a&o Hostels have announced the appointment of Thomas Hertkorn as the Head of Online Marketing, with the expert in performance and data-based strategies returning to the company after five years to take up his former position. Thomas Hertkorn, 40, will once again be responsible for the digital strategy of Europe’s biggest budget group.
The marketing specialist is returning to a&o Hostels having previously been responsible for online brand communications between 2017 and 2020.
Hertkorn’s career began at Berlin-based digital agency Peak Ace. Since then, he has held a number of positions in B2C and B2B market segments. Most recently, he was Head Sales and Lead AI Innovations. Hertkorn’s technology view is shaped by his 15-year experience working in digital marketing, both at the agency and corporate level.It is essential to maintain a balance between risk and responsibility, opportunity and limit, transparency and efficiency. Hertkorn. Hertkorn also emphasizes the importance to maintain a dynamic balance through continuous learning, additional training and keeping up with the latest trends and industry developments.
Artificial intelligence, added value, a&o Club
Optimised guest experiences and customer interactions, increased efficiency and new, sustainable and flexible services and business models are also constant challenges for Europe’s leading budget group a&o, who operate 42 hotels in ten European countries. Thomas Hertkorn believes that the following factors are key to the success of the digital marketing strategy:
Advertisements
- Personalisation and Interaction: Communication targeted throughout the customer journey
- Quality and frequency of address: The right content at the right time, with scalable implementation
- Use of large Language Models (LLMs). AI-supported text creation for flexible campaigns, user interactivity and conversion rate optimization.
At the same time, the a&o Club is being significantly expanded to target regular guests with personalised offers.
