This is How You Rebrand a Hotel Without Losing Business

Hotel rebranding is something that doesn’t happen often in the hospitality industry and for obvious reasons.

But what if hotel rebranding is the only way to succeed in this competitive industry?

Would you do it? Or, does it sound like a lot of work?

Well, it isn’t that simple, to be honest.

However, with the right strategy, rebranding your hotel could become easier, and without losing business.

In this article, I am going to walk you through the nitty-gritty of rebranding a hotel; especially, how to make the rebranding journey successful while maintaining loyal customers and winning new ones.

Not to mention, the principles mentioned here can be applied to accommodation businesses of any shape and size.

So, without further ado, let’s jump right into the matter.

What is Hotel Rebranding?

Hotel rebranding is the process of creating a new look and feel of an accommodation establishment and its services; highlighting the unique story, and influencing the overall perception of guests about the business.

Simply put, it is more of repositioning and revitalizing the hotel brand to cater to the current needs and wants of the industry.

Why Do You Want to Rebrand Your Hotel?

In this entire scenario of hotel rebranding, this is most probably the elephant in the room.

Before anything else, you have to decide whether you want to rebrand your hotel and if so, what’s the actual reason.

How about an example to understand why most hotels rebrand?

(You’re starting to like my examples, aren’t you?)

Rohan is a seasoned hotelier and over the years he has successfully operated multiple properties in different cities of India.

However, his last venture in Gokarna, which was targeting the surfing community, didn’t fare really well. 

Upon analyzing every single aspect, Rohan and his team figured that there was a disconnect. For some reason, people from the surfing community weren’t connecting with the hotel and its vibe.

Which is why the property needed a complete rebranding.

The rebranding wasn’t just the name, it rather changed everything; from the name, ambiance, amenities, and room types, to pricing.

Just like Rohan’s scenario, you also need to have a valid reason if you want to revitalize your hotel.

If you think the problem is big enough and can only be solved by rebranding, then well and good. Or else, you might want to redo your homework and check for alternative solutions.

What Does a Hotel Rebrand Involve?

Rebranding a hotel isn’t a cakewalk, rather there are a whole bunch of things to be taken care of.

Let’s understand some of those factors involved.

Brand identity

A hotel’s brand identity is one of the highly impacted aspects during rebranding. From name, color, design, and logo, to the elements that distinguish the brand in consumers’ minds, everything goes through a drastic transformation.

It might not be easy for your potential and existing guests to accept this whole new brand that has come out of nowhere.

Legalities

Whatever the reason for rebranding, there are certain legal points you need to be aware.

Firstly, do not fall in love with any fancy brand name only to find out that it is being used by a different company. Do your research first. 

Next up, trademark your new brand name or any product/services that are in line.

Additionally, you might also have to amend your current organizational documents according to the new brand or create a new entity for your rebranded hotel business.

Mission and vision

When a hotel gets a rebranding, there are chances that it is being done to cater to a whole new guest base. Meaning, this would require the hotel to define an entirely different vision and mission.

Therefore, make your statements clear and pave a well-thought-out path to deliver what you promise. 

Strategies

Based on the previous point, now that the hotel is all set to focus on a completely different group of travelers, the strategies need to change as well.

What I mean is that everything has to be curated according to the target guest persona. Be it the room type, pricing, or even the marketing messaging.

Additionally, creating all the strategies by yourself could be tiresome and overwhelming. This is where professionals like revenue managers come into the picture. 

Things to Keep in Mind During a Hotel Rebranding

While rebranding a hotel, even the slightest error could have an abysmal impact. Which is why it is imperative to have a checklist. 

Here are 9 prominent aspects that you need to be mindful of when repositioning your hotel: 

1. Know your ideal guests

Before taking any step towards rebranding your hotel, you must find hotel prospects who will fall in love with your property.

Simply put, it is about determining who you attract and why.

Moreover, you have to learn everything about your prospects — from age and personality traits to travel and stay preferences.

Creating hotel guest personas is a great way to start. If you aren’t aware of this concept, a guest persona is a fictional character that a hotel creates to describe its ideal guests.

So, it is highly recommended that you invest time in learning about your new ideal guests and then proceed with your rebranding campaign.

2. Let your guests know early on

Surprise!!!!!!!!!!!

No!

Please, don’t surprise your existing or potential guests with your rebranding move.

While some people love surprises, some might not like them at all.

If you announce your rebranding, out of the blue, then it may lead your guests to a loss of equilibrium and focus.

Further, your guests might be rigid in their expectations or they are comfortable with your hotel’s current state. And for some reason, if they don’t like the all-new appearance of your property, they are very likely to be disappointed.

So, when you go about rebranding your hotel, announce it much prior. 

This way you’ll have enough time to convince your guests that it is all happening for the good and it is not going to hamper their experience now or in the future.

3. Discuss everything with the staff

Your staff is your hotel’s asset. Their take on serious matters is as important as yours.

When you’re taking such a big decision of rebranding your hotel, have an open discussion with your employees.

Don’t make this meeting only about you informing them of the hotel rebranding; rather, make it about getting a different perspective.

Here are a few questions you can ask your employees for honest feedback:

• What do you think about the rebranding?
• Is it a good move or should we mull over it again?
• Do you like the name, theme, and strategies that we are planning to implement?
• What are all the other changes we should make to our hotel?
• Do you have anything in mind that you like the hotel to implement?

Note: Do not just ask questions for the sake of the discussion. If you get valuable feedback, make sure to implement it. 

4. Do not change everything at once

I know, the idea of rebranding your hotel is really exciting.

I am sure you have a bunch of ideas to work on and want to get started on each of them as quickly as possible.

But, pal, you need to hold your horses.

Hotel rebranding is a sensitive matter. Every activity needs to be carried out carefully without harming the hotel’s business.

So, what’s the best thing to do?

Take baby steps.

Maybe start with the logo and the name? Or, how about renovating the hotel interior?

You make the right call. Just don’t be all over the place.

5. Keep your hotel operational

You wake up one fine morning, change your hotel’s name, and post it on social media.

Voila!

Hotel rebranding done right? NO.

A successful hotel rebranding doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a long process. And during this period, do you want to hold a banner outside your property that reads “Temporarily closed”?

No, Right? This isn’t a great idea, at all.

Like I said above, take one activity at a time to keep your hotel operational.

Keeping your hotel operational while rebranding can help you retain your guests. Also, when you work on it in public, there are chances of building trust as you’re being transparent.

So, throw that “temporarily closed” banner and keep serving your guests with the same level of sincerity.

6. Create a robust budget

Budgeting is important for businesses from every industry, of all shapes and sizes, and for every segment.

And hotels are no exception.

A hotel rebranding campaign is going to be a disaster if you don’t have a budget in place. Because without a budget you won’t be able to stay within your financial limits and spend mindfully.

If I have to put it simply, budgeting helps you avoid over and under-spending.

We have a detailed article on creating a budget for a hotel. I am sure you can take cues from that and implement them in your hotel rebranding strategy.

7. Work with legal professionals

As I stated above, legalities are bound to come along with the rebranding process.

After all, your brand, whether it’s the logo, advertising slogan, or social media hashtag, is valuable intellectual property, and you should protect it under various laws.

But are you aware of what and how you need to protect your brand from innumerable pitfalls?

No, I guess.

In scenarios like this, the best advice anyone would give you is to hire a legal professional.

A legal professional would not only take care of your rebranding legalities but also help you with various other legal strategies.

8. Get help from revenue management experts

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of revenue management for hotels.

Revenue management can help your hotel drive significantly higher revenue from your stagnant source of income. It is not just about working on hotel pricing but also various other aspects that have the potential to bring in a good sum.

Now, when you rebrand your hotel, change your strategies, and target a completely different guest base, work with revenue management experts.

If you haven’t thought about incorporating revenue management services, then you must turn to it.

9. Work with rebranding experts

Rebranding is supremely intimidating, especially when you’re working on it internally. Not to mention, the chances of goofing things up are also high.

Apart from goof-ups, successful rebranding of a hotel might take up to two months or more.

Do you think keeping your internal workforce occupied for months is a wise decision? Not at all!

This is where rebranding experts come into the picture.

When you hand your hotel rebranding project to external help, you take the burden off your shoulders and get to focus on important aspects of your hotel.

It might be a little tough, but giving rebranding experts a shot is worth most of the time.

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