| Kippreport.com

If we can have spotless Strawberries we can have social media butlers

January 27, 2013 12:51 by M. Aldalou

When presented with a holiday or hospitality package, it’s only natural to consider the additional perks that come along with it as much as the core elements, before making a decision. After all, those extra throw-ins are what usually serve as the most memorable ingredients in the cake.

More often than not, you have the traditional hotel room, dinner and perhaps your very own private chauffeur (if it is a high-end one that is). At the U.S. Presidential Inauguration last month, The Madison Hotel offered guests hospitality packages for $47,000 which included all the usual luxuries but one thing was slightly out of the ordinary; a social media butler.

Of course, The Madison wasn’t alone in doing so. Funnily enough, their package was relatively affordable compared to The Ritz-Carlton’s ‘Washington Access’ for $100,000 or The Kimpton’s $320,000 ‘inaugural package’ that allowed for the entire hotel to be rented by one group. Ultimately, Kipp heard that the hype behind these packages might have been blown out of proportion as hardly any of them were sold, but that’s a secondary conversation altogether.

As you would imagine, the possibility of having your very own social media butler is an interesting one to ponder. The hotel said the butler would “chronicle your Inaugural experience so your friends and family can follow your adventures on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest”.

Kipp wasn’t too sure what to make of this concept. It’s not entirely new or revolutionary but then again, it’s not exactly the norm. All we did know was that it was fascinating and we immediately began to consider the possibilities (can’t help it with this analytical mind of ours). When we spoke to Ayman Itani, Founder of Social Media Labs to get his intake as a social media expert he said ‘if people can demand spotless Strawberries, then social media butlers are really not that unusual’. And he was right.

After all, having a social media person handling your brand image within a company or a celebrity’s Twitter and Facebook profiles fall practically within the same boundaries. The only interesting bit here, is it being available for regular – albeit quite wealthy – individuals. Still, when an opportunity like this presents itself, the first question you’re likely to ask yourself is how does one qualify to become a social media butler – assuming they don’t consider the title too degrading.

“I think the social media technicality is something they can learn, that’s not difficult obviously. Understanding the people that you’re with is almost like being a personal shopper. I need to spend time with you to understand your taste and personality,” says Itani. Although I might add that he said if I were to come up with the business model for it, that we could have it done in two and a half days.

Let’s hear from you Kippers. Do you think social media butlers would be a hit in this region? Could tourism outlets, hotels or wedding planners make use of them, or can you see wealthy individuals hiring them?