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LRA Worldwide and W Hotels Featured Presenters at 18th Annual Internal Branding Conference
HORSHAM, Pennsylvania/NEW YORK, New York; April 17, 2006 - LRA Worldwide, Inc., a leading consulting, organizational development and research firm in the growing sector of Customer Experience Management (CEM), and W Hotels will co-present at the 18th Annual Internal Branding Conference in New York City. Rob Rush, CEO of LRA, and Sandra Rintelen, Corporate Director of Operations—W Hotels Worldwide, will present a case study titled: "Aligning Practice With Promise: How W Hotel Associates Live and Breathe the Brand." The conference runs from April 26-28 at the Muse Hotel; Rush and Rintelen will speak on Thursday, April 27th at 10:50 AM.
The conference is sponsored by the Advanced Learning Institute (ALI), a conference production company based in Chicago with a focus on cutting-edge business trends for executives. The Internal Branding Conference is dedicated entirely to the discussion and study of organizational alignment around a branding message as a strategic initiative designed to increase employee engagement, performance and productivity, as well as company financial performance. In addition to LRA and W, the conference will feature speakers from America Online, PepsiCo, Washington Mutual, IBM and the Mayo Clinic, among others.
"This case study is a great addition to our program," said Megan Kelly, the Conference Director. "Anyone who has ever stayed at a W can attest to their expertise in internal branding, from San Diego to Seoul. And as a pioneer in the field, LRA has helped companies in a variety of industries—from hospitality to home-building—design, implement and sustain a vibrant internal culture and brand."
In its external messaging, W Hotels makes quite a bold brand promise, vowing to transport its guests into a "sensory multiplex, where the guest's arrival is a passport out of the mundane and into the WOW." For W, the worldwide challenge is to ensure that its "talent" not only understands what the brand promise means operationally, but also has the skills and resources to execute consistently and exceptionally, across a rapidly growing portfolio. Since the introduction of the W brand in 1998, LRA has worked closely with W Hotels leadership to provide a worldwide brand assurance program.
"We are obviously very passionate about the internal branding at W," explained Rintelen. "The beauty of our signature 'Whatever\Whenever™' service is that it appears so spontaneous—and it is. But behind that spontaneity is a rigorous process of recruiting, hiring, training, standards development and enculturation that I believe conference attendees will find interesting."
"We're very proud of the role we've played in helping to develop and sustain one of the signature internal brands in the marketplace," Rush said. "From its inception, W Hotels understood the concept of internal branding, and more and more of our clients today are realizing that the external customer experience is a direct result of the strength and messaging of your internal customer experience and brand."
For conference registration information, call ALI at 888.3672.7400 or logon to http://www.aliconferences.com/register.htm. All conference sessions and lodging arrangements have been made at the Muse Hotel, 130 West 46th Street in New York City (www.themusehotel.com).
About Advanced Learning Institute
The Advanced Learning Institute's mission is to help executives build strong personal relationships, expand their business knowledge of cutting-edge trends, and find proven solutions to a wide range of strategic management problems.
Our forums bring together industry leaders and experts to share valuable, real-world experiences, and best practices on how to meet tomorrow's management challenges. For more information, visit www.aliconferences.com.
About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc. is a leading consulting, organizational development and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in "operationalizing the brand" - turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA's CEM practice areas include CEM Strategy Design, Standards Development & Content Management, Organizational Development & Training, Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific tactical client need.
LRA's clients include some of the world's leading companies and brands, including Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the PGA TOUR, Albertsons Supermarkets, the NBA and First Niagara Financial Group. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com
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