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Hospitality Branding
In recent years the brand has moved squarely into the spotlight as the key to success in the hospitality industry. Business strategy once began with marketing and incorporated branding as one of its elements; today the brand drives marketing within the larger hospitality enterprise. Not only has it become the chief means of attracting customers, it has, more broadly, become the chief organizing principle for most hospitality organizations. The never-ending quest for market share follows trend after trend, from offering ever more elaborate and sophisticated amenities to the use of social media as a marketing tool-all driven by the preeminence of the brand.
Chekitan S. Dev's Hospitality Branding brings together the most important insights from the author's many years of research and experience, all in a single volume. Skillfully blending the knowledge of recent history, the wisdom of cutting-edge research, and promise of future trends, this book offers hospitality organizations the advice they need to survive and thrive in today's competitive global business environment.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 20, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 7, 2017
I get it. It's an academic book. But I'm still confident that academics use charts, graphs, tables in their work. This whole book is a wall of text. Not sure why images weren't utilized.
Second bone to pick, several case studies were mere set-ups. It would describe the situation and end with the question. No answer. No ramifications.
Still found the book useful. Just have to give a poor rating due to how infuriatingly incomplete it was.
Second bone to pick, several case studies were mere set-ups. It would describe the situation and end with the question. No answer. No ramifications.
Still found the book useful. Just have to give a poor rating due to how infuriatingly incomplete it was.
May 6, 2016
This is a well-written and a well-researched book. In fact it is a collection of research papers compiled in a systematic way. Each chapter has an extensive list of references.
I especially liked information about the history of hospitality marketing, measurement of brand equity, and brand strategies.
Here are the names of each of the stages in the development of hospitality marketing:
Promotion, product development and market research, revenue management and brand development, customer satisfaction and loyalty, internet marketing, data driven marketing.
Brand equity chapter showed that there is a way to visualize brand position by using brand maps. This tool can help to enter niches not served by the market.
Brand strategies chapter provided a good way to select one of 2 strategies - marketing orientation vs competition orientation - depending on several conditions (stage of economy, business conditions, resources, demandingness of guests). Among other things, the more developed the country is, the more appropriate it is to concentrate on guests' needs and wants. The less developed the country is, the better it is to focus on competition orientation.
Other interesting thoughts:
There was also a good analysis on financial returns of acquiring a brand (or going independent). A research showed for example that putting a brand name generally increases ADR. Switching from an independent property to a branded one, increases occupancy rate. Also returns on different brands are varied.
Another important point mentioned somewhere in the book was about a distinction between salient and determinant attributes. Determinant attributes of a brand cause an actual purchase. Salient attributes refer to attributes which guests mention, but these attributes don't distinguish the property and don't necessarily lead to purchase. What's more, through research, it is possible to find determinant attributes.
The key takeaway for me was that branding can be approached in a rigorous way.
Should I brand the property or keep the property independent?
What brand niche should I choose to maximize profit?
What branding strategy should I choose?
Why do guests choose the brand?
These questions can be answered without a guesswork.
This is an excellent resource for marketing professionals. A smooth blend of academic research and practical applications. I will definitely go back to it whenever I face a specific problem covered by this book.
I especially liked information about the history of hospitality marketing, measurement of brand equity, and brand strategies.
Here are the names of each of the stages in the development of hospitality marketing:
Promotion, product development and market research, revenue management and brand development, customer satisfaction and loyalty, internet marketing, data driven marketing.
Brand equity chapter showed that there is a way to visualize brand position by using brand maps. This tool can help to enter niches not served by the market.
Brand strategies chapter provided a good way to select one of 2 strategies - marketing orientation vs competition orientation - depending on several conditions (stage of economy, business conditions, resources, demandingness of guests). Among other things, the more developed the country is, the more appropriate it is to concentrate on guests' needs and wants. The less developed the country is, the better it is to focus on competition orientation.
Other interesting thoughts:
There was also a good analysis on financial returns of acquiring a brand (or going independent). A research showed for example that putting a brand name generally increases ADR. Switching from an independent property to a branded one, increases occupancy rate. Also returns on different brands are varied.
Another important point mentioned somewhere in the book was about a distinction between salient and determinant attributes. Determinant attributes of a brand cause an actual purchase. Salient attributes refer to attributes which guests mention, but these attributes don't distinguish the property and don't necessarily lead to purchase. What's more, through research, it is possible to find determinant attributes.
The key takeaway for me was that branding can be approached in a rigorous way.
Should I brand the property or keep the property independent?
What brand niche should I choose to maximize profit?
What branding strategy should I choose?
Why do guests choose the brand?
These questions can be answered without a guesswork.
This is an excellent resource for marketing professionals. A smooth blend of academic research and practical applications. I will definitely go back to it whenever I face a specific problem covered by this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews