Growing up I played peewee hockey. For every travel tournament north of NYC we stayed at a roadside hotel.
And the one thing and only thing that mattered to me about the hotel selected…
Waffles.
Nothing pumped me up more than a DIY waffles machine on morning gameday.
Turns out, I wasn’t alone.
————
Today, Hampton Inn has become the largest hotel chain in America — And it's thanks to their Waffle Strategy.... “free DIY waffles” are driving a record $10B in sales.
As the WSJ put it, the Hampton Inn created a “cult” around its waffles — we consume 30M/year.
But here's the surprise:
40 years ago, the hotel chain's executives said the “free waffles” strategy wouldn't work:
Guests could get burned, they won’t want to make their own food, and carbs were cultural villains.
But they were wrong…
Turns out guests enjoyed making waffles, didn’t get burned, & loved pausing the Atkins on vacay.
So today, the Hampton has become the largest hotel chain in America by revenue — And it's all thanks to a waffle iron.
⭐️ Have the instinct to go against your instincts. And have waffles for breakfast.
(Pro Tip: If you add blueberries, it cancels out the chocolate chips)
#marketing #businessinsight