Banyan Tree narrows focus on social

Banyan Tree has extended its focus on social media, hiring an agency for the first time to manage its global SEO and social marketing strategy for its expansion plans ahead.Banyan Tree appointed VML Qais following a multi-agency pitch held in September last year. The contract is for one year.With the appointment, VML Qais will be responsible for these duties for Banyan Tree and Angsana Resorts.Luca Deplano (pictured), vice president, marketing for Banyan Tree said that social, search, and content marketing are integrating and hence, changing the game for marketing."With this, destinations have to rethink their relationships with consumers," he said.In an earlier interview with Marketing, Deplano said that this was an area which, like many other brands, it had been following closely but had not fully used to its full potential.He outlined intentions of pushing the brand's presence on mediums such as Pinterest in addition to Twitter and Facebook."We feel that Pinterest is the ideal medium to show the beauty of our resorts and of the locations where they are located," he said."We picked VML Qais because they understand the relationship between these and have the ability to create a holistic digital strategy that will help us realize our vision," added Deplano on the appointment.Earlier in 2011, VML Qais revamped all 69 websites for Banyan Tree and Angsana Resorts."We are thrilled to extend our relationship with Banyan Tree. After building their websites, to be entrusted with the marketing of their destinations is an honor," said Tripti Lochan, CEO VML Qais.