Branding in the Hotel Industry (Part3)
Intro:
In the past two blog posts from Shahrtash Studio (part 1 and part 2), we discussed how each component of brand strategy impacts business success, with a particular focus on the hotel industry. In this article, we’ll provide an overview of the activities we undertake within each branding section, detailing how they are executed and integrated.
Communication Strategy:
Once your brand strategy, encompassing visual, verbal, audio, and olfactory identity, is finalized, the next question arises: How do you effectively communicate with both internal and external stakeholders? What are the boundaries, and where can you maximize the impact of your branding efforts? This is where your brand’s communication strategy comes into play.
The communication strategy aims to ensure that your brand messages are conveyed at the right time and place. Within this strategy, we determine:
Touch Points: Identifying all the interaction points you have
Usage Guidelines: How each of these points should be leveraged
For instance, consider if your hotel brand is among the world’s most exclusive, catering primarily to older, affluent guests who aren’t active on social media. Would it make sense to maintain a content production team dedicated to frequent social media updates and lead generation? While it might seem counterintuitive, let’s assume it does. Would your privacy-conscious, wealthy, elderly guests permit this intrusion? Likely not.
Conversely, if your hotel is situated in a pristine natural location, with your target customers actively engaged on social media tourism pages, neglecting these networks could mean missing out on a prime customer acquisition opportunity.
By identifying the right channels, specifying their goals, and defining key messages, the communication strategy ensures your brand has a successful presence without disrupting the guest experience. It helps your brand stand out appropriately, neither excessively nor inadequately.
Brand Implementation:
At Shahrtash Studio, we consider ourselves branding “magicians.” After traversing all the preceding steps, it might seem like everything is ready for the grand reveal. However, it’s crucial to consider who should be informed first and how to navigate the implementation process effectively.
Just as the smallest flaw can ruin a magic trick, effective brand implementation hinges on precise execution. At this stage, we introduce the developed brand to all parties involved in utilizing and implementing various aspects of branding. We outline the responsibilities and limitations of each individual and stakeholder.
To ensure cohesion across different aspects of your hotel, senior managers must be aligned with the brand’s direction and are well-versed in its specifics. Your brand should be more than an external entity; it should be a guiding principle for your team. We achieve this by producing brand training materials, presenting an employee On-Boarding manual, training employees in brand structures, and educating stakeholders on the use of brand identities.
Brand Launch:
With everything in place, it’s time to launch your brand. By this stage, not only you and we understand what we’ve collaboratively built, but all stakeholders are on board and ready to play their part in the brand’s successful launch. This is when we formulate the brand launch campaign strategy and execute related tasks.
Your luxury brand demands a luxurious teaser, and we discern this by meticulously combining science and art throughout the branding process. The teaser is showcased at the hotel’s unveiling event. Details such as the event’s features, location, invitation design, and guest list are all considered in the brand launch stage. The same level of detail and planning applies to non-luxury brands, ensuring a consistent and effective brand launch.
Brand Checkup:
Businesses, much like living organisms, require ongoing care. Our brand check-up service is designed to meet this need. We conduct monthly meetings to ensure the correct implementation of brand identities, assess the effectiveness of various touchpoints, verify stakeholder comprehension of brand identities, and address any necessary improvements. These regular check-ins help ensure your brand operates smoothly. Businesses, much like living organisms, require ongoing care. Our brand check-up service is designed to meet this need. We conduct monthly meetings to ensure the correct implementation of brand identities, assess the effectiveness of various touchpoints, verify stakeholder comprehension of brand identities, and address any necessary improvements. These regular check-ins help ensure your brand operates smoothly.
Social Media Content:
After creating your brand and confirming that the communication strategy, implementation, and brand launch have proceeded smoothly, we don’t leave you to manage social media content alone. We offer support in producing content for social networks, tailored to your specific audience, whether they are affluent seniors with limited social media usage or young individuals active on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. We provide content in various formats, such as text, photos, illustrations, animations, and motion graphics, ensuring your brand maintains a strong social media presence.
Summary and Conclusion
In this post and the preceding two, we’ve thoroughly explored the significance of branding within the hotel industry and its various components. We’ve provided examples illustrating how branding addresses challenges and enhances success in the competitive hotel market.
If you’re interested in having us assist you in this journey, please visit our magic and get in touch. We’re eager to work our magic and transform potential customers into loyal guests for your brand.