The hotel industry, especially the Spanish one, is extremely competitive. The recent economic crisis has led many hotel Brands. This change in the large chains, which are opting for a specialised management model to the detriment of the accumulation of wealth, is forcing owners to sell or consider the continuity of their establishments.

One of the viability solutions may be to affiliate to a large brand, through a franchise contract or similar, and thus benefit from its experience, image, loyal customers, channels, and competitive capacity.
Another solution is to bet on Branding in your hotel and the creation of your own brand. Many small and medium sized independent hotels are opting for their own operating model that allows them to recover the business for the families who own it, but which not only faces the challenge of managing it, but also that of creating a brand, developing it and creating a whole customer experience around it.
“I’m going to start my hotel project, why should I invest in branding?

At this point, I believe that it is no longer necessary to consider that the creation and management of one’s own brand is a fundamental part of the success of any company. We already commented in one of our previous posts on the importance of investing in your own brand, whatever your business or sector. The brand allows companies to establish a unique and differentiated identity. But in addition, a good brand positioning helps to create links, to create affinity with our values, to generate bonding and loyalty between the customer and the house and, therefore, it affects very positively in the final balance of a company.

This factor is especially decisive in the tourism sector. The saturation of supply, especially in the Spanish market, requires differentiation in order to tip the balance of the purchase decision. All the hotels in the same area share surroundings, heavenly beaches or the best restaurants capable of satisfying the expectations of any gourmet. And it is no longer just hotels, holiday flats are also fighting the same battle. In addition, we find hotels that for the most part have a renovated floor plan and similar comfort standards, regulated, and defined by category.

To this we must add a client who no longer wants just a clean bed in which to rest and a complete and tasty breakfast. Our client knows more, has travelled more, and demands more. This is a client who presupposes a minimum quality and who wants a plus, to live an experience that will remain in his memory.
We want you to remember us constantly and to repeat your stay with us. This is the moment to stand out from the crowd, to provide a differential value that makes them choose our hotel over the rest. Let’s give them arguments for this. Here are some reasons why a strategic branding project can benefit you in this scenario

The design of your brand is the “core” of the customer experience and will allow you to connect with them.

A good branding project will not only allow you to wear a custom logo, but it will also deepen your attributes, your unquestionable values of quality and service, in a way to understand the business and the relationship with the customers. Be honest and propose a hotel brand, a hotel concept that revolves around that identity and the memory that you want your client to have when they walk out the door. Stop and think about what your customer is like, what your buyer-person is like, what they like, how they live, what they value, what kind of product and service they expect, how they experience their destination. Draw up a service concept and dress it up with a good story and the best design, and you will make your customers want to be part of your universe. Be consistent with what you say you are, be consistent, and the magic will happen.

It may be your best asset:

A clear and decisive commitment to branding as a strategic value of a hotel project provides a competitive advantage to small hotels or independent hotels over large chains. Due to its size and autonomy, it is easier to implement new hotel branding policies, services and techniques that will improve the customer experience. In large chains, the amount of processes and resources involved in each strategic move make these projects slow and costly, both in time and investment. In addition, large chains face the challenge of managing and maintaining brand consistency across a multitude of business units that are often in different cities and even different countries, each with their own local cultures and personalities, and many with different owners and management companies. You can get there sooner and you can do better.

 

You have the best story line for your communication strategy.

The relevance of the brand and its design, with the storytelling that follows it, will be the storyline bible that will allow you to generate valuable content for your customers. Tell those outside how you are inside, observe the social profile of your clients and develop specific communication content to reinforce the positioning of the brand you have created, and thus complete the vision of your universe in the brain and heart of your client.

 

You are not alone, your employees are your best allies.

A brand is not something that is built from the outside in, it is not a costume for your hotel, nor a mere decoration project. It must be a project that is lived and communicated from the inside, and that is where your employees come into play. Receptionists, floor waitresses, maintenance technicians, bar staff, etc. Develop corporate culture, make them your best ambassadors, and therefore, in your best sales staff. Train them and let them know what are the essential values that characterize your hotel brand, your product and your service, and make them your accomplices in creating that experience that will make your customers repeat.

 

The return comes.

All branding processes require an investment in time and economic resources, but they bring as a consequence a substantial improvement in the customer experience, and therefore, a real increase in the value of your product. You will find it will be easier to justify your rates, the value of your service and the value of your project will grow exponentially.

Además ten en cuenta que, en general, los consumidores prefieren hacer sus reservas directamente en las webs de los propios hoteles, y lo hacen principalmente por reconocimiento de marca. Una marca bien construida y bien desarrollada facilita el reconocimiento de tu hotel y permite eliminar intermediarios que no aportan valor, decantando así la decisión de compra hacia tu canal propio.

If you also play your hand well with a good revenue management strategy, where all the departments are loyal to the same brand concept and a common branding strategy, it will be much easier to maximise cross-selling, as the reception, the restaurant, the spa, etc, share the same business core.

If you are thinking of starting a new hotel project or simply redirecting the one you already have, at Mandarina Brand Society we have successfully developed several hotel branding projects and we will be happy to help you. Shall we talk?