the specific in-room services and amenities they need on every visit."

My Affinia allows guests to create a customized profile of preferred amenities, and then when a booking is made, each e-mail reservation confirmation enables guests to further fine-tune a particular stay through the My Affinia Concierge, based on their interests and agenda, from dinner reservations and in-room spa treatments to theater tickets and turn-down treats for the kids. Guitars, hair diffusers, pillows, yoga mats, lap-top charges and in-room spa treatments, are among the necessities and niceties featured in My Affinia that help make traveling to Affinia properties in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., more convenient and more comfortable.

To support the My Affinia program, Affinia Hotels has launched a new brand marketing campaign that focuses on the brand's promise to provide customized comfort for guests. With a total spend of nearly $1.5 million dollars in the first two months of the campaign, Affinia is targeting the Northeast Corridor business traveler through a mix of outdoor, online and print media.

The campaign illustrates three representative guests experiencing the diversity of services and amenities chosen from the My Affinia toolbar - from specific pillows to guitars to cell phone chargers - available through My Affinia. "This evocative quality encourages consumers to begin to conjure up their own ideal stay," commented Moser.

Affinia's agency of record, Manhattan Marketing Ensemble (MME), worked with well-known celebrity photographer Timothy White, whose work for celebrities and cause-related campaigns best matched the highly personalized aspects of Affinia's new brand message. "I spend more than 100 nights a year in hotel rooms and knowing that my favorite pillow and yoga mat are waiting for me when I arrive gives me enormous peace of mind. Affinia's program really anticipates my needs, and I was inspired to capture that sense of comfort and ease in a single image," said White. His images succeed in communicating the range of individual elements that define the "perfect hotel stay."

The My Affinia media buy focuses on print, outdoor and online advertising, including placement in USA Today. Web advertising includes AOL, MSN, Yahoo!, WSJ.com, Entrepreneur.com, Reuters, About.com, Forbes.com and others. Outdoor includes "station domination" of the Amtrak terminal of Penn Station reaching the estimated 3.6 million people who utilize the Amtrak Corridor and another half-million commuters walk through Penn Station daily. Ads will also appear at LaGuardia and Newark airports, to reach the high-volume business traffic between Chicago and DC, where Affinia has opened new hotels, the Affinia Chicago and The Liaison Capitol Hill, An Affinia Hotel.

According to Moser, My Affinia will evolve to incorporate guest feedback and emerging travel trends, as well as be adapted to reach corporate travel planners and meetings.