THE NEXT
FINDING A BRAND ESSENCE
What is your brand essence? Why does
your brand have to exist? By knowing
your hotel’s essence in a sentence,
a phrase or just a few words, you
will be able to refer back to it during
all subsequent conversations about
marketing positioning, upgrades to the
physical product, new amenity or service
introductions, and any promotional plans.
2. Service to the Extreme. While
modern guest service hinges on
technologically enabled customization,
it will still require the personal touch
of a well-trained and attentive team to
make it whole. If you want your brand
essence to be that your property is
unmatched in guest service, then
you will need to reevaluate every
department’s daily routines. There are
so many intangibles that contribute to
guest service that there is always room
to improve if that is your overarching
mission.
EVOLUTION
OF
About the author
The next step is to look at every
operation to see how well each builds
upon this brand essence while at the
same time identifying any discrepancies.
And before you can give any thought to
the long-term direction of the brand, you
must bring all those discordant elements
in line with the core brand. Then with
your brand essence immutable, its
expression will need constant updating so
that your brand can continue to excite
guests even as trends or technologies
change.
BRAND DIRECTIONS TO
CONSIDER
Much like building a business plan, the
evolution of your luxury hotel will first
require some serious thought as to the
overall direction of where you want to
go. For this, I’ll offer five comprehensive
possibilities for boutique or lifestyle
brands that can be embraced in the
present while also having strong potential
for successful expansions in the future.
3. Funky, Wild and Brave. Not
necessarily eschewing the latest
technology or service standards,
these properties can get by with
being great and not exceptional
in these two aspects by aiming to
be the coolest, boldest and most
outlandish that there is. Here the
themed ambiance take center stage
as guests are invited to experience
a space that is an attraction unto
itself and is complemented by equally
provocative artwork, staff uniforms,
food menus and perhaps a few
unusual amenities.
4. Universally Local. What if you set
out to be the leading curator of the
best and most exclusive facets of your
surrounding community? What is your
brand essence was simply ‘everything
is local’? This is a game of partnerships
whereby you must cultivate a local-
friendly culture at your property as
well as quid pro quo relationships with
all adjacent businesses to encourage
reciprocal exchange.
BOUTIQUE
One of the world’s most published
writers in hospitality, Larry
Mogelonsky is the principal of
Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a
Toronto-based consulting practice.
His experience encompasses hotel
properties around the world, both
branded and independent, and
ranging from luxury and boutique
to select-service. Larry is also on
several boards for companies
focused on hotel technology. His
work includes five books “Are You
an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012),
“Llamas Rule” (2013), “Hotel Llama”
(2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017) and
“The Hotel Mogel” (2018). You can
reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.
com to discuss hotel business
challenges or to book speaking
engagements
1. Technologically Avant-Garde. This is
a property fully devoted to being at
the vanguard of progress with such
integrations as smart televisions,
robust app functionalities, IoT devices,
machine learning personalization,
and sustainable design practices, all
deployed through the lens of creating
an aspirational guest experience.
Moreover, avant-garde extends to
traditional operations like foodservice
where you might strive to be at the
forefront of neurogastronomy by
incorporating the latest in trends
lab-made meats, molecular cooking
techniques or liquid nitrogen desserts.
LUXURY
90 ILHA
5. Supreme Wellness. Embracing the
ideals of a wellness hotel or resort
means that your primary goal should
be to make guests feel significantly
better than when they first arrived.
To reflect this holistically, you
must embrace it at every level
and throughout every operation
as well as periodically update each
interpretation to stay ahead of the
latest standards.