Continuously shifting guest expectations and lifestyle trends forces hospitality brands to be nearly instantaneous in adjusting their brand’s nuanced meaning to remain relevant. And maintaining brand integrity is more challenging than ever since marketers must consider a diverse arena of clientele: business or leisure; domestic or international; luxury or budget conscious.
To keep brand erosion at bay, hospitality professionals regularly brainstorm new way of “reaching out” and touching consumers. Either anticipatory or reactionary, branding strategies must respond to trends in the marketplace, domestically or internationally.
And the consumer’s attention is fracturing technology and the internet impacts consumer behavior. Peter Yesawich Chairman and CEO of Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell and leisure travel expert remarked on the changing role of branding in the hotel industry at a recent conference discussing how NJ will market itself in the future. Yesawich said the use of the Internet to book flights and accommodations has changed the way Americans look at vacations, vaulting cheap fares and rates ahead of exotic locales or posh amenities as the status symbols for American travelers.
"Brand loyalty is a very fragile idea in a cost-transparent world," said Yesawich. "The Jersey Shore needs to stand for something consumers find both attractive and motivational."
Understanding this shifting paradigm, leading hotel brands are concentrating on the latest trend: lifestyle hotels. These properties are designed to connect with guests on an emotional level, melding the way their customers live with an aspirational aesthetic. Piggybacked on established brands, this formula is winning attention.
Starwood
Leveraging an existing brand can result in a new offering. Case in point: Project ESW’s ”name” (scheduled for a fall announcement) will afford the same look and feel of its upscale Westin brand to the upper-upscale extended stay brand. As of early June, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide had received nine franchise applications from Baltimore; Philadelphia; Baltimore/Washington International Airport; Pittsburgh; Toronto; Arundel County, Md.; and Lake Buena Vista, Fla. It also has a corporate deal in the works in San Francisco. With 150 identified sites in North America, Starwood expects to offer 25 contracts annually. A record 1 million Starwood guests stayed in extended-stay properties last year; the market is known and guest preferences are defined.
Hilton
Promotion of client loyalty is synonymous with Hilton Hotels Corporation’s branding strategy. Beside the HHonors program, Hilton promises if guests find a lower rate on some other booking channel, Hilton will match that rate plus:
For hotels in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico, guests receive a $50
American Express® Gift Cheque. For hotels outside the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico, Hilton takes US$50 off guests’ bills.
The choice made to offer a better snooze at Hilton-owned Hampton Inn illustrates the importance of comfortable sleeping regardless of luxury or economy branding. A few years ago, the company launched the ‘Make It Hampton’ campaign which has completely rejiggered the hotel’s relationship with the guest to make a stay a more personal experience. For example little touches - or winks - are throughout the party to maintain a dialogue with guests such as cleverly worded behind the elevator door. These combined with a new bedding campaign is helping the brand relate better to its target audience.
Phil Cordell, Hampton Inns’ Senior VP of brand management, comments: “The softer sheets, thicker comforters, extra pillow and raised headboards visitors will find at all 1,250 Hampton Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites is something they couldn't get at another hotel specifically within our price point." Hampton Inns’ mid-market rivals include Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Country Inn and Suites.
Out-of-Sight Branding
From heavenly sleep to bunker accommodations, one of West Virginia's most popular attractions, the secret bunker underneath The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., reopens for guest tours Monday after a two-year renovation. Designed during the height of the Cold war era to house Congress in case of nuclear attack, the massive underground bunker includes 18 dormitories intended to accommodate 1,100 people, a self-contained power plant, television production area, audio-recording booths and medical facilities.
Secretly built from 1958 to 1961 -- hotel executives simply said the resort's meeting facilities were being expanded — it remained a secret for more than 30 years, only to be exposed by The Washington Post in 1992. Tours will be limited to guests of the resort until Aug. 20, when public tours resume (on Sundays and Wednesdays). Information: 800-624-6070; greenbrier.com.
Branding has been at work since Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt imprinted their symbols on animals and humans to indicate ownership and identification. The original purpose of branding to illustrate a proprietary ownership and identify remains. The style also continues to be simple in design for ease in recognition and difficulty in alteration. Branding has come full circle in sophistication within the hospitality industry, but its forms continue to evolve with the tastes of the guests it serves.
