Excerpt from article released Thursday, August 12th via Oregon Business Magazine :

“The Social Media Club of Portland also reached out to find a local Portland hospitality or restaurant business that was ahead of the curve in regard to engaging customers through social media.  The winner was the Jupiter Hotel.  They have created an iconic brand maven out of Jupiter Lily, a mannequin that resides in the hotel’s lobby.  Jupiter Lily tweets updates that often include cheeky sexual innuendos.  She also stars in the hotel’s monthly e-mail blast that features a comic book-style story.  The hotel’s innovative use of social media has garnered them a loyal following who appreciate the change from typical business tweets that may just tell them about room rates or special deals.”

To read the full article, please click here.

A mannequin? Who talks to hotel customers?? Sure! One of the Jupiter Hotel’s more successful campaigns is one that brings the Jupiter Hotel’s mascot, Jupiter Lily, to life. A mannequin in the front lobby, Lily was so-named by the front desk agents after hotel owner, Tod Breslau, purchased her to uniquely showcase available t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats and underwear guests can purchase. Shannon Pratuch, owner of iMarket Strategy and the SCENE marketing group, noticed that guests were snapping pictures of Lily in the lobby, posting them online, and bands were leaving her swag and notes. From that has come a purely viral campaign launch in January 2010.

• Jupiter Lily Facebook Profile – Currently 3,496 followers (http://www.facebook.com/jupiterhotel)
• Monthly e-mail campaign to over 16,000 subscribers
• Monthly professional photo shoot with local pro photographer and directed by event production company, Luxe Event Productions
• Professionally illustrated and designed graphic by local artist, Brenda Dunn
• Rose City Roller program with Lily sponsorship, banner advertisement and overnight stay package
• Jupiter Lily rate program
• Jupiter Lily super user program
• Custom email address
• Promotional ad set

Recently these efforts were recognized by the Social Media Club of Portland during an online contest featuring the best in hospitality. A close race ensued, but the Jupiter Hotel won the award and was featured during a recent club meeting as well as interviewed by expert Paul Barron. Barron is the publisher of Fast Casual Magazine, an Alltop-featured blogger at SocialCoco.com, and was just named the top U.S. social media influencer in the hospitality industry by Restaurant Reality Check blog. He is also actively engaged with the boards of both the National Restaurant Association and Share Our Strength. Check out his full bio for more information or follow him on Twitter: @PaulBarron.
The unique nature of Lily is that her following online is purely motivated by word of mouth and friends interact with her as a person. This has created a situation where authenticity and community, the essence of what social media is supposed to be, come together with marketing and advertising that the Jupiter’s demographic set and target audience readily accept, have genuine brand following, and interact with on a daily basis. While some of the ROI is difficult to track, Lily does have her own rate code and her online followers send room requests direct through Facebook rather than booking online.

Excerpt from case study :

“The Jupiter Hotel in Portland, Oregon is a distinctive property with its own particular marketing needs. A mid-century remodeled hotel, the Jupiter appeals to a hipster, younger crowd with many creative corporate executives booking functions there. Shannon Pratuch, the director of sales and marketing for the Jupiter Hotel, says she relies on BatchBook social CRM, by BatchBlue Software, and other solutions in The Small Business Web to help keep the business thriving within its target demographic.

Much of Pratuch’s focus in 2009 and 2010 has been on building out the hotel’s sales contacts to increase repeat clientele. Since the Jupiter’s guests are so closely tapped into social media, Pratuch said, she opted to work with BatchBlue in large part because of its software’s focus on incorporating social media feeds into its contact management database.”

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