Company: The Mark Spencer Hotel
Headquarters: Portland, Oregon
Industry: Hotel
Company Size: Small (annual revenues of less than $50 million)

"We and our employees value the opportunity to combine business and the arts through partnerships with local and regional arts organizations. The arts enrich us and are an essential ingredient for Oregon’s cultural and intellectual growth."
                – Peter Nathan, Owner

Objectives
To set the hotel apart from others, to build customer loyalty, to set an example for other small businesses, and to enhance the community’s quality of life.

Process

• The hotel offers free rooms or discounted room rates to professional artists in town for auditions, performances or exhibitions, and it also provides free rehearsal and performance space to local arts organizations.
• The hotel maintains a "hot sheet" of information about local performances and exhibitions in its lobby for guests, and a marquee outside the hotel advertises current opera and theater productions.
• Through its Web site and other promotional materials, the hotel offers arts packages that include accommodations, two tickets to a selected art event, continental breakfast, afternoon tea & cookies, and parking — all specially priced.
• The hotel also distributes performance and exhibition tickets to employees and adjusts their work schedules so they can attend arts events, enabling them to discuss the arts with guests.

Results
The exposure The Mark Spencer Hotel gains through its partnership with the arts increases its visibility in the community, enhances employee morale and creativity and attracts new guests and builds customer loyalty, all of which increases the hotel’s bottom line. The hotel’s support also reduces operating costs for arts organizations and sets an example for other small businesses to follow.

« back to Case Studies