This project is a clear example showing how investment funds and REITs, which first revitalised the real estate sector and were instrumental in helping it to regain strength after ten years of crisis, have recently jumped into the hospitality sector, attracted by its high-profit margins and providing a competitive edge to traditional hotel companies. Initially, this led to a boom in purchases, mainly in holiday destinations.

In recent years this has shifted to urban and secondary markets such as those operated by our client. Time will tell how the purchases resulting from the COVID crisis, which has strangled many small hoteliers, might be the solution to the liquidity problems of many companies in the sector.

We quickly discovered that we were dealing with a unique client. Jon and Ander are extremely direct, tight-knit and radiate a corporate culture that trickles through a very horizontal structure where teamwork, collaboration and co-creation, communication and a good atmosphere, self-management, demand and vocation for leadership, disruption and technological thinking including, questioning, simplifying, technifying and scaling are all priorities. Daring to redefine established concepts and turn them upside down, to improve the customer experience through technology and generate scalable operating models is what perfectly defines the spirit of this investor and entrepreneur duo as well as their entire team. It is a creative and rebellious personality that they combine with profound wisdom and insight into investment business and technology, perceiving the (dis)advantage of not having previous operational experience in the sector as an opportunity to let go of the burdens that prevent them from redefining roles and processes.

A consequence of this spirit is also their commitment to generating value instead of pure speculation. The aim is to question the established norms and continue operating from Bilbao, far away from the large tourist business centres and with a view to generate a hospitality niche under the protection provided by the post-industrial, high-tech economy that characterises the Basque business fabric.

This wisdom and ability to see outside the box allowed us to look for differentiation from other international hospitality brands focused on this same type of product, such as Oyo, Sonder, Domio, or Cuckozz. They base their proposal on a “feel at home” feeling based on the spaces’ physical attributes (urban, cosy & chic design), with a high social and multicultural component (locally inspired vibe) focused on an urban and active profile, more outward than inward, and reinforced with shared activities in common spaces.

So we were aware that our task was none other than to pick up this corporate culture and give it life and narrative through a new brand that would also question many of the sector’s clichés. It would take advantage of the gap left by the rest, offering medium and long stays to families and also to companies. Furthermore, it was necessary to contextualise it considering the exceptional moment we are living through, in the midst of a pandemic that is going to alter many of our behavioural and consumption habits, including the use of spaces and specifically the concept and use of what we consider to be home.

We asked ourselves some questions: What is home, especially during this pandemic? When hoteliers talk about home, are they talking about the one you want, the one you like, the one you need, or the one they create for you and which is the same for all their clients? What do we mean when we talk about personalisation? Is technology dehumanising us? Do we want to / can we continue to live “outwards” with this high social component in our relationships?

And what if we redefine the “feel at home” hotelier, which is the mantra of 99% of the sector?

On the basis of these reflections and taking in the company’s culture and its possibilities for development through technology, we reformulated the product and experience. We then summarised it in five insights that are the soul of the new brand:

The visual identity is born around a simple, typographic logo where different characters choose their own alignment, height and position within the final composition. The serene and natural tones convey a sense of welcoming, cosiness, comfort and closeness; and of nature and sustainability. They also evoke simplicity, minimalism and the serene rebelliousness of those who aspire to inner fulfilment, with the conviction that they know what they want for themselves and their loved ones.