Case Studies
Michael - Marketing through the media
12/09/2007Michael Berry, formerly managing director of English Lakes Hotels, took on four dated two and three-star hotels in the early 1970s.
He was an unashamed self-publicist who became the interviewee of choice on a range of issues over the next 30 years - The Lake District, Lakeland tourism and literature, tourism in England, powerboats, industrial archaeology and local history in the Lake District, planning issues in the Lake District National Park, even local weather.
Michael was an accountant by profession and a shrewd businessman. He recognised that almost any publicity was good publicity and became adept at getting verbal and visual name checks for his hotel group in every story. He never turned down an interview, generated hundreds of news and feature stories and became an instant pundit on any topic which might tangentially raise brand awareness and attract new business.
Michael immersed himself in local, regional and national organisations that might enhance his and his company's profile. He built the largest library of Lakeland literature in the world and his contribution to tourism was recognised by the award of an OBE.
By the time he died in 2004 he had turned English Lakes Hotels (www.englishlakeshotels.co.uk) into a hugely successful and well-known group of award-winning, mainly 4-star hotels. His maxim was: 'Airtime and column inches always translate into bodies in beds.'
