Creating a more resilient brand
Hospitality is missing out
[Second in a series of articles on hospitality in the post-COVID-age. Read installment 1 here.]
One of the many “teachable moments” of COVID-19 is how it’s not only shut down the physical aspects of the hotel business, but it’s also shut down any communication with the guests and potential guests.
And that’s understandable if you want to communicate in the traditional way in which hospitality groups communicate: updates on your loyalty programs, specials, hot new locations, the general allure of travel, etc.
But it’s not a strategy that‘s going to serve hospitality brands well during this crisis, or moving forward.
Building trust when you can’t
Being unable to communicate — to keep building relationships and, more importantly, building trust — is going to be the key to getting guests back in the door when things begin to open up.
The other reason to be top of mind with customers is that at the earliest sign that things will open up again, guests will find themselves bombarded with email messages and offers. Cutting through that clutter will be hard and expensive.
There is a way to be present in consumers’ lives in a more profound, less-salesy way, one that lets you communicate on an ongoing basis, all the while building loyalty and engagement…even when your core product offering is off-limits. It also helps you develop a better product, innovate, morph and create new business models, develop new offerings, and become more flexible — not just in times of crises — but every day.
In marketing speak, it’s called lifestyle branding.
Creating a more resilient relationship
Lifestyle branding may sound like yet another slick marketing gimmick, but in fact, it’s a powerful strategic concept.
In the hotel world, “lifestyle” usually refers to lifestyle hotels — often boutique properties –that offer a great restaurant, hot lobby scene, and events. But they’re not lifestyle brands.
So given the potential for confusion, and because the phrase “lifestyle brand” feels slick and superficial, let’s use a different one: Identity brand.
The identity brand
True identity brands are fundamentally strategic, not just a set of marketing tactics. They’re bigger than the products they represent. Instead, they’re about the customer. They:
- Are deeply embedded into the lives, emotions, values, and self-identities of consumers in ways that extend far beyond the core product or service of the brand.
- Serve customers through content, service, events, and community.
- Are laser-focused on execution to stay relevant and helpful within that context.
But aren’t all brands identity brands? Not really. Sure, the whole point of branding is to create emotional connections with customers by being about some big idea. Identity brands go further, however. They actively enable their customers to live their values every day, helping them become who they aspire to be. Identity brands have the equity to communicate with their customers regularly because they’re not just selling their product but adding real value to customers’ lives by helping them to tap into their deepest desires in the here and now. And focusing on the consumer’s identities and aspirations — and not just the core product — opens up opportunities to offer new products and services.
Identity Branding Hall of Fame
Unsurprisingly, some of the best identity brands are sports brands, where there’s an obvious path to tapping into the consumer’s passions.
Nike is not about the shoes, it’s about its customers’ performance: its events, its Nike+ program, and every piece of marketing support that mission. Lululemon, similarly, is about community and empowerment, not lycra. NorthFace has built a brand around exploration — whether it’s in the mountains or in the urban canyons. And Equinox has created a passionate tribe built around high-octane performance that has allowed them to extend their brand from gyms to real estate.
Jeep, Harley Davidson, and upscale bicycle gear company Rapha are wildly different brands but tap into adventure and tribal affiliation. Other brands are rooted in purpose: Patagonia has built a brand around sustainability and advocacy, while Shinola has created a brand around resilience, and eyewear company Caddis is building an identity brand around aging in style.
What’s missing from this list: any native hospitality brand. Disney — a powerhouse of identity brands — started as an animation company, only getting into theme parks 22 years after its founding. Shinola created its hotel brand years after it began selling watches and bags. And Soho House only evolved into a true accommodation-related brand (and seller of home furnishings) after establishing itself as a members club.
