Paulina Szafranski is an innovator in hospitality marketing and possibly the most influential person in the Denver nightlife industry. Few marketers have had the opportunity to specialize in one segment of marketing for their entire career. So, when I had the opportunity to sit down with Paulina, who is the President of Marketing for ViewHouse and Lotus Concepts, I was thrilled to see what kind of insights she had to offer.
How did you get started in marketing?
I was in college and I was fortunate enough to meet the CEO of our company when I was 20. I did an internship with him and just really enjoyed marketing. So, I’ve been with the same company for 17 years.
That’s amazing—some marketers tend to be a bit nomadic.
There have been so many different concepts over the years; it’s definitely kept me on my toes and there has never really been a lull in the business. There has always been growth and always a new challenge, which is what I look for.
What qualities do you think one needs to be a successful marketer?
I think, firstly, you need a passion for marketing. It’s a profession that you don’t turn off. Even if I am traveling to Israel and I land in the airport and I see the same ad throughout the entire airport, I’m thinking, “How did they get that kind of placement?” It’s gravitating towards your interests, your passion… sometimes a TV ad is as crucial to you as the actual program. Take the Super Bowl; for instance, I’m more interested in the advertising than the actual game. I remember certain campaigns, whether they are print advertisements, billboard advertising or websites that really speak to me as a consumer.
"I think the key to being a really good marketer is understanding what you gravitate to, and then being able to translate it to others."
I think that’s the key to being a really good marketer in the first place: understanding what you gravitate to, and then being able to translate it to others. If you are just kind of shooting in the dark and you don’t have that heart part in it, it’s probably not going to translate into a really successful campaign that others would gravitate towards.
That’s an interesting point. I’m always curious about where other marketers stand on the issue of creative driven marketing versus data driven marketing. What are your thoughts on that?
I think there is a place for both—a happy medium. Just like in a successful business you have your operational side and the creative marketing side: if both sides aren’t delivering at full capacity, marketing could pack a venue with a thousand people, but if those people don’t enjoy the experience you are actually doing a disservice to the customer. I’ve really found that—even with marketing budgets—how you are doing social media ads and your placements is all part of creating that experience. The end goal is creating the feeling within the consumer and it takes both sides.
In marketing - "If we always focus on what we are going to get out of it, then we might miss out on some really fun opportunities."
One of the advantages of being an in-house marketer is that a lot of the decisions come as a team. In this case, it’s a lot easier to convince management to go with something that’s a little edgier—maybe a little more out of the box—without worrying too much about return on investment. Perhaps it’s a ‘surprise and delight’ campaign instead of always looking at the bottom line on it. If we always focus on what we are going to get out of it, then we might miss out on some really fun opportunities.
How do you feel the hospitality industry differs from other industries from a marketing perspective?
What I have learned over the years, in the hospitality industry, is that it’s all about people’s lifetime moments. So we have to realize that people are going to one of your locations for their birthday, their anniversary—they may have even met their future wife or husband there. Or maybe it’s their first time in Denver and their first time seeing the view of the mountains. So we have a responsibility, because it’s their lifetime moments. I always keep that in the back of my mind—that people are emotionally invested in our venues.
On a scale of 1 - 10 how would you rank these marketing platforms level of importance, in terms of how it relates to your brand?
Website = I would say a 6. Although if we put more effort into it, it would have the potential to be even higher.
Social Media = I’d have to say a 9. It’s definitely huge for us.
Television = Definitely a 6. We have a couple of strong partnerships in the market.
Radio = Probably about a 4. I think they just need to be a little more creative. We have a couple of radio partners that do come to us with some really creative programming, but some of the partners we’ve had in the past just really need to reinvent the wheel to make themselves relevant again.
What modern tool, tactic or aspect of marketing do you think brands should be paying attention to?
I don’t think it’s about one tool or tactic necessarily: I think it’s about understanding the complexity of people. They have so many options and so much information—people are basing their decisions on niche culture groups, friend recommendations, if the brand is involved in the community, and if the product is locally sourced. So we just have to do our research, more than ever before. Knowing your audience on a deeper level is so important. A lot of the factors that we based the pillars of our brand on came from extensive research.
Conversely, is there an old school marketing technique or pillar that people have forgotten about in this data driven era?
