THE BULLETIN
YES , THERE ARE TOO MANY HOTEL BRANDS . WHO CARES .
P
op quiz : What lodging company owns the Park Hyatt brand ? Too easy ? Ok , let ’ s try another . What lodging company owns Thompson Hotels ? Give up ? It ’ s kind of a trick question because the lodging company that owns Park Hyatt is the same company that owns Thompson : Hyatt Hotels Corporation .
One more . Who owns Gain detergent ? You may have guessed it , but the answer is Procter & Gamble , which , among its 80 total brands , also owns Tide , Era , Rindex , Downey , Cheer and Ariel . I ’ ve never heard anyone say : “ That P & G owns too many laundry detergent brands !”
Dear reader , this was not an exercise to shame or demean your knowledge of hotel brands ; rather , it was to illustrate that there is some confusion in the hotel space due to the breadth of brands ( new and old ) and constant consolidation that sees brands switching teams faster than a proven starting pitcher at the trade deadline .
A lodging industry conference isn ’ t complete until an executive is asked if there are too many hotel brands . The typical response is some variation on “ no ” and how there are gaps and segments to fill that fit customer need and blah ... blah ... blah .
Look , we all know that there is a surfeit of hotel brands ( Accor has more than 50 , for instance ) and no one truly understands the nuanced distinctions between one mid-market brand and the next . That is precisely why I ’ ve given up trying . Yes ,
there are too many brands , but who cares ? Does it really matter ? To borrow from Dr . Strangelove : “ How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Brands .”
I ’ ve given in and let the brand tides sweep me away . It ’ s easier this way . But it ’ s also practical . You need a PhD to discern the 50 shades of brands out there . So , I turned to one , Dr . Chekitan S . Dev of Cornell University , a hotel brand guru , who said there is empirical data to support my point but allowing that there is differentiation between goods and service brands .
In one piece of research , Dev wrote : “ The best brands will not attempt to be all things to all people — thereby avoiding becoming everyone ’ s second choice . Instead , they will authentically be something to some people .” It ’ s a sensible sentiment : Too many brands don ’ t matter because only one matters , the one that someone identifies with , has an affinity for and gravitates toward .
They say there is someone for everyone . There is a brand for everyone . Whether it ’ s a shoe , a car , a shampoo or , yes , a hotel brand . My advice is to stop worrying about the glut of hotel brands on the market . Embrace them all and you ’ ll find your own .
David Eisen Editor In Chief
EDITORIAL David Eisen Editor In Chief
Kathakali Nandi Editorial Writer
Tatiana Valenzuela Editorial Coordinator
Juan Cruz del Val Designer
Contributing Writers Harvey Chipkin , Derek Herscovici , Alicia Sheber and Stefani C . O ’ Connor
PUBLISHING Ali Jahangiri CEO
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Gilda Perez-Alvarado Group Chief Strategy Officer , CEO of Orient Express , Accor
Arash Azarbarzin CEO , Highgate
Danny Hughes President , Americas , Hilton
Jeanelle Johnson Partner , PwC
Raj Chandnani EVP & CDO , WATG
Mike Deitemeyer President & CEO , Aimbridge Hospitality
Cindy Estis Green Co-founder & CEO , Kalibri Labs
Raúl González CEO EMEA , Barcelo Hotels & Resorts
Alan Fuerstman Founder , Chairman , CEO , Montage International
Patrick Scholes MD , Lodging and Leisure Equity Research , Truist Securities
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