Hubert Wat
Hubert Wat, the senior marketer behind Rocky Mountaineer‘s ascent to one of the top travel brands in Canada, has left the company after six years.
Rocky Mountaineer would not comment on the circumstances surrounding his departure, though Wat told Marketing the decision was mutual.
“They brought me in for a specific reason. I have no tourism experience whatsoever, so I don’t play by the traditional rules of the trade, and the old ways of how the trade dictated how your brand is portrayed through their co-op programs,” he explained.
Wat said his goal was to help the company break out of the mold created by the tourism industry and build its own individual brand, rather than being just another rail carrier in the system.
“We said, we’re not going to have the old traditional push channel through [the industry’s advertising cooperative] to drive business, we’re going to create the consumer demand instead. The rest is history — today the trade buys into Rocky Mountaineer’s co-op program and they fund their advertising together. That’s a real different approach to the market,” he said.
Today the company is recognized as the top luxury train brand in the country and consumer demand is booming. Wat feels the project he started six years ago is complete and his brand-building skillset would be put to better use elsewhere, he said.
During his tenure, Wat developed a novel brand platform for the luxury train company that focused on real people, like the speechless passengers it interviewed for a 2013 campaign or the wounded war veterans it helped with its Life Changing Train for Heroes project. Rocky Mountaineer’s marketing has been recognized by a long list of international travel awards shows, as well as B.C. Tourism and Marketing, which shortlisted Rocky Mountaineer for Marketer of the Year in 2010 and 2013.
Wat said he plans to take some time off before he decides what to do next.
“We wish Mr. Wat well in his future endeavors and thank him for his great contributions over his tenure with the company,” Rocky Mountaineer senior communications manager Shannon Kidd said, in an email.
Before joining Rocky Mountaineer in 2008, he spent eight years as VP marketing of FGL Sports, the parent company of Sport Chek, Atmosphere and Athlete’s World.
