Introduction
Novotel Milano Linate is a 4-star hotel near the Milan airport that combines modern comfort with contemporary hospitality. They were facing a common but significant challenge: driving direct bookings. They lacked a specialized hotel-focused tool, making prior digital efforts time-consuming, costly, and fragmented, which made it nearly impossible to accurately measure results and scale their direct channel.
Objectives
Pietro Mancino, the General Manager of Novotel Milano Linate, sought a partner that could offer a solution combining technology, performance, and operational simplicity in order to reach their goals, which included:
- Generating concrete, measurable results that directly impact the hotel's bottom line.
- Reaching new, high-value customer segments with a genuine intention to travel to Milan.
- Implementing a risk-free, transparent model that ensured a clear, trackable Return on Investment (ROI).
"Working with Sojern has been a smart strategic choice. The commission-based model and data-driven approach convinced us: they allow us to achieve tangible results without increasing the operational workload of our team. It was like having an external marketing team perfectly aligned with our goals."
Solution
Novotel Milano Linate chose to partner with Sojern, adopting the Commission solution for its direct channel marketing. This model was a major advantage, as it eliminated upfront risk and operational burden, allowing the team to only pay-for-performance, when a guest completes their stay.
Sojern’s solution provided precise targeting based on traveler intent, successfully driving over 200 incremental bookings from guests that the hotel would not have otherwise reached. Between 2024 and 2025, direct bookings increased by 2%, reflecting a positive shift towards more profitable channels. Sojern contributed approximately 3.5% of all direct bookings, supporting the growth of the direct channel. This strategy supported healthy, sustainable growth by adding new qualified demand rather than just shifting volume from OTAs.
The operational simplicity was a major benefit. The Sojern campaigns and user-friendly portal allowed the hotel staff to focus on strategy, guest management, and internal innovation, confident that their digital marketing was professionally handled by an external team of experts.
About the Partnership
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"Working with Sojern has been a smart strategic choice. The commission-based model and data-driven approach convinced us: they allow us to achieve tangible results without increasing the operational workload of our team. It was like having an external marketing team perfectly aligned with our goals."
