This month Lisa Borromeo Checchio was named Vice President, Brand Marketing for Wyndham Hotel Group.

Checchio joins the world’s largest hotel company from JetBlue Airways where she helped lead JetBlue’s marketing and advertising, including the launch of its award-winning “Air on the Side of Humanity” campaign and the airline’s premium product, Mint.

Checchio talked to Loyalty360 about her new role and the great opportunities attached to it.

What attracted you to the Wyndham Hotel Group and what are your goals from a customer loyalty, customer engagement, and customer experience perspective?

As a brand marketer, how could I not come to Wyndham Hotel Group right now? With an appetite for innovation around energizing the brands, it is a really exciting time for the company. There’s a lot of opportunity to build on the emotional connection our guests have with our iconic, heritage brands by creating meaningful brand experiences and we’re working on a brand repositioning project right now that will help us do just that. I’ve been here for just a few days and the sense of pride everyone has for what we’re doing is infectious.

What makes Wyndham so unique in the industry now?

This company is the best kept secret in the hotel industry. It’s a hotel giant with a very unique opportunity to be the best of the best when it comes to economy and midscale hospitality. We’re making huge strides in technology, training, and marketing so that our franchisees can be successful and our guests can have remarkable experiences. Every guest–regardless of room rate–deserves to feel special and delighted and we can be the best hotel company doing it.

What trends do you see that can have an impact on further brand differentiation and enhanced brand loyalty in the future?

Social media is important. It will continue to evolve the way our brands relate to guests. It’s not just about selling rooms. It’s about showing the guest who we are as a company and what we believe in. Every interaction with a brand has to be significant because experiences are shared in real time. But there’s also something to be said about good, old fashioned, face-to-face hospitality. Great service makes the difference between our brand and the competitor across the street. Customer service–whether online or on property–is the crux of our brand experience and if that doesn’t shine, neither does our brand.

How do you define customer loyalty and has that definition changed or evolved in recent years?

Loyalty is about more than just purchase. It’s now about customers inviting brands into their daily lives and sharing their experiences. There’s an emotional connection and social consciousness associated with brand loyalty now. We want people to want to tell their friends and family that they stay with Days Inn but still engage with us when they’re not staying with us on property. That’s how we know we’ve made a real connection with our guests, when we become a positive, enriching part of their lives.

Source: http://loyalty360.org/resources/article/wyndham-hotel-groups-new-vp-brand-marketing