Marriott iPhone App

In the spirit of making these reviews more interesting, I have developed a scale of greatness for the hospitality apps. Each app will be rated on three basic categories:  appearance, functionality and amount of information for guest. By creating a simple platform to evaluate the different apps, we will start to develop an understanding of makes a truly great app. Our scale of greatness will range from somewhat mediocre to awesome. The levels from worst to best are somewhat mediocre, a bit better, pretty good and awesome.

Now let’s move on to my thoughts on the Marriott app.

I will begin by introducing you to the opening page of the app.

I am not moved by the graphics but the color theme fits the brand. It offers you an easy to navigate menu at the bottom of the app where you can find a hotel, look up reservations, sign in to your Rewards account or more options.

Once you select your dates and location, you are presented with this menu. It is easy to navigate and I like that they can share new information such as “New Lobby”.

You can then select a hotel. I really like that each hotel has a photo gallery. This is a great selling feature as visuals are so important. Also, the hotel highlights provide pertinent information for the traveler.

Finally, we are to my favorite part of the app – the “More” menu.  I think this is a great idea as it sells the whole experience rather than just being a booking app. The guest can find important phone numbers and city guides. You can also provide feedback on the mobile app, helping Marriott to improve its service and making the guest feel important. Well done!

I would like to conclude with my ratings of this app on my newly developed scale of greatness.

Appearance – Pretty Good

Functionality – Pretty Good

Amount of information for guest – Awesome! – due to the City Guides!

Hopefully, you have found this review helpful. Stay tuned for more reviews. Please let us know if you have an app you would like us to review.

Apple lovers, geeks, obsessives, followers, fanatics and Steve Jobs stalkers the world over are currently hyping themselves up into a frenzy over the projected September release of the iOS5 and iPhone 5. At Screen Pilot we’re not so concerned about what the new operating system will do but how it can help us engage with consumers and what changes we’ll have to make.

Take for example the most obvious place to start – Phone wide Twitter intergration. This will see more photos and other rich media tweeted by iPhone users making twitter a more valuable tool for digital marketers. It could also see a surge in Twitter sign ups as new iPhone users jump on the bandwagon.

However the biggest marketing challenge will be the new Notification Center that is visible on users lock screens. This update has come about because of the number of notifications iPhone users receive has ballooned over the last 12 months. This led to a number of complaints to Apple. The Notification Center has been built to remedy this.

The user can see all notifications in a single place via the Notification Center from the home screen or from any app by swiping down the status bar. When the user gets a new notification it will appear at the top of the screen rather than a popup. The lock screen also displays the notifications so you can respond to them quickly with a swipe of your finger. From a marketing standpoint this change certainly makes the iPhone a less useful tool. We can imagine that deal apps like Groupon and Living Social will suffer as their daily updates go unnoticed more often. Its worth keeping an eye(phone) on when the new OS and iPhone 5 is released.

You can relax, we won’t be peppering this blog entry with Clint Eastwood and cowboy puns! Earlier this year we introduced you to QR Codes as a means to link your offline and online marketing efforts. In case you didn’t see that or need a quick catch up then check it out here. Since then QR code use has mushroomed. A recent report showed that QR code use has increased by over 4000% since 2010.

That increased use has meant that we have seen QR codes out and about a lot more recently. Here’s what we’ve seen around over the last few weeks…

Caribou Coffee – Caribou are using QR codes as part of their “Stay Awake For Summer” ad campaign.

Firstly the good – QR codes are still relatively new to most of the general public. Therefore it’s vital that, for now, we explain to consumers what they are and how to scan them in a simple and concise way. Caribou have done a great job of this. They explained what was needed and where to get a free reader.

They also incentivized the marketing message giving the consumer a reason to use the QR code – “Sign up for more weekly summer savings”. Most consumers won’t scan the QR code just because it’s a cool new tool.

Now for the bad – This can’t be seen from our photo but the signs were placed in awful locations. The codes need to be easily accessible and in obvious places. Caribou started well by placing the signs on a few tables. However there were also signs behind the counter and on the wall behind tables (blocked by other customers). And they were the 2 most obvious in the store.

The Hilton, Hilton Head Island – Unfortunately this was ugly pretty much all round. The only positive we can give is that the QR Code was very obvious and stood out. Everything else was poor – No explanation of what it was, no incentive to scan, it didn’t offer a free reader and it was in a pretty odd location (down a hallway in the middle of the resort). The sign didn’t even look professional; it was pretty much just a print out stuck to the wall. All in all a very odd piece of marketing.

Old Navy – Hazaa! By far the best use of QR codes we have seen. The codes were used as part of a competition to win tickets to the MLB World Series. The execution was superb. Signage was in all the best locations – Front door, by checkout and by the changing rooms. Everywhere customers were likely to stop for a few moments there was a sign.

They explained the code well, they incentivized it and their mobile landing page was simple and easy to use. As a campaign for generating customer email addresses it was seamless from beginning to end.

Have you seen any good or bad uses of QR codes out and about recently? Comment below and let us know. And if you’re thinking about implementing them in your upcoming marketing efforts then get in touch. We’d love to have a chat about what can be done.

