Holiday Inn Express's "Simply Smart" Bathroom Products Aren't | FutureNow's GrokDotCom / Marketing Optimization Blog

I’m Not Illiterate, But I Did Stay at a Holiday Inn Express

holiday inn express stay smart You’ve probably seen the commercials: Nuclear meltdowns, pro sports athletic training, rodeo clowns, daredevil motorcycle riders — all sorts of people are smarter and more prepared for life because of their choice of hotel.

“Are you new to the team?” asks the nuclear engineer of the stranger who saves a frazzled control room from reactor meltdown.

“Actually, I’m with the tour group, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.”

Holiday Inn Express has a brand promise: “Stay Smart.” Well, I had the opposite experience. Why? Blame it on their poorly named “Simply Smart” bathroom products.

It’s early in the morning — very early — and I’m looking for the hotel shampoo and conditioner. Not too difficult. Just look for the bottle marked “Shampoo” and the one marked “Conditioner”, right?

But I find no such thing. My choices include “Refresh”, “Scrub”, “Wash”, “Soften”, and “Tame”. I reckon that “Tame” is the conditioner, but as to which one was the shampoo, it’s a toss up, so I bring all the bottles into the shower with me. I then compound the situation by not brining my glasses, so now I can hardly read the labels.

Where was the helpful cut-out in the bathroom explaining what each “simple” bottle was? It wasn’t until later that I noticed tiny print on the back of the bottles explaining what each thing really was.

So, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but did I feel like I could fix a multi-million dollar athlete’s sprained ankle or prevent a nuclear meltdown? Not exactly. I had shampoo on my legs, hair conditioner on my face, and mouthwash in my hair. I didn’t feel capable of pouring a cup of coffee. (Though I must say, their hot breakfast bar really is impressive.)

In hindsight, once I knew what each container was, it made a little more sense. (Though how you get Spot & Stain remover from “Rub”, I still don’t know) but surely I’m not their only guest who was confused.

Nothing against Holiday Inn Express. I stay there often and the staff is usually lovely. But this bath product labeling thing really threw me.

So, what’s the lesson here (other than mouthwash should never be used as shampoo and vice versa)?

Beware of cute and clever labels. I see this on websites as well. There’s no glory in being clever if you end up confusing your visitors.

I also see this in advertising messages. I read about an effort in Australia to pull over drunk drivers. The original message was “Don’t blow your license.” Testing showed this message had near 100% understanding. But the ad agency wanted to change it to “Don’t blow it.” Clever, yes, but only 5% of the people had a clear understanding of their message. Some people even thought they were promoting civil disobedience by saying “Don’t take the breathalyser test.”

Back to websites. I know sometimes you want to show your visitors how creative you are. But do you really look at your site from their point of view? I am often befuddled by advertising agency sites. Leo Burnette has an interesting category called “We’re Idea Centric.” The sub categories are “Start Clean,” “Stay Restless,” and “Amplify.” I honestly don’t know what any of those mean or what I would see if I clicked on them.

I’m sure you’ve run into this yourself. I’d love to hear your examples of websites that had labels or navigational elements that were “clever” but not easily understood.

Well, off to getting the furniture polish out of my hair (another story for a later date).

. .

About the Author: Holly Buchanan is a Persuasion Architect at FutureNow and co-author of The Soccer Mom Myth: Today’s Female Consumer: Who She Really Is, Why She Really Buys. If you’d like to meet Holly and judge her in person, join her on June 2nd for FutureNow’s Persuasive Online Copywriting seminar in Manhattan. Not only will you learn techniques for attracting customers online, you’ll get a chance to schmooze over hors d’oeurves and cocktails at our “Happy Hour with the Experts” reception, which we hope you’ll find to be appropriately named even though it will last for more than an hour.

In Articles, Branding, Copywriting, Customer Focus

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Comments (16)

Jim Novo
May 27th, 2008
8:32 pm

Once you start optimizing web sites, isn’t it really hard not to look at *everything* through that lens?