Interestingly, a few place-based brands have upped their game and are actively connecting with their constituencies during the COVID-19 crisis. But they’re not hotels. Museums and cultural institutions are engaging in a way that will serve them well in the future. By offering virtual tours, museums large (the Metropolitan Museum, the V&A, and legions of others) and small (the Sir John Soane Museum, among many) are engaging new visitors and members, staying connected and deepening ties with existing ones, and turning themselves into living, breathing global brands — not just places to visit when you’re next in London or New York or Florence but places to visit from your sofa or bathtub, drink in hand. The world of inspiration, visitation, and fundraising open up immeasurably. Cannibalization is unlikely: it’s more likely to serve as advertising for to experience the collection once the quarantine is lifted. Not that these institutions are fully-fledged identity brands — yet — but it’s easy to see them becoming more identity oriented, feeding the daily need for discovery and inspiration.
So, where are hotels in this?
Nowhere. Loyalty programs aren’t identity brands. Sure, the loyalty programs are referred to as “clubs”, which might suggest a drawing together of people with shared interests, accomplishments, or tastes. But a loyalty program is not a club: it’s a marketing tool that people grudgingly sign up for because they want free WiFi.
Hotels are missing out on a significant opportunity for which they are perfectly suited. Many hotel brands have the DNA to become identity brands, more so than any other category. A hotel brand’s entire raison d’etre is about tapping into consumer passions — travel, adventure, discovery, status. They just don’t go far enough.
Let’s be clear: creating a powerful identity brand takes investment, time (years), and large amounts of discernment and restraint. It may not catch on. But it will bring you closer to your guests, and it will make you more resilient. And what’s the alternative? The status quo?
How to start
First, stop thinking of your brand as just a set of buildings with rooms in them. That’s one product, but it doesn’t have to be your only one.
Next, consider if you want to invest. Creating an identity brand means investing in customer insight, content, and community building skills on a sustained basis. Not every brand warrants that investment. But for strategic brands within a portfolio or stand-alone brands, identity branding could be a game-changer.
Dig into your brand and its guests and fans to see if you have enough to build on. Not every brand — even the strategic ones — is cut out to be an identity brand. Some fundamentally lack the brand personality, story, and kind of guest relationships for any sort of identity brand effort to make sense. Lifestyle hotels, however, with their distinctive personalities and focus on aspirational market segments (usually the creative class and wanna-be’s) are ripe for this. Brands targeting millennials are also a good place to start.
Identify your ideal guest and get to know them well: not just how and how much they travel but how they think about life, about their purpose. What do they care about most deeply? What other brands do they love? Learn. Immerse yourselves in their lives. Then decide how you might be able to help.
Blend your existing story with one your guest finds meaningful and resonant. Don’t pander, but do establish what you want to stand for in the context of your customers’ lives and aspirations. What can you stand for that feels authentic and real to your story?
Let’s say that your research shows that your guests are fiercely independent types whose identities are bound up in not following the herd. How do you help them achieve or experience the feeling of being on the edge, being first to experience something in different aspects of their lives? What services (outside of those you offer in the hotel) could you offer? What content? What events could you design — on-premises, of course, but also digital or even where they live? Could you find a way to bring together a community of rugged individualists? What about an app? Tie-ins with other brands?
Get serious about content. Content is the first and easiest way to create relevance with your guests. Find your personality and develop a distinctive tone of voice and be consistent. Get off your own platforms and find out where your guests are online and in real life. Connect with people who’d likely never come to your hotel but embrace them into this larger identity brand. Then start engaging without always selling.
Bring those identity values to life in all you do. An identity brand isn’t just a marketing campaign: it needs to be embodied everything from marketing to booking to the actual hotel experience.
Make sure your culture is aligned with it. Train your staff in your identity brand offering and make sure that they’re supporting guests in their aspirations, not just delivering service.
Be in it for the long run. Creating an identity brand takes time. Be consistent. Evolve. Listen. And keep listening.
Yes. It’s too late to become an identity brand at this moment in time. But it’s time to start exploring if there’s an identity brand in you.
