WESTIN Hotels and Resorts
An Overview of Developing Product Strategy
Prepared by:
Astrid Widayani
Wibowo Kristianto
Facilities
Innovative
Product
WESTIN Heavenly Bed
Since its introduction in 1999, the
Westin Heavenly® Bed has lulled
guests into deep, restful sleep while
winning accolades as an industry-
leading innovation.
Because good sleep is critical for both
mental and physical health. Westin has
designed every detail of the Heavenly
Bed to evoke superior slumber – from
the crisp, white 250-thread count
sheets to custom mattresses. Bedtime
has never been more heavenly.
Heavenly Bath
the Heavenly® Bath redefines the
shower experience for guests by
offering industry firsts such as an
exclusive dual showerhead and a
revolutionary curved shower rod
that gives you eight additional
inches of elbow room. Our
Heavenly Spa
signature spa amenities, Brazilian
combed cotton bath sheets and
custom-designed velour bathrobes
are powerful incentives to lure
you out of bed and help you start
your day feeling pampered and
invigorated.
Other Products
Superfoods
"Superfoods" known for being rich in
antioxidants and phytonutrients will be
the main ingredient in Westin signature
dishes such as banana oatmeal brulé,
green-tea-infused salmon and molten
dark chocolate cake, the company said. In
addition to incorporating the
SuperFoodsRx theme, Westin’s new
menu features enhanced design including
Heavenly Dog Bed crisp imagery and improved readability.
Five Product Levels
Customer-value Hierarchy
Core benefit
Basic Product
Expected Product
Augmented Product
Potential Product
Components of the Market Offering
Value-
Value-
based
based price
price
Product
Product
features
features and
and
quality
quality
Services
Services
mix
mix and
and
quality
quality
New Product Development Process
Idea
Idea Idea
Idea
Generation
Generation Screening
Screening
Marketing
Marketing Concept
Concept
Strategy
Strategy Development
Development
Business
Business Product
Product
Analysis Development
Development
Analysis
Commercia
Commercia Market
Market
lization
lization Testing
Testing
Exhibit 2b RevPAR19 for Westin’s
Competing Brands, 1998-2000
year Westin Marrott renaissance hilton
1998 $ 94.87 $ 107.60 90.95 87.69
1999 $ 98.4 $ 109.60 93.54 90.01
2000 $ 117.13 $ 116.89 103.61 98.76
In the year 2000, westin hotel succeed in launching
the hotel’s new product “heavenly bed” and
increased revenue dramatically from $ 98.4 to $
117.13
Source: Case authors’ research. Hotels, room numbers and financial
data come from the companies’ Annual Reports.
The
The Sensory
Sensory
Welcome
Welcome
The
The Breath
Breath Program
Program
Program
Program
The
The Service
Service
Culture
Culture
Renewal
Renewal
Operation of a Lifestyle Experience
Exhibit 8 J.D. Power and Associates Guest Satisfaction
Surveys, 2001-2006. Select Upscale
Market Segment Hotel Brands
year westin hilton marriott omni renaissance average
2001 100 102 107 104 106 100
2002 110 n/a 109 107 114 105
2003 802 784 817 818 823 793
2004 793 758 772 785 784 764
2005 782 770 782 801 796 773
2006 794 793 803 809 804 778
Source: JD Power figures come from the annual JD Power and Associates North
America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index.
Why do new products fail?
The idea is good, but the market size is overestimated
The actual product is not well designed
The
The new
new product
product is
is incorrectly
incorrectly positioned
positioned in
in the
the market
market
Development cost are higher than expected
Competitors fight back harder than expected
Analysis of Solution Alternatives
Product Leadership
Westin invented new product
The product will be a competitive advantage
Customer Intimacy
Westin launched new strategy
The strategy is about personal renewal
Operation Excellence
Westin educated all the employees about hotel branding
The operation of this strategy has cultural difficulties
Recommendation
Repo
Repo
sition
sition
ing
ing
Strate
Strate
gy
gy
Custo
mer
Intima
cy
Ingre
Ingre
dient
dient
Bran
Bran
ding
ding
