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Best Practices for Managing Brand Compliance Online: The IHG® Success Story

Featuring: Dana Dojnik Digital Program Manager, InterContinental Hotels Group Dan Morton Product Marketing, Brand Protection MarkMonitor

Best Practices for Managing Brand Compliance Online

Featured Speakers

Dana Dojnik

Digital Program Manager,

InterContinental Hotels Group

Dan Morton

Product Marketing, Brand Protection

MarkMonitor

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®)

Global hotel company with over 4,600 hotels in over 100

countries and territories

Network of thousands of franchisees worldwide

Portfolio of strong, preferred brands

Brand Compliance at IHG®

Ensure our guests have the best and most consistent experience

Liaison with over 1,600 properties that choose to have an Independent Website • Check websites are ‘on brand’: updated logos, colors, etc.

• Linking through to IHG.com for booking purposes

Our Brand Protection team is cross-functional, consisting of: • Legal

• Performance Marketing (Paid Search)

• Social Marketing

• Independent Websites

• Domain Management

• And, on occasion, the Fraud Dept.

Consistent brand touch points bring guests back to IHG® properties

Understanding our Compliance Challenges

Manually audited 4,600 hotels online to understand overall

brand compliance issues

Executive team realized it was time to put in the effort in the

area of compliance and enforcement of brand standards

Non-existent Branding

Dated Design, Graphics and Functionality

Obscured Corporate Branding

Too Localized

OTA Keyword Buy

OTA Landing Page Doesn’t Advertise Branded Keyword Hotel

The Impact of Brand Non-compliance

Inconsistent brand experience, brand confusion

Diverted website traffic

Diluted revenue from indirect bookings

Higher marketing costs from increased PPC and higher cost

of branded keywords

Increased commissions paid out to OTAs, Aggregators and

Affiliates

Start with a Structured Program

Proactive Monitoring for Brand Compliance

Monitor franchisee sites and scour the Internet EVERY DAY

for new infringers, even outside of our hotels

Monitor for brand inconsistencies and bad booking links

Monitor partners and our hotels to ensure compliance when

buying branded keywords

Make intelligent decisions about where to focus our efforts

• Focus on biggest infringers

Partnering for Compliance

Work closely with partners and franchisees to come into

compliance

Really understand the needs of the GM or Hotel

Marketing Manager • What’s really important to drive more business?

• How do those needs align with our brand directives?

Multi-step enforcement process

• Start with a warning, escalate only if necessary

Taking a “soft” approach can effectively curb brand misuse

Coming Into Compliance

Improving our Corporate Website Experience

Brand Compliance Success at IHG®

Providing a consistent brand experience throughout the

Customer Journey

Increased revenue from direct bookings

Steady reduction in independent website non-compliance

Boost in website traffic by reducing diversion and

cybersquatted domains

Minimize unnecessary commissions paid to partners

Reduced marketing costs by lowering average CPC

Brand Compliance Best Practices

Partners: Many Names, Same Function

Third parties that represent your brand…

AND are bound by an agreement

Best Practices

STRONG

AGREEMENT

PROACTIVE

MONITORING

SELECTIVE

ACTION

Brand Compliance Best Practices

Best Practices: Start with a Strong Agreement Some elements to consider…

Domain / Website

• Domain Ownership: Trademark Use, Links, Confusion

• Website Brand Consistency: Use of Logos / Landing Pages

• Unauthorized Sales Channels: Online Marketplaces, Social Media

• Required Disclaimers: Industry or Government (FTC, SEC, etc.)

Paid Search

• Direct Linking: One Display URL at a Time, Replaces Corporate Ads

• Branded Keyword Bidding: Higher CPC Costs, Consumer Intent

• Ad Ranking: Partners Ranked Higher than Corporate Ads

Social Media

• Social Media Profile Names: Causes Confusion, Competition

• Prohibited Words or Terms: “cheap”, “wholesale”, “discount”, etc.

Best Practices: Proactive Monitoring

Where to Start? • Become the customer. Go where they would go.

• Use tools to hide your corporate presence

• Monitor during non-business hours

• Use a systematic approach

Other Tactics • Tap internal teams for clues:

− Customer service complaints?

− Keyword costs increasing?

− Unusual commission patterns, high conversion rates

• Look for loopholes in your own agreement (is there the potential

for abuse?)

Infringers can be sophisticated or naïve

Best Practices: Selective Action

Remember these are your partners • Some may not be aware they are violating the agreement

• Three Strikes Approach: Reminder – Warning – Out

• Remove repeat offenders and large scale abusers

“Bad Apple” Scenario

• Allowing just one abuser will encourage others

More Leverage

• Rewrite agreement to cover common loopholes

• Issue notices to partners

• Take corrective action on remaining abusers

Examples of Misuse…

PROBLEM: BRAND

CONFUSION

Auto company with

dealers owning

excessive number

of branded domains

including those in

other dealer

territories and

brands + competitor

domains.

PROBLEM:

URL HIJACKING

Direct sales

company with

independent reps

creating paid

search ads that

displayed the

corporate domain,

then linked to their

individual profile

pages.

PROBLEM:

INCREASED CPC

Travel company

with lax view

toward keyword

bidding witnessed

excessive

competition for

branded keywords

in paid search ads

driving up

marketing costs.

PROBLEM:

LOST SALES

Large cruise line

found a travel

seller that owned

hundreds of

branded domains

that redirected

traffic to a

webpage that sold

competitor

products.

Q&A

Featured Speakers

Dana Dojnik

Digital Program Manager,

InterContinental Hotels Group

Dan Morton

Product Marketing, Brand Protection

MarkMonitor

Thank You!

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[email protected]

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www.markmonitor.com

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