HOTEL BRANDING: Making Your Hotel Stand Out

Any hotel’s marketing plan should include hotel branding. A strong brand may make a hotel stand out from the crowd and attract guests. When branding a hotel, there are numerous factors to take into account, such as the name, logo, tagline, and overall identity. However, working with a reputable branding firm is essential to developing an appealing and successful brand for your hotel. Read on to learn how you can improve your hotel’s brand.

What Is Hotel Branding?

The brand of a hotel serves as a symbol of who and what the establishment is. It is what unites a collection of properties under a single set of shared traits and ideals. Hotel branding focuses on identifying what distinguishes a hotel from other lodging options, since branding distinguishes one product from another. In essence, hotel branding is the image the hotel wants to project to its clientele. Likewise, everything from the type of font used in online marketing to the kinds of distinctive experiences your hotel markets to potential visitors is included.

Building a Hotel Brand

Below is a list of how to build a nice hotel brand

Builds a reputation for your company. Travellers know what to expect when they hear your hotel’s brand name, from the amenities on offer to the rewards programs provided.
Strengthens the relationship between clients and the company on a personal and emotional level. Hotel branding appeals to guests through experiential marketing by utilizing personal tales and common experiences.
Identifies the characteristics and values that unite several properties under a single brand.
Demonstrates your morals and beliefs. Many hotels utilize branding to promote their stance on social issues like diversity and sustainability.
Establishes a standard for hotel service. Does the hotel provide customers with a high-end luxury experience or does it appeal to budget travellers? When a traveller hears your company’s name, they ought to understand the response.
By confirming your hotel’s objective and how it intends to carry it out, you can establish your brand promise.

Brand Identity and How it Is Created

Brand identity refers to the elements that make up hotel branding. The combination of the words, pictures, style, and tone a brand uses to communicate its message makes up its identity. The overall look of a hotel is determined by its branding, which consists of each component that makes up the brand’s identity. The Mehrabian rule states that non-verbal cues account for 93% of the communication we experience, whereas actual words account for only 7% of it. Hotels should also develop a brand identity that expresses their core values in a distinct way. Without explicitly saying it, a distinct brand identity communicates to potential customers what they can anticipate.

The following components make up the foundation of a brand’s identity:

#1. Logo

Consider your logo as a simple way to recognize your brand. For instance, a tree, leaf, or other sustainable sign may be used by a hotel to advertise its brand. A beachside resort’s logo can feature an ocean wave.

#2. Name

The name of your business is frequently the very first aspect of your hotel that potential guests will see, so picking the appropriate name is essential to establishing the reputation of the brand. Your brand name should not only be genuine, distinct, and easily distinguishable from other hotel brands, but it should also connect with your target market and make an impression.

#3. Style of Design

What typeface, colours, or graphics does your company use? The design of a hotel can reveal a lot about the kind of establishment it is. Are you in charge of a green hotel? If so, you might choose a brand design with organic shapes and natural colour tones. For instance, a hotel near the beach might decide to employ a colour scheme that reflects its surroundings, with muted beige hues that are reminiscent of sand.

#4. Font

Although it might seem like a straightforward decision, the font you pick actually says a lot about your company. People associate certain font styles with particular emotions, memories, or other psychological associations, just like they do with colours, shapes, or patterns. Meanwhile, selecting a font style that conveys a particular image or aids your audience in making a particular connection with your hotel is part of developing a brand identity. While accounting or management firms usually select a more conventional serif font, technology organizations frequently use current typefaces to project a futuristic image. Script fonts are frequently used in luxury and boutique hotels to convey finesse and class.

The Importance of Hotel Branding

The importance of hotel branding includes the following

#1. Branding Helps You in Defeating Your Competitors

Now that internet and offline technologies have advanced, the entire world is your market. But in order to benefit from this, your brand must grab consumers’ attention and stand out from the competition. Building your credibility through branding in the hospitality sector can also give customers a good reason to choose you over your competitors. Additionally, according to research, individuals favour collaborating with brands that are credible and renowned over those that are not.

