Brand Portfolio Management Case Study: Choice Hotels International

A brand is a powerful tool, especially in the hotel industry where services are intangible. Many hotels of the 21st century have made branding one of their top most priority with the realisation that hotel branding helps to set them apart from their competitors and create a firm customer base. Branding creates brand recognition, brand preference, increase customer satisfaction and most importantly, customer loyalty.

Marriott decided to enhance travelers’ value by segmenting the market and then targeting selected segments, each with a different brand. Then as now, Marriott was the flagship brand. Each new brand would support Marriott’s overall brand identity — a commitment to superior customer service — and train employees to have a passion for service.

For instance, in the hospitality industry, the Hilton brand symbolises high-end properties, elevated quality of service and a unique guest experience. Brand name and brand image are essentially two factors that differentiate companies which operate in the same industry and market. Therefore, the brand name must be unique. Hotel companies like the Hilton have established strong national brands and seek to use them globally with an intention of increasing profits. Once its established as a global brand, the company has successfully created an international image that can lead to increased efficiency through branded marketing efforts and cost savings on a much larger scale. Nowadays with an increase in international travel, the competition among international hotel corporations is becoming a lot more competetive. Those tourists that travel to foreign countries tend to stay in one of the known hotel brands and their standardised quality of service. Hotel chains are motivated to maintain a high rate of global expansion as a key marketing strategy of creating brand loyalty (King,

When reviewing the market research provided by the tourist bureau we can capture the market a little better to determine which company to choose. By utilizing this information, we can conduct that he needs to choose a franchise that will meet the needs of the younger generation and within a target salary. While there are some larger hotel chains in the area determining whether a holiday in or a days inn is in his best interest. Choosing a franchise agreement is a decision that will offer the owner the benefits and brand strength necessary to survive the trending market. ("Franchise Agreements vs. Management Agreements: Which One Do I Choose?, by Nelson Migdal," 2014).

The growth strategy of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Inc is multifaceted. Their growth strategy is driven by opening the finest hotel, in the right destination, which will lead to the right economics for the hotel owner. They not only discover destinations where their consumers want to go, but target those markets where they want to create their presence and to increase awareness for future Four Seasons’ travelers. But at the same time investigate opportunities to engrain their positions in those destinations, where they have already operated. According to Kathleen Taylor ‘Four Seasons has approximately 50 projects in various stages of design and construction. The vast majority will come outside the U.S., with a focus on China, India and Latin America. There are lots of cities in those areas where Four Seasons needs to

Nations Hotel Corporation is one of the reputed USA based hotel company, with an international presence in 15 countries worldwide. Hospitality industries are quiet competitive in nature and today’s success rule of hospitality includes knowledge, customer satisfaction and operational efficiency which provides pleasure of stay and departure to their guests. Any addition or subtraction in these components can increase or decrease the rating of any organization. Nations Hotel with 98% brand awareness and 72% as customer satisfaction ratio were still far from the race of preferred choice amongst the customers. Hence there, arose a need to

Since its foundation in 1927 Marriott Corporation grew into one of the leading lodging and food services in the US. With three major business lines: lodging, contract services and related business, Marriott has the intention to remain a premier growth company. To achieve this goal the corporation’s strategy is to develop aggressively appropriate opportunities within their business lines. Marriott would like to be the preferred employer, the preferred provider and the most profitable company in each of the operating areas. The financial strategy includes four key elements:

For my luxury brand marketing analysis I choosed the Four Season Hotels chain, as on my mind it is one of the most successful and well-known hotel chain, providing 5 star service all around the world.

The hotel industry is a very hard industry to enter into, due to one of the biggest obstacles, which is brand recognition. Right now there are a few large hotel chains that make a large footprint in the market. It is hard for a new entrant to come into the industry and compete with these large hotel chains without bringing something new to the table. Many large chains in the industry dominate the industry due to economies of scale due to franchising.

This was mainly due to the large number of diversified hotels in the chain across the globe

targeted those people who would recognize and appreciate quality lodging and not those who were seeking “cheap sleep”.  Inviting potential guests or individuals who might influence visitor hotel selection to launch parties, swim parties, cocktail parties and other planned events.  Targeting supportive hospitality businesses.  Packages that supported local businesses were developed.

The corporate branding strategy will create a sort of umbrella under which all the properties of the company will fall, thus sharing the same quality level in the customer’s perception. Moreover a strong corporate brand will ease the company identification and potentially increase the number of new guests through word of mouth, thus enabling the company to gain a bigger market share. Nevertheless the implementation of such a strategy will necessarily involve big costs and a structural change in the organization. Its culture, the way in which advertising is done, the facilities and supplies in each resorts, the way in which management operates will have to be adapted to the new branding strategy. Furthermore undertaking this action may let down some valuable customers who are particularly affectionate to a resort and may be afraid that it will lose its unique and individual features. Plus it might also disappoint some skilled hotel managers which may feel threatened in their autonomy and potentially leave the company. Retraining the whole body of employees to adapt to the new strategy may be expensive and time consuming as well.

Having been in the hospitality business for more than 25 years, the Kimpton Hotels Corporation is a national and global company, which had been widely recognized all over as an industry leader in the boutique brand hotel with a tradition of innovative hospitality. According to the Kimpton Hotel Corporation, “Our mission is to be the best-loved hotel and restaurant company by our employees, guests, owners, and communities and to genuinely support our co-workers, provide heartfelt care and comfort for our guests, and deliver superior financial returns to our investors.” Being immensely focused on this mission, the hotel’s primary goal is to be the most preferred boutique hotel brand in the industry.

Marriott is a multi brand company with a Global Portfolio that providing lodging that fit within many market segments. This report will discuss briefly Marriott’s Portfolio of hotels, what they do, briefly examine a number of their key marketing strategies and examine how they are implemented, measured and ask the question does this make them market leaders?

The organization has explicitly kept this advantageous environment over other organizations by improving its service capacity. Additionally, the organization ensures that it stays ahead of its rivals by engaging in research and development that focuses on luxury products and markets analysis. The Ritz-Carlton hotel uses data from its research to predict the future of the industry; therefore able to dictate what and how the market will trend in the foreseeable future. Another factor that keeps the organization’s advantage over its rivals is that while rivals tend to become a hotel brand in the industry, Ritz-Carlton has rather position itself to be a leader and lifestyle brand that constantly develop new properties and ensure that customers live the culture of the hotel. The final factor that has kept the advantage of the organization intact is the culture of trust that exists between the management and employees. The leadership of the hotel lives and communicates the organization’s value to its employees who in turn satisfy customers in a way that they often anticipate a return visit. These are some of the reasons that the Ritz-Carlton hotel continued advantageous environment over its rivals has persisted in the hotel and resort industry (Reiss,