We had eight separate boutique hotels to re-brand. Whilst they all shared the same parentage, there appeared to be not that much more to draw them closer, aside from their pricing strategy. Or so we thought.
Whilst this was a full-blown branding project that sent us off researching on guest behaviour – from hourly-rated to daily-rated hotels in Singapore – to compare and understand the value that our client could bring to their own hotel guests, the change that we saw as most pressing was in re-positioning the hotels. With branches in the Chinatown, Little India and Jalan Sultan cultural enclaves amongst others, we romped through their reception spaces, their rooms and their corporate office, interviewing their guests, front office managers, chambermaids, bell-hops, sales staff and HQ policy-makers, to understand their offer and their customer experience.
Then, we honed in on their heritage. Aago played a role in focusing on the family in this family business. We re-positioned the hotels as a chain – “SANTA GRAND, Group of Heritage Hotels”, with a refreshed tagline, “Inheriting local living”. We suggested renaming some of the hotels, in keeping with this new positioning. We even brand-briefed and worked with an architectural firm, in a pitch to revamp and architecturally-brand the hotel in the Jalan Sultan enclave as a showcase to deliver the full heritage brand experience.
And, we brand-trained, every staff down the service chain, in English, Mandarin and Bahasa – in true, multi-lingual heritage parlance – so that every Santa Grand staff serves as a proud brand ambassador.
