In the dynamic landscape of the hospitality industry, where experiences are as key as accommodations, innovative brand communication stands as the cornerstone of success.
Campaign Middle East delves into this realm with Romain Fourel, the CEO and founder of The Secret Society.
The platform aims to create meaningful partnerships that resonate with brands and influencers, resulting in authentic and impactful collaborations.
Fourel shares insights into the evolving strategies that are reshaping how hospitality brands connect with their audience, driving engagement, and building lasting impressions in an ever-changing marketplace.
How innovative brand communication has shifted in the hospitality industry?
In the hospitality industry, brand communication has shifted towards digital platforms and personalised experiences. Content marketing, influencer collaborations, and user-generated content play crucial roles in engaging customers and building brand credibility.
Sustainability and social responsibility are also integral parts of brand messaging, reflecting consumers’ growing awareness of environmental issues.
Innovative communication strategies focus on technology, personalisation, and authenticity to connect with customers and stand out in a competitive market.
How does The Secret Society fulfil a need in the market?
The inspiration behind creating The Secret Society came from recognising a gap in the market for facilitating collaborations between businesses and influencers, content creators, and models. In today’s digital age, influencer marketing has become a powerful tool for brands to reach their target audiences authentically.
However, finding the right people to collaborate with and managing those collaborations efficiently can be challenging. We aimed to streamline the process, manage partnerships, and track campaign performance. Collaboration on a barter basis is at the core of our structure.
Previously, brands collaborated financially with influencers and models, which added a burden to their expenses. The fact that we exclusively operate on a barter basis makes our approach groundbreaking.
In essence, TSS fulfils a market need by providing a centralised platform where brands, influencers, content creators, and models can discover and collaborate with each other seamlessly. This can save both parties time and resources while ensuring that collaborations are more targeted and effective.
What kind of influencers and brands do you work with?
We work with a large portfolio of clients targeting various industries, including F&B, hospitality, wellness, fitness, beauty, festivals & concerts, and retail. Our brand selection process involves understanding their target audience, marketing objectives, and brand identity to ensure alignment with our influencer network.
As for influencers, we collaborate with a diverse range, including micro-influencers, macro-influencers, content creators, and models. We prioritise working with lifestyle individuals who enjoy going out, creating content, and are active on social media platforms.
We’re one of the few platforms in the world capable of obtaining real KPIs from Meta using an API. This capability enables us to carefully select and connect the right individuals with the right brands and, more importantly, to track the results of each campaign.
We aim to create meaningful partnerships that resonate with brands and influencers, resulting in authentic and impactful collaborations.
What marketing strategies do you use to attract both users and F&B brands?
We showcase our platform’s benefits through engaging content, interacting with our audience on social media, sending personalised emails, and ensuring our platform is easily discoverable through SEO and SEM efforts. It’s all about connecting and bringing together users and brands in perfect harmony.
Aside from marketing strategies, word of mouth has been a huge driver for us. We consistently receive referrals because our members and clients are enthusiastic about spreading the word about our platform.
It’s incredibly rewarding to see that kind of organic support. Our members are the best advocates for us. We are The Secret Society, but they’re the secret.
How do you measure the success of your marketing efforts?
We measure it by the app’s international growth. The app has become an international tool with a community of 75,000 members. Whenever we expand to a new location, there’s an immediate buzz surrounding the platform, resulting in thousands of downloads daily.
We consistently rank among the top 20 lifestyle apps on the Apple Store in the countries we enter. In Dubai, our new app held the #2 spot for three weeks upon launch. Currently, we have over 3,500 members going out with us daily.
What role does storytelling play in your marketing and advertising campaigns?
Storytelling plays a pivotal role in our marketing and advertising campaigns. In today’s digital age, it is essential. A beautiful video without any storytelling behind is an empty shell. People expect high-quality content that resonates with them.
As Casey Neistat once said, the essence of a successful video lies in its storytelling; you can film with basic equipment and still thrive if the story is appealing and passes the message. None of the high-end cameras and tools can salvage a campaign if the storytelling lacks depth or fails to engage the audience.
What are your plans for expanding reach and impact in the region?
We believe that the international expansion of The Secret Society is contributing to the growth of tourism in the Middle East, which has become a global tourism hub.
In UAE, we strive to simplify tourism by encouraging people to open Careem or Uber and now, The Secret Society upon arrival. We bridge the gap between elite venues and individuals, guiding them to the very best experiences.
In a market saturated with numerous F&B establishments, it’s easy for people to feel overwhelmed; therefore, we direct them to the places they should visit.
We are diversifying our portfolio. While we have significantly impacted F&B and hospitality, we believe there is much to explore in the wellness, beauty, and retail sectors. This journey in the Middle East is just beginning, we are developing another app that will soon have a significant impact as well.
