Things people are doing more of this year: Staying home (hopefully) and when they must travel, keeping their distance from others.
The following two LA tech companies were well-poised for both of these 2020 trends in people’s behavior.
Wonderstorm, a media studio that creates video games and TV series, saw the community around their animated series “The Dragon Prince” grow by leaps and bounds, and even scored an Emmy Award. Meanwhile, hospitality tech company INTELITY quickly realized that consumer demand for contactless services like mobile check-in and mobile keys are here to stay.
While both organizations acknowledged the humility that must come with finding success during an unquestionably tough year, their leaders — CEOs Aaron Ehasz and Robert Stevenson, respectively — have positive outlooks on what’s next for their businesses, as well as their industries.
Read on for the good news we’ve all been waiting for.
It’s been a tough year, but CEO and Co-founder Aaron Ehasz and his teammates were tougher. Despite the stress of the pandemic, the company won awards for their work and had their latest fantasy series renewed for another four seasons on Netflix. We’ll call that a major win.
WHAT THEY DO: Media studio Wonderstorm creates video games and TV series like the Emmy Award-winning “The Dragon Prince,” an original animated series streaming on Netflix. A video game is currently in the works by the same creative team.
The U.S. (and global) business landscape has drastically shifted in the last six months. What’s one way consumer demand has changed that ultimately benefited your company?
This has been a hard year for everyone, so it’s important to acknowledge any accidental benefits to our company with humility. People’s options for entertainment and social interaction have been limited by the pandemic, and so they’re actively looking for meaningful experiences and interactions through great television series and games. We’ve seen huge growth in the size of our community and audience, as so many people have had the chance to discover “The Dragon Prince” this year.
Define “success” at Wonderstorm. What has a recent major win for your business been?
Success to us is creating stories, worlds and games that will stand the test of time and have impact across generations. This year, “The Dragon Prince” series was renewed for four additional seasons — the whole saga is being made! The series also won the Emmy Award for outstanding animated series. Both of these “wins,” and every win yet to come, are because we have a team that shares in the company’s success and is empowered to do visionary, meaningful work. The creative richness of “The Dragon Prince” is a product of so many people’s inspired work.
What big trends do you predict for your industry in 2021? How is Wonderstorm positioned to capitalize on these trends?
Animation and video games are booming right now and we expect demand for these media to continue growing in 2021. We feel fortunate because even though we’re all working from home, world-class work in animation and game development can be done remotely.
Additionally, diversity in all aspects of the entertainment industry, from staffing to casting to point of view of projects, will continue to be important to global audiences, and is important to Wonderstorm. People are starting to understand that valuing diversity is not just an expression of equality and balance, but it also manifests new creative opportunities.
No one could have predicted the awful impact the COVID-19 pandemic would have on the travel industry, but one trend CEO Robert Stevenson could anticipate? The desire for contactless experiences. As the use of mobile technology continues to soar, it’s no surprise that many guests expect to use their phone for tasks like checking in and out of their hotels. And INTELITY is hard at work empowering its customers with the ability to give their guests those digital experiences.
WHAT THEY DO: INTELITY provides advanced hospitality technology solutions for the hotel, casino, cruise and luxury residential markets. Think: a single platform where guests and staff can be both connected with and managed.
Why was your business well-poised to not just weather but thrive throughout the last six months and beyond?
Technology for hotels has been steadily growing in popularity over the last decade, but saw arguably its biggest boom this year during the COVID-19 crisis, largely due to safety concerns and skyrocketing consumer demand for “contactless” service. Now, technology like mobile apps, mobile check-in and mobile key are becoming a standard of the industry — an easy way to eliminate unnecessary face-to-face interactions and put guests in control of their experience so they feel comfortable and secure during their stay.
INTELITY offered mobile, in-room and staff technology before the pandemic hit, and as a result, our customers were already well-positioned to pivot to a safe, contactless experience for guests and staff. As travel started to return this summer, that provided a significant competitive advantage, and other hotels and brands have been keen to replicate that. The best part is that consumers have already been asking for mobile capabilities while they travel, so hospitality technology will remain useful long after safety concerns fade. It’s a win-win: short-term benefits and long-term value.
Define “success” at INTELITY. What has been a recent major win for your business?
We’ve had a few big moments this year. First, in spite of the hospitality industry being closed down for a significant portion of the year, we’ve been able to keep INTELITY fully operational while providing significant relief to our hotelier customers. That’s something we could have never predicted back in March. And second, we’ve made huge enhancements to our platform in response to the pandemic. We now offer a completely contactless, full-flow check-in and check-out process for guests, new contactless options for dining and service, and additional customization modules for app content.
Those wins are due in large part to the massive effort the INTELITY team made to pivot both our messaging and our product to meet the new needs of the industry as COVID-19 created extremely challenging circumstances for hoteliers.
What big trends do you predict for your industry in 2021? How is INTELITY positioned to capitalize on these trends?
There’s certainly a new focus on hospitality technology that’s not going away in 2021. Hotels have often considered it a luxury in the past, but it’s now essential to their success and many have come to regard it as a powerful revenue-driver and cost-saver.
Mobile check-in and mobile key in particular have been the most popular technologies, and demand for them will only continue to grow. Consumers already download boarding passes and concert tickets on their phones. Why not a room key, too?
INTELITY unites mobile, in-room and staff technology into the most powerful, comprehensive hospitality platform on the market. With that, we’re uniquely positioned to respond to the surge in interest and to keep shifting with the hospitality industry as it moves forward.
