In 2010 a large hotel franchising company embarked on a large multi-year program whose purpose was to transform the online and digital reservation delivery experience. This included back-office technology changes that affected Property Management Systems (PMS), Revenue Management tools, rate and inventory systems at the call centers, as well as website content and overall website redesign.

This was the largest single technology program ever launched at this company. This program had over 100 people working on it – many of which we had pulled off their regular jobs to participate. Some of these project teams had objectives that only IT people understood. Getting others throughout the company to understand what this program was all about was no easy task, however it was important that they understood. They needed to understand the impact in revenue this program would have on the company.

To improve overall understanding we came up with a name for this program that would help the average person in the company appreciate the magnitude of what was being attempted. We decided to call the program “Apollo”. Much like the space program Apollo, there were various “missions” that needed to be achieved to “get to the moon”. We decided to call the individual project teams “missions”. Using the Apollo analogy really helped us generate a broader understanding of what the entire program was about.

Routine communication was key, so in our quarterly town hall meetings, we consistently used the Apollo theme to convey routine updates on each “mission” and the progress they were making. In addition, we designed a monthly communication called the “Launch Pad” where details on each mission were provided. We had an Apollo logo made for the program that we used on all presentations as well as an Apollo “map” that showed visually how each mission would tie together and “take us to the moon”. We had these maps put up in every office all over the globe and as each mission completed, we had it checked off on the map. All of our meetings were held in “Mission Control” a newly renamed conference room, and small conference rooms were given various “space themed” names.

The consistency in messaging coupled with a fun theme made this program widely understood and upon its culmination, we were able to show real results that people all throughout the company not only appreciated but understood. Through the course of this program, online booking conversions on the new websites went up by 40% which translated into millions of increased revenue for the company.