How to build your hotel brand

Q) I run a multi-site hospitality business with a mix of independent boutique hotels and pubs with rooms. I have been relooking at the corporate business strategy as well as the individual site performance, but I’m struggling to work out where to invest. Should I build the corporate brand; the individual brands; or is there some way I can mix the two?

As a multi-site hospitality business, you have two choices when it comes to your business model. The first is to create a winning formula to be rolled out time and time again, operating a fundamentally stable model. This is what the large corporate hotel chains do, and they trade on their household name, reputation and reviews, with very limited adaptations to local needs. The pros of this approach are that the business is formulaic, can be rolled out very quickly, and relies on brand reputation to perform; the cons are that there are very specific needs in terms of size and location, and the individual hotels often operate externally to the local community.

The second option is to create a multi-site corporate/parent business, which focuses on the individuality of the properties rather than the corporate brand, as you have done. While there are benefits to cross-pollinating the databases and encouraging visits to sister properties, in reality each business has to build its own reputation, own presence and own database. The pros of this approach are that each property is unique and special and can perform in its own right; the cons are that unless your punters understand the concept of the multi-site business, there is probably limited scope to trade on the household name.

As a parent company with multiple individual brands, it can be difficult to ascertain how and where to invest, and where to draw the line between the corporate group and the individual properties. However, rather than hindering your strategy, this can in fact be a huge strategic strength. Your initial decision is whether you want to build the individual brands, the corporate brand or both, which will hinge on what you want to personally get out of it. For example, if ‘success’ to you is to maximise the profit, reputation or performance of each outlet, then your energy is best spent on the individual brands; if however success ultimately lies in the sale of the group and your early retirement, then the corporate brand is key. Once you have made this decision, you will understand your overarching objective and can then consider activity against this core objective.

Your focus should always be on the ‘journey’ of your potential customer. It doesn’t really matter to them whether you are a ‘corporate first’ or ‘property first’ business, as long as the information is clear, concise and doesn’t hamper their progress towards their own goal. For example, if you take a corporate first approach to the business, and build your core corporate brand, then your website must be well-optimised for each individual location and customers must be able to quickly and easily identify the property where they want to stay, eat or visit, and be able to book online. This information is more important than any group sales copy, even if your domain and logo are those of the parent company.

Alternatively, if you want to maximise revenue from local footfall and inbound visitors, then you might consider a property first approach, launching individual websites for each property. From an SEO perspective, this means that you can optimise each website individually for the location and take advantage of organic traffic. You will also be able to add personality and individuality for each of the properties. My advice is to take advantage of the innovations presented by modern technology, enabling you to create bespoke sites for each property, but which share the same UX themes and customer journey.

What you haven’t made clear is how you currently promote the brands, and which approach you favour. If you change your mind about how you want to promote – e.g. company first or property first – then don’t forget you will require a transition plan to enable your customers to understand the change. If you have been company led and now want to be property, then if you choose to launch separate websites, make sure you maintain a central one and also promote the parent brand clearly on each site. If it is the other way round, then start to introduce promotion of the parent brand, before transitioning to a main site.

Ultimately, it is your decision, but my advice would always be to focus on a) what you want to achieve, b) what you can afford to invest and c) which areas of your business specifically could perform better.

This feature first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Hotel Owner.