We are delighted to announce the next step of our Greek campaign.

Even though Greece boasts some lovely small and medium sized hotels, the vast majority is not online. Travellers cannot find them and they cannot book online.

Good hoteliers want to move forward but in most cases they are not certain that their customers consider things like a good website and an online booking facility as neccessities.

In the normal SoMaFusion spirit of working together we are launching an action today cheekily titled “I want you… online”

Travellers are encouraged to leave feedback to hotels regarding their digital needs using a little card we created.

The action is also on Facebook and interested parties can also use our banners if they want to. In case there are questions we also created a FAQ.

If you are a Greek language speaker we would love to see you around.

—————————————————————————
The amazing feedback card and banners were designed by our favourite artist.

Time to re-acquaint you with one of our favourite people.

Lefteris Koulonis has once again joined SoMaFusion for a quick n dirty project  (remember the Greek campaign? He’s preparing a surprise as part of that project).

LeLon (as he is affectionately known) is the wiz behind our logo. So he’s been with us from the very beginning and is one of the first people who saw the business plan.

LeLon is not your typical designer. He brings to the process a sensitivity that enhances his work – not to mention that as a result he’s a pleasure to work with.

It’s great to have him on board once again.

Check out his work.

It is a great pleasure to announce the GREEK campaign. Targeted to Greek hoteliers with small and medium – sized hotels it has been a long time coming.

The centrepiece for the campaign is the hotelspro.gr website – a version of the SoMaFusion website in Greek and set up specifically with tourism professionals in mind.

Other actions include a targeted e-mail campaign (extremely targeted) and an outreach campaign (even though the details of the later are surprise). (more…)

It is a great feeling, when you are asked to talk about your work and the principles behind it.

We are very excited about our interview in a Greek daily newspaper regarding exactly those principles which guided us to publish our white paper on  Policy and Crisis Communications for the Hospitality Sector for free. We were asked time and again: Why give it away for free? Nikos Moumouris of Eleftherotypia had exactly the same question and he gave us an excellent opportunity to share our thinking with the world.  (more…)

Meet Theodora Gkiousou.

She joins us as a Marketing & Customer Outreach Executive, specifically for a campaign we are about to run with hoteliers.

Theodora has substantial experience in customer relations with a marketing twist, mainly in the online gaming industry. She brings a thorough understanding of digital outreach campaigns, targeted to specific industries and audiences.

Already we have had our first meetings, discussing the draft material, the contact sheets and the outcomes we would like to see from the outreach campaign. Theodora brings invaluable commercial impact to the project.

Help us to welcome her to SoMaFusion – go on, leave a nice comment.

————————
Full disclosure: Theodora is Sofia’s sibling. Her CV was examined like any other and she will be paid for the work.

The work we do as SoMaFusion is a gift to us in more ways than one. But today, it’s important to talk about the special people we meet along the way. (more…)

Sometimes you have to explain what you do. In simple terms.

I certainly dislike lengthy presentations and documents and frequently wish that people would just get on with it.

When I started putting together this presentation about how we work with hotels I had a chat with my colleague Manolis about this idea I had to just put things in simple terms. However, there is always the challenge of the prospective client who knows what he/she wants and really wants a bit more detail. (more…)

moo loves to print and we love them.

Already we designed and printed our business cards with them and everybody loves them.

Up for a bit of fun we just got out stickers.

Aren’t they cute?

(more…)

———————–
DOWNLOAD THE PRESS RELEASE (.pdf) * In English * In Greek *
———————–

Greek Assistant Minister of Culture and Tourism G. Nikitiadis (pic from his official website)

The Greek Assistant Minister of Culture and Tourism, Giorgos Nikitiadis, called the Golden Bay Hotel in Malia today and then wrote a letter to congratulate the hotelier, Manolis Argyrakis for his offer of value – added services to travellers who were affected by the Greek strikes and the ash from the volcano which prevented them from returning home.

As we’ve written in the past and as it was covered by VIMA, a major Greek newspaper, Manolis Argyrakis of the Golden Bay hotel in Crete, is one of the clients for whom we initially wrote the SoMaFusion white paper on Policy and Crisis Communications for the Hospitality Sector. In that document we discuss the needs that will be created due to strike actions and other external factors and how it is important for hospitality sector people to analyse these needs and adapt their services accordingly.

Manolis took the advice seriously and he hasn’t regretted it. Many of his guests have been affected either by strike action or by the ash cloud. He instituted a policy according to which no client would be left without accommodation if they couldn’t vacate due to extenuating circumstances.

The Greek Assistant Minister of Culture and Tourism called the Golden Bay Hotel today and chatted with Argyrakis and my colleague Manolis Mavrantonakis of SoMaFusion. We are ecstatic that the Assistant Minister congratulated our client and had a few lovely words of encouragement and thanks for SoMaFusion and our white paper as well.

The Assistant Minister of Culture and Tourism, Giorgos Nikitiadis wrote: (more…)

Periklis Vanikiotis, an old hand in journalism and tech in Greece, has an interesting column in the Greek edition of Marketing Week. He recently put down some thoughts about tourism and its marketing, mentioning our white paper.

He kindly agreed that we could translate and re-publish in our blog.

———————————————————

The product comes before advertising
by P. Vanikiotis, Marketing Week 1293

I am watching with interest, my friends, all these new cheerful acts to save tourism in Greece. I heard that we are even creating a DVD – it’s clear that this is all about advanced technology – in an attempt to show that we are a place of tranquility, order and security. Campaigns here, campaigns there, some good, some in need of improvement. And I wonder. Didn’t anyone note – Marketing 101 – that products have to come before advertising?

It’s true, if a tourist is looking for sun and sea they can be found in abundance. If you are looking for oily kebabs and warm beers, those can be found as well. If you are looking for a little bit of chaos in terms of where to go and where to stay, sure you’ll get that (I remember only too well those times in Tinos, the “rooms to let” guys where doing everything sort of picketing us). If, finally, you are looking for a general lack of info, you’ll get that too.

(more…)