Building world class hotel brands – The importance of Service Culture

Brands play a big role in our decision making and identification process. But just what IS a brand?

Wikipedia clinically defines a Brand as “…a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the descriptive verbal attributes and concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme that convey the essence of a company, product or service. The brand, and “branding” and brand equity have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, now being described as “cultural accessories and personal philosophies”.

Brands in the Hotel industry today are more than the concrete symbols associated with them…today they represent a lifestyle choice and create a whole new meaning system. Hotel brand experts now aim for ‘loyalty beyond reason’ so clearly associated with international heavyweights like Coke, Nike, Apple, Starbucks and more.

Every major hotel chain now employs aggressive and strategic brand initiatives, deployed by employees on the ground. But good deployment is never possible without ownership of the values a brand espouses…and this requires the creation of a great Brand culture at hotels.

To get a behind the scenes peek at driving Brand Service Cultures, we talk to João Marcelo Rocco, who is the Director, Service Culture for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Europe, Africa & the Middle East. Some questions we asked João:

1. What are the 3 main things that define a great hotel brand?

To summarize – The 3 key elements of a world-class brand are clarity, constance and consistency

2. From your experience, what are the 5 habits of a highly successful Hotel Brand Trainer?

To summarize:

• Get to know your audience (roles, background, local culture) and the hotel (statistics, challenