Please Re-Name TripAdvisor's Hall of Fame
'Tis the season.
If you have many connections in the hospitality industry, you've probably noticed a few of them posting their TripAdvisor Excellence Awards that have recently been released. It’s a big deal, and congratulations to everyone who received one! However, what isn't new and should be rebranded is their "Hall of Fame" award. Here’s why.
TripAdvisor's Awards of Excellence is a great campaign to encourage users to review their favorite travel-related businesses and attractions, prompting the owners of those businesses to actually pay attention to the feedback. It promotes interactions that get both users and business owners to return to their site, increasing the odds of click-throughs, conversions, and service enrollments that are crucial to their business model. The businesses that win these awards do all the hard work and truly deserve them.
However, just because TripAdvisor has been running these awards for five years doesn’t mean they should call it the "Hall of Fame." The Hall of Fame should be reserved for businesses that have closed, similar to how the Baseball Hall of Fame honors those who are retired. While many musicians in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame still perform—like Hall & Oates—those inducted typically represent those who are past their prime (sorry, Green Day). Businesses that win the Hall of Fame should ideally be closed or well past their prime too, but that is not the case. These businesses will continue to thrive for many years afterward.
What do we suggest? Perhaps validate an owner or manager of an establishment and induct them into the Hall of Fame when they retire. This could provide TripAdvisor with the personal touch that many businesses desire. However, this might be complicated to confirm, especially for those who don’t pay for TripAdvisor's services.
Another option is to avoid calling it the "Hall of Fame." Why not consider other awards along the lines of:
"Turkey of Excellence" Award, akin to a turkey in bowling, for receiving an excellence award three years in a row.
"Quintis" Award for five years, using Latin that sounds fancy.
"Most Improved," which focuses on businesses year over year to determine who genuinely made a change for the better.
If they insist on keeping the Hall of Fame, several questions will arise. Does the count start at zero? Is there a period of ineligibility for award placements? Will there also be awards for six, eight, or ten years? And most importantly, how else will they extract more marketing gold from these awards?
For more about the award, click here. If you have an award you'd like TripAdvisor to consider, please share it in the comments.