What Does an Iconic Hotel look like? Part 2 – The 'Soul' of a Brand.
Moving up their own Maslow's Pyramid of 'existential' Hierarchy, hotels have been differentiating themselves from each other, some famously growing to rise to the top of the competitive heap to become the finest, the best, and the iconic.
The Raffles in Singapore, The Peninsula in Hong Kong, the Oriental in Bangkok, The Ritz in Paris, the Beverly Hills Hotel in California, Copacabana Palace in Brazil, Hotel Cipriani in Venice – are all icons and legends. So what makes them so?
In Part 2 of this feature, we look at elements that form the soul of a brand –
1. Iconic hotels are in Step with the Universe
In today's maniacal times of rampant growth, global warming is unleashing havoc on our lives. Every individual and organization is carrying a cross stemming from all the bad things we have done collectively to our environment. We have begun to regret the good things we did not have good sense or better planning to bring into effect so as to undo the bad.
As people or companies, we can be easily put in the dock for incessantly leaving warning levels of huge carbon footprints on the Universe whose sole purpose is to nourish and nurture us. And for that, we just have to pay the price, as we already are beginning to.
Each step we take towards reducing our carbon emissions counts. When I was working with the local Hyatt in India's Capital City back in the mid 90s, we formed an 'Environment Brigade' and as cause espousing crusaders went about strategizing to save different forms of energy and resources wherever we could, without short-changing guest comfort. We also looked outside and started participating in larger societal issues.
There have been other chains who take on matters that deal with tree plantation, management of green islands around, water effluent systems, harvesting of solar energy or the rainwater. The possibilities are countless.
As companies that deal essentially with people – both on the inside and outside, hotels have a huge role to play in striving to curb the menace and wind the clock back on the damages done.
No wonder, prominent hotel chains are attempting to be in unison with the Universe by going green and trying to increasingly be more environment-friendly.
2. Iconic hotels have a sense of humour
Having a sense of humour helps in several ways! It saves your skin on a bad hair day, gives your brand personality an edge, becomes a conversation starter with the guests and leaves a nice after-feeling with them.
Rob Palleschi, global head, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, not only oversees Hilton Worldwide's flagship brand and leads a portfolio of more than 550 hotels and resorts across six continents, he is also a master strategist. In a case study done by Bulldog Reporter, Palleschi shared how his Group employed humour to change mindset and grow the client base from business travelers to include leisure.
The idea was also to grow sales as a leisure travel destination. "We used humour to create a campaign around 'vacationitis.' We worked with our internal and external partners to create a funny campaign that featured the tongue-in-cheek interactive microsite, 'Hilton Urgent Vacation Care Center.' The site featured a vacation diagnostic test that determined how "sick" visitors were and gave them custom prescriptions that involved stays at Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties around the globe," reveals Rob Palleschi.
When you do things with a zing, you manage to suffix extra to the otherwise ordinary and carve a little niche for your brand. The humour helps alleviate many a hairy-hoary situation, leaving guests feeling more forgiving should you have erred or relaxed should the heat – circumstantial or climatic – be on a high. And like in the Hilton example it helps in creating more business too!
3. Iconic hotels challenge themselves
In the continuously evolving world of hospitality, change is the only constant. The guest profile is changing, they are becoming more discerning. Our co-players are devising new methods to play the business game. The infrastructure and technology are always in the shake, rattle, refresh and renew mode. With so much going on, the solution lies in challenging yourself and upping your antenna for upward growth.
When I moved on from an established brand to an old hotel that had been languishing in a decrepit condition for long, we had a huge mandate on hand. As part of the Change Agent Team, the big challenge staring back at us was to turn around the Brand completely. We had to restructure, reposition, redevelop and thereby rebrand the hotel company.
The task was monumental for each of us. As integral cogs in the wheel we all had to be well-oiled to deliver beyond briefs and expectations. From redoing the look with new construction, new upholstery, uniforms, linen, flatware we took a comb through the way things were done and brought in up-to-date policies and procedures, wrote new manuals and put in place benchmarked new best practices.
Having done all that, a bigger challenge lay ahead of us. We had to reshape mindsets and change our guest profile. In its earlier avatar, the hotel used to host a mix of old, retired Government officials who dropped in for tea or dining and East European backpackers who kept the tariff down.
The need-of-the-hour was to tell the world that we were now there to be spoken of in the same breath as the world's finest. That, we were ready to host the luxury business and leisure traveller from any corner of the globe!
The end result – each of us who worked on this majorly challenging assignment has shaped into a consummate hotelier. We have been privileged to handle such a wonderful, path breaking professional assignment and are proud to have left a rich legacy that is talked about with respect in the hoteliering circles.
Whether it is launching a new hotel or relaunching an old one (the latter being a more difficult task), exploring new markets, reinforcing presence in the markets we have existed in, the world of hotels is always poised to present unlimited challenges to us.
Then there are the additional demands on us – that of retraining team on new practices and insights, looking at new ways to conduct business, increasing the bandwidth of our guest profile, introducing new concepts and newer technology and wishing to establish our toehold in heretofore untouched segments. It is in our interest to bite the bullet.
We must not only be prepared to turn all the professional handicaps into aces that underline the success but to upset our apple cart, step away from our comfort zone and go out looking for challenging frontiers to put our personal flags on. All the star icons on the hospitality landscape have challenged the basics and evolved into models with exemplary practices.
The iconic hotels, with their distinctive growth passage, show us that this is the only way forward!
