TRIP ADVISORHotels Co-BrandingProject Workflow &

Training Guidelines for Students

What is This Project About?Trip Advisor – The World’s Largest Travel Site, has partnered with Oysterconnect.com to

launch a nationwide Hotels Co-Branding project. Under this Program we plan to onboard thousands of Hotels across India onto the TripAdvisor Platform as their Co-

branded Associates.

Oysterconnect.com will, therefore, be running this project on behalf of Trip Advisor, whose branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, reaching 315

million unique monthly visitors, and more than 200 million reviews and opinions covering more than 4.4 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions.

What are Specific Tasks that I need to Do on this project?

Conduct Secondary Research to validate the

Hotels’ Contact Details Call Your

Allocated Hotels to

Inform them about the Co-

Branding Initiative

Share the List of Interested Hotels with the Project

Manager

Get Collaterals & POImapper

Login from the Project

Manager

Meet the interested

Hotels to get the Stickering

done

Upload Stickering Photos & Fill the Hotels

Information Form via POImapper

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

TripAdvisor Hotels Co-Branding Process

STEP 1:The Project Manager will allocate to you a specific set of Hotels who will be your Target List to get the Stickering done. Once you get this list, do the following:

1. Conduct a Secondary Research using Internet Sources such as Zomato, FoodPanda, JustDial, etc. to validate the Hotel Contact Details mentioned in the list.

2. Update the information in the google sheet provided by the Project Manager.

STEP 2:1. Call the Hotels from your list and inform them about TripAdvisor’s

Co-Branding Initiative.

2. Sought their interest in getting the stickering done and ask for a Face-to-Face Meeting to discuss the same.

3. Update the Calling Statuses in the google sheet provided by the Project Manager.

Sample Spiel for Telephonic ConversationHello Sir/ Mam,

I am calling from TripAdvisor. You are listed on TripAdvisor and are one of our best rated Hotel Partners. As a next step in our relationship, we have launched a Co-Branding initiative wherein we are going do some On-Site Branding using TripAdvisor Review Stickers. These stickers will be pasted at a prominent place at your Hotel such as the Reception Desk, where customers checking in & out can easily view the same and remember to provide your Hotel with good Ratings & Reviews on TripAdvisor.

If you are interested in getting the stickering done, I can come over and meet you to get this done. Do let me know a good time & date for the same.

STEP 3:

Meeting the Interested Hotel Owners/ Managers

What does Direct Engagement with Hotels Involve?

1. Meet the Hotel owners/ managers and introduce TripAdvisor’s Co-Branding Initiative to them and Convince them to put the TripAdvisor Stickers on the Hotel's front door & reception desk.

2. Each hotel needs to be handed over an envelope which contains 2 stickers and a small story about the Travel experience piece. The student has to take out the stickers and complete the Stickering on the spot.

– The 2 stickers which have to be stickered on the front glass door and next to the cashier/reception

area.

3. Once done, photos of the same have to be taken for validation purposes. You will need to upload all the data and pictures from the restaurant location onto “Trip Advisor Hotels Information Form” in POI Mapper.

How to Approach the Hotel & Introduce TripAdvisor’s Co-Branding Initiative?

Introduce Yourself:

• Hi, I’m from TripAdvisor and I would like to talk to you about a Co-branding Opportunity from TripAdvisor. We spoke briefly a couple of days ago.

Introduce TripAdvisor & the Purpose of your Visit:

• As you may know, TripAdvisor, Inc. is an American travel website company providing reviews of travel-related content. It is headquartered in Needham, Massachusetts and is the largest travel site in the world, with more than 60 million members and over 170 million reviews and opinions of hotels, restaurants, attractions and other travel-related businesses.

How to Approach the Hotel & Introduce TripAdvisor’s Co-Branding Initiative?

Continued…

• Currently, TripAdvisor operates in 45 countries and have a strong market base for Hotels who have acquired very good Ratings & Reviews via our website.