As the Holiday Season is fast approaching many of us will be on the road travelling to visit family and friends. If you own an iPhone below is a list of 11 apps that could just help make your journey that much easier and pleasant!

These apps will help you locate the nearest gas stations, hotels and restaurants. They will also help you to learn more about the local scene and current weather conditions.

1. Mapsbuddy – helps make search on Google Maps easier. Quick shortcuts to finding gas stations, restaurants, post office, and many other things you’ll need for the road.
2. SimulTravel GPS – an innovative application that locates hotels around you to plan travel  while you travel. You can locate hotels that are not near your current location. There are over 35,000 hotels to choose from in other cities or near other airports.
3. Urbanspoon – if you can’t decide where to eat, shake your iPhone and Urbanspoon will pick a good restaurant for you to try. Keep shaking until you find a restaurant you’re happy with.
4. Yelp – Yelp the popular review-based social network also has an iPhone app. Use it to search for places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play then read reviews from an active community of locals in the know.
5. Road Trip – is the fastest easiest way to log your mileage and gas expenses. You can graph out trip expenses and even export the data in csv format into Excel. It has multiple currency support. It can also record your car’s information such as VIN, insurance policy number, emergency phone numbers and registration.
6. The Weather Channel – this app provides in-motion radar maps, traffic cams (select markets), improved graphics and more.
7. WifiTrak – this app will help you find FREE and open WiFi hotspots and public access points quickly and easily. Network list sorted from best to worst.
8. Road Trip Fun – this app contains a list of games that you and your family can play on a road trip! Helps keep the kids in the car busy whilst you drive! No internet connection is needed!
9. Flashlight – when you find yourself in a dark spot, Flashlight will illuminate where you are with a bright white light or you can customize the color of your choice.

The Dropbox iPhone App is ready for free download! It is also available for Windows and Linux.

For those of you not familiar with Dropbox it’s an easy-to-use cross-platform cloud storage with sharing capabilities. Now you can also link to your Dropbox account from you iPhone. If you don’t already have a Dropbox account it will prompt you to create a free 2GB account when you download the app for your iPhone.

The Dropbox desktop version allows automatic syncing with your account online. Due to storage limitations on your iPhone, the iPhone app will not auto sync with your entire Dropbox account but it will sync through the use of a favorite Dropbox file.

Other features include one-click sharing of your Dropbox files by email and a photo gallery view for easy browsing of images on your iPhone. You can also upload photos and videos directly to your Dropbox account from your iPhone.

Still not sure if you need a free Dropbox account? Below are some reasons why you should!

Dropbox Features

File Sync

Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.
• Work on files in your Dropbox even if you’re offline. Your changes sync once your computer has an Internet connection again.
• Dropbox transfers will correctly resume where they left off if the connection drops.
• Efficient sync – only the pieces of a file that changed (not the whole file) are synced. This saves you time.
• Doesn’t hog your Internet connection. You can manually set bandwidth limits.

File Sharing

Sharing files is simple and can be done with only a few clicks.

• Shared folders allow several people to collaborate on a set of files.
• You can see other people’s changes instantly.
• A “Public” folder that lets you link directly to files in your Dropbox.
• Control who is able to access shared folders (including ability to kick people out and remove the shared files from their computers).
• Automatically create shareable online photo galleries from folders of photos in your Dropbox.

Online Backup

Dropbox backs up your files online without you having to think about it.

• Automatic backup of your files.
• Undelete files and folders.
• Restore previous versions of your files.
• 30 days of undo history, with unlimited undo available as a paid option.

Web Access

A copy of your files are stored on Dropbox’s secure servers. This lets you access them from any computer or mobile device.

• Manipulate files as you would on your desktop – add, edit, delete, rename etc.
• Search your entire Dropbox for files.
• A “Recent Events” feed that shows you a summary of activity in your Dropbox.
• Create shared folders and invite people to them.
• Recover previous versions of any file or undelete deleted files.
• View photo galleries created automatically from photos in your Dropbox.

Security & Privacy

Dropbox takes the security and privacy of your files very seriously.

• Shared folders are viewable only by people you invite.
• All transmission of file data and metadata occurs over an encrypted channel (SSL).
• All files stored on Dropbox servers are encrypted (AES-256) and are inaccessible without your account password.
• Dropbox website and client software have been hardened against attacks from hackers.
• Dropbox employees are not able to view any user’s files.
• Online access to your files requires your username and password.
• Public files are only viewable by people who have a link to the file(s). Public folders are not browsable or searchable.

Mobile Device Access

The free Dropbox iPhone app lets you:

• Access your Dropbox on the go.
• View your files on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
• Download files for offline viewing.
• Take photos and videos and sync them to your Dropbox.
• Share links to files in your Dropbox.
• View interactive photo galleries.
• Sync downloaded files so they’re up-to-date.

A mobile-optimized version of the website is available for owners of Blackberry phones and other Internet-capable mobile devices.

To get your Dropbox free account click here. Let’s us know your thoughts in the comments.