I was telling someone at Home Depot the other day why the “user interface” to their self-checkout machines really sucks…
aakriti
May 28th, 2008
5:47 am

Hi Holly,
Your articles never fail to make me smile
But seriously, I agree with you. In our efforts of being creative & trying to deliver on the product, we get so close to the concept that we are in danger of losing the client’s perspective.

I’ll cite a recent case we encountered. I work as a product & online marketing manager for a leading Indian website. In our product description on the site, we have mentioned the years of experience relative to the product we sell. A client feedback (albeit a one-off case) was that he misunderstood the years of experience as that of the executive who would serve him after the purchase.
I have to admit, this interpretation did not occur to us once in our 5 yrs. of exp. with the product!
Sarah Clachar
June 2nd, 2008
1:37 pm

Great - humorous - article.

Thank you for the reminder - as a writer (health copywriter)I’m tempted by years of vocab. building and Monty Python episodes to grab someone with that new, eyeball-latching twist. As you remind us, shopping and marketing still has to meet some basic principles of practicality. 9 times out of 10 our customers are task-oriented and just want it done, enough web-browsing and price comparison. (Keep it Simple Stupid)K.I.S.S. still holds true.
Scott Salwolke
June 2nd, 2008
9:20 pm

“I know sometimes you want to show your visitors how creative you are. But do you really look at your site from their point of view? I am often befuddled by advertising agency sites.” This couldn’t be more true. These are the same advertising agencies who win tons of awards at the banquets each year. Yet, their sites don’t rank for any relevant keywords and they don’t convert visitors into customers.
brianm.cc
June 11th, 2008
1:00 pm

I find that all these creative types in trying to be different really only end up looking the same. They all use some sort of “clever” jargon that doesn’t really make much sense of you think about it. Silly words like AMPLIFY etc just sound silly.
Canuckie
June 14th, 2008
9:07 pm

HI Holly
It is Soccer.
Not the Football’s game.
Fran Sligh
August 4th, 2008
2:39 pm

In reference to the SimplySmart hair products, I came across
some from a previous stay and packed to take on an overnight trip rather than my large bottles. I was amazed how much I liked the products. Does anyone know where the
SimplySmart line is sold or is it exclusively for Holiday Inn Express?

Thanks
Michelle
August 24th, 2008
8:20 pm

I wish I knew where that shampoo/conditioner comes from. It smells soooo good and my usually dry hair is soooooooo soft and shiny!
Jodie
September 3rd, 2008
1:04 pm

It does say on the bottles what they are. I guess you just need to look.
Melody
September 10th, 2008
1:28 pm

I love the Smart shampoo and other products. It smells like vanilla or a cinnamon bun. The bedding in the room was nice too.
Melody
September 10th, 2008
1:28 pm

I’d love to find out where to purchase these products!!!
Ed
September 26th, 2008
2:24 pm

I agree. I recently stayed at a Holiday Inn Express and had trouble determining what was what. The bottles should clearly be labeled “Shampoo” etc. Holiday Inn Express is my favorite but this is a major shortcoming.
Shaleen
September 30th, 2008
8:10 pm

Well, I was smart enough to figure which was shampoo and which was conditioner and I love them both and would like to know where I can purchase them for my personal use. Thank you!!!!
Dorothy
October 8th, 2008
10:15 am

I thought it was pretty easy to determine which was shampoo and conditioner. The lotion was great. I, also, would like to know where the products can be purchased for personal use.
Judy
November 17th, 2008
8:06 pm

I would like to purchase freshen mouth wash that I got at the Holiday Inn we stayed at. It is great. Is there any way I can purchase it???
April Barnes
November 25th, 2008
1:02 pm

I am the sales manager for the Holiday Inn Express Airport Dieppe in Moncton,NB, Canada. Just wanted to let you all know you can get Holiday Inn Express products on Smart Mart (http://www.awardhq.com/servlet/DisplayPage?browse=HomePage) You can buy shampoo, lotion or a showerhead even a pillow! Check it out!

I’m Not Illiterate, But I Did Stay at a Holiday Inn Express

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