#2. It Builds Trust

Beyond your physical space, the guest experience is crucial to your continuous communications. While a skillfully constructed social media presence will help you cover all your bases, keep in mind that the main objective of each and every endeavour is to please your customers. Similarly, consistent, considerate, and personalized brand messages will strengthen the relationship you have with your customers.

#3. It Creates New Revenue Streams

Every hotel requires a respectable face, and branding serves as the face that attracts potential customers. Creating a strong brand identity is undoubtedly one of the best strategies to promote your company. Besides, your audience will be more likely to stick with you, return, and stay if your brand story is stronger.

#4. It Leverages Emotional Influence

Customers will be more likely to book a stay at your hotel if you give them a compelling enough reason to care about it. This is due to the fact that most consumers’ purchasing decisions are motivated by feelings rather than reason. You may also maximize the growth of your brand loyalty by creating an expressive brand that resonates and connects with your audience.

#5. The Power of Storytelling Is Enhanced Through Branding

If your hotel has a compelling and meaningful brand story, guests are more likely to sense a connection with you when they stay there. Better understanding, trust, comprehension, receptivity, and other positive effects are brought about by stories. There are so many various ways that your hotel can include values that are important to its visitors.

The Secrets to Effective Hotel Branding

Below are the secrets to successful hotel branding

#1. Develop a Thorough Marketing Plan

Making a solid team-wide brand marketing strategy is the first step in successful hotel branding. Effective brand managers support the marketing team throughout the whole branding process to make sure that everyone is on the same page, producing consistent content, and working toward the same objective.

#2. Establish a Brand Principle

What is the value proposition for your hotel? Is it a cutting-edge workspace, a unique opportunity for guests to unwind, or a chance to meet other travellers? What distinguishes your hotel from others and what highlights your principles? Describe the special features your hotel offers that are advantageous to your target market.

#3. Celebrate Your Unique Qualities

Draw attention to what makes your hotel special. Does your property serve a specific market or have any historical significance? Showcase what makes your hotel unique from other hotels in the area in the narrative that your hotel branding tells. Do you follow a certain design motif or have a rooftop bar intended for dance parties?

#4. Focus on a Certain Market

When it comes to branding, it’s important to understand the different types of hotel guests and how to appeal to them. Travellers that are business travelers, vacationers, or tech-savvy leisure travellers can also be your ideal market category. Understanding what customers want from your hotel is also essential for building a successful brand.

What Is the Best Brand in Hotel?

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts
One&Only Resorts.
Oetker Collection
Raffles Hotels & Resorts
Red Carnation Hotel Collection
Sofitel Legend
The Langham Hotels & Resorts.

What Are Hotel Brand Standards?

From the viewpoint of a guest, brand standards serve as a minimum standard for product and service expectations. They foster the unity required for a hotel or resort to survive. Additionally, establishing brand standards is essential for building brand equity and identity. Standards give the business stability.

Conclusion

In summary, hotel branding is an important component of the hospitality sector. A strong brand can without a doubt make a hotel stand out from the crowd and draw in visitors. But building a successful brand is not simple. It necessitates meticulous preparation and execution. However, any hotel may create a powerful and identifiable brand with the proper strategy that will attract visitors and support economic expansion.

FAQs About Hotel Branding

Why is branding important to a hotel?

Branding without a doubt helps to create a lasting impression on your target audience allowing them to know what to expect from your brand and how to distinguish your hotel from the competitors.

What do you mean by hotel branding?

A hotel brand is an identity that binds a group of hotels together in the eyes of the customers. Besides, the identity is generated by marketing in form of designs, symbols and words. With their brand identity, hotels can differentiate themselves from their competition.

How can I improve my hotel brand?

Know your audience.
Optimize your website.
Focus on what makes your hotel special.
Start a loyalty program.
Use email and social media marketing.
Partner with local businesses.