LRA Worldwide is retained by Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos to “Operationalize” the Rock ‘n’ Roll Guest Experience

HORSHAM, Pennsylvania; March 21, 2006 – LRA Worldwide, Inc., a leading consultant in the growing field of Customer Experience Management (CEM), has been retained by Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos, the lodging and gaming division of the iconic Hard Rock International brand, to help “operationalize” Hard Rock’s unique guest experience: luxury with a distinctive rock ‘n’ roll edge. The effort is being driven by Hard Rock’s plans to grow its hotel and casino holdings fivefold in the next ten years. LRA will help Hard Rock define and develop the guest service standards, cultural training content and auditing tools to ensure that the unmistakable Hard Rock “vibe” that a guest experiences at one of the existing properties today translates to each new property in the future.

The first step in LRA’s process is to actually define and develop the optimal Hard Rock guest experience, and then create the hotel and casino operational and guest service standards that ensure the delivery or “operationalization” of that vision. The main challenge – infusing what can be dry, functional standards and practices with Hard Rock’s legendary spirit, vitality and “rock ‘n’ roll” culture.

“To this point, we have been confident that the people managing and operating our 13 hotels and casinos understand what it means to be Hard Rock,” offered Andrea Melotti, Director of Hotel Operations Worldwide for Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos. “Yet, as we grow, we want to ensure that the delivery of the unique Hard Rock guest experience is consistent across each property. LRA will help capture and articulate that experience to ensure that guests who stay at our future properties receive the unforgettable service, amenities and offerings currently provided at all our Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos today.”

Prior to creating the content for the program, LRA will spend several days with the Hard Rock corporate management team at their offices and property in Orlando in order to begin to better quantify some of the intangibles that comprise the Hard Rock experience. Likewise, the visit will afford the LRA team the opportunity to interact with those who have successfully incorporated the Hard Rock culture into the guest experience at more than 120 Hard Rock Cafés internationally.

“Given the strength of the Hard Rock brand, it is important that we don’t reinvent the wheel in our efforts,” explained John Roberto, the LRA Worldwide Executive Vice President managing the project. “Interacting with the leaders on the café side of the business will provide some great insight into what truly makes Hard Rock tick – and tick consistently across more than 100 locations worldwide. Then it simply became a matter of applying that knowledge to the hotel and casino environment.”

As the next step in this process, LRA will work with Hard Rock’s orientation and training resources to ensure the proper transfer of knowledge of this material as new properties come on line. Likewise, LRA will be providing tools for the properties to conduct quality assurance self-audits, and will also be conducting “mystery shopping” inspections of the new hotels and casinos in order to ensure the proper delivery of the desired guest experience. LRA currently provides similar services for some of the leading names in hospitality, including W Hotels, Hyatt Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and the Preferred Hotel Group, among others.

“The Hard Rock brand comes with a lot of expectations,” said Peter Zudyk, Director of Brand Marketing for Hard Rock International. “Our mission is to meet and exceed those expectations, and LRA is helping us deliver the expected guest experience from Thailand to Tampa.”

About LRA Worldwide, Inc.
LRA Worldwide, Inc., is a leading consulting, training and research company that specializes in Customer Experience Management (CEM). LRA helps companies and brands design and deliver the optimal customer experience across all key touch points using an integrated suite of services that measure and improve service quality, customer satisfaction, employee performance, loyalty, customer advocacy and profitability. LRA specializes in “operationalizing the brand” – turning brand promise and customer strategy into operational reality. LRA’s tactical CEM practice areas include Customer Experience Strategy Design, Standards and Practices Development, Organizational Development & Training, Customer and Employee Research and Quality Assurance & Mystery Shopping; these are either deployed together in a strategic manner to continually monitor and improve the customer experience or deployed individually to address a specific client tactical need. LRA has deep sector expertise in the automotive, financial services, healthcare, hospitality & leisure, real estate, retail, consumer goods & services, sports and entertainment, and travel and transportation industries. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.LRAworldwide.com.

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