• As a next level partnership, TripAdvisor has initiated this co-branding activity, where Marketing Interns like myself are approaching all their Listed Hotel Partners to Paste a TripAdvisor Review Sticker on your Reception and click some mandatory pictures and take the necessary details.

How does the Restaurant benefit from this Co-Branding Activity?

TripAdvisor does not charge its Listed Hotels for being featured/ rates/ reviewed via their website unlike many other online portals.

The online visibility for the Hotel increases exponentially as TripAdvisor is present in 45 countries and is a worldwide known brand.

TripAdvisor being an established brand in the Hotel Sector has a huge customer base which will easily improve the daily footfalls at their associated Hotels.

Being a part of the TripAdvisor Network through this co-branding activity will also enable you to garner much needed Ratings & Reviews from Customers all over the world.

Why Should the Hotel Get the Stickering Done?

This co-branding activity is absolutely free of cost. By pasting this sticker in your Hotel, the customers visiting the Hotel will get to know that this Hotel is already listed on TripAdvisor and they can also give their reviews. The more good reviews your Hotel gets, the higher will be the Ratings of your Hotel on TripAdvisor.

Know the Hotel Owner/ Manager’s Interest

After you are done with the Introduction & Proposal, ask for the permission of the owner to apply the Stickers on the Front Door & Reception Desk.

– If Yes, do the Stickering and Record the Details (Hotel Information & Sticker Photos) in the “Trip Advisor Restaurant Information Form”

– If No, then politely ask the reason for the same and share the same with your project manager and update the Hotel’s Form status as “Not Interested”.

If the Hotel Agrees to Paste the Sticker…

Install the Stickers– Once the Hotel agrees to get the Stickering done, hand

over the Envelope containing the 2 stickers & the Travel Experience Piece.

– Take out the stickers and complete the Stickering on the spot.

– The 2 stickers (shown in the picture) have to be pasted at 2 places:

One on the Front Door One near the Cashier/Reception Area.

Collect & Upload Data via POI MapperOnce the Stickering is done, you should to enter the required data through POI Mapper Plus App in the Hotel itself so that it captures the exact latitude and longitude of the Hotel.

1. Login on POIMapper using the credentials provided to you by the Project Manager.

2. Make sure that your Phone Location is ON and change the settings in your account as per the instructions given in the POI Mapper training video.

3. Open the “Trip Advisor Hotel Information Form” in POI Mapper.

4. Fill the form with the relevant Hotel Details as per the required fields mentioned in the Form

Collect & Upload Data via POI Mapper5. Click on the ‘Camera Icon’ inside POI Mapper to Take Pictures of the Stickered Hotel & Upload the same. You are required to take 5 different pictures for each Hotel as mentioned below:

i. Close Shot Picture of the Front Door Stickerii. Street-view Picture of the Hotel’s Entrance such that the Front Door Sticker is visible.iii. Close Shot Picture of the Reception Desk Stickeriv. Picture of the Reception Area (from a little distance) with the Sticker Visibly Pastedv. Close shot Picture of the Hotel’s Letter Head (containing the Name/ Logo/ Address)

kept beside the Reception Area Sticker

Collect & Upload Data via POI Mapper

– Once the form is filled, Save it.

– Click on “Ready for upload” to upload all the forms, when you have internet connection.  This will finally submit the form filled by you.

– After the forms are uploaded, the form goes to “Shared” where you can view the form you have submitted.

– In case there’s been a wrong entry, you can make some necessary edits as well.

Common Mistakes (made by Students) Resulting in Rejections/ Non-Approval by

TripAdvisor Team– Incorrect Sticker Location/ Sticker Placement– Sticker not pasted correctly (Folded/ Coming out from corners/Wrinkled/ etc.)– Wrong TA ID entered– Poor Photo Quality – No Clarity– Sticker close shot missing– Sticker long shot missing– Restaurant Address Proof Missing (Needed in case of Relocated Restaurants)– Duplicate– Fake work

Have More Questions?Feel free to Contact your Project Manager or the

OysterConnect TeamEmail ID: info@oysterconnect.com

Mobile No: 8826466799

Thank You!&

Good Luck!