Honestly, I think it’s just about finding more ways to personalize the relationship between brand and customer. The cookie cutter mentality just doesn’t work anymore. Social media is a great example of what I’m talking about. In the past we’ve tried to use social media agencies, but I’ve had to pull the plug. The message was just getting diluted. We have such an opportunity to speak directly to our audience: the message has to be authentic.
How do you, in the hospitality industry, measure campaign success?
It definitely starts with revenue, but the feedback we get from our clientele is equally important. Our goal is to create amazing experiences for our clientele. Thankfully, there are so many outlets to get feedback in the hospitality industry, whether it’s social media outlets, Yelp, direct email or even comment cards. It helps us gauge realistically how we are doing, and when you align that feedback with revenue it just adds up.
If you could go back in a time machine to 17 years ago, when you were first starting in marketing, what advice would you give yourself?
One, I would be diligent about organizing all databases and all contacts because you do need them over and over again; it just makes your life so much easier. Secondly, make sure you enjoy the process. You are not going to get away from the hard work. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, whether you are just out of college, or the the president of marketing: there is no way around the hard work. So embrace that, figure out how to make it work with your personal life.
"It doesn’t matter how much money you make, whether you are just out of college, or the the president of marketing: there is no way around the hard work."
Lastly, be grateful that you get to do what you want, and realize that what you are learning that first day is just as important as what you are learning 15 years in. Also, don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t know something. Be excited about the constantly changing arena of marketing, instead of being intimidated, overwhelmed or frustrated by it. Nobody “gets it all,” so enjoy the process of learning— have fun with it and laugh about it!
In the future, going forward, what do you think marketers need to be paying attention to and what do you think they need to do to stay sharp?
I think not just exposing yourself to things in the marketing field, but also staying current in the art world. Reading every day is important—being current with language, art, visuals—because people are immersed in media. You need to be aware of what they are being inundated with, what they are responding to and what you are you as an individual are responding to. You can never turn that value off and you have to have that mindset when you are experiencing things. It’s important to develop an understanding of why you are attracted to certain art, images or campaigns.
What is a success story you’d like to share about a marketing campaign or strategy that you’ve initiated?
I think it is about going into marketing areas your competitors haven’t. For example, for our campaign to open Chlóe Mezze Lounge, a Mediterranean influenced high-end nightclub, we created Chlóe as a persona: a female that had just moved to Denver. Nobody knew it was a nightclub and lounge. We literally marketed it as this socialite from all over the world, who had money and was making her own billboards.
People really responded—it just took off! Everyone wondered, “Who is Chlóe?” People were signing up and calling us asking if we had something to do with it. It was kind of funny because it was something so simple and it had a relatively small budget. That’s one of the reasons I’m referencing it, but by the time Chlóe opened, it had this life of its own. The way that we branded this fictional socialite that traveled the world, went to clubs and ate Mediterranean food—people got it. They believed in it because of the association with a ‘real’ person.
Is there any trend that you are currently adapting to that you think will stand the test of time?
I think businesses in general are taking more responsibility, as a whole, for their customers’ experience, and for what they are putting out there in the market, and what they bring to the community. I don’t know if I’m just more aware of that because we are in Colorado and culturally we tend to be a bit more conscientious; however, I really do like that direction of business.
"Businesses are realizing they are like a neighbor in the community, not just a business."
I think it holds everyone more accountable. It’s almost like businesses are realizing they are like a neighbor in the community, not just a business. I think that is an interesting trend that’s not going anywhere.
As the leader of a 15+ person marketing team, what is your leadership philosophy?
My philosophy is, first of all, to lead by example and also to do everything you can to develop the people on your team. Often people might have skill sets that you’re not aware of, but if you give them the tools they might even outshine you. And that’s what you really want: you want to make yourself obsolete, in a sense, so that you can focus on other aspects. Some people have a fear-based mentality, but I love it when someone is better than me at something.
What is the best piece of advice, marketing or otherwise, that you have been given?
Good question. The Stockdale Paradox has always stayed with me: the idea of being brutally honest about your current situation, but also having faith in the outcome. I think that applies to a lot of disciplines including marketing. Every campaign is not going to work, but if you believe in the process enough you’ll make it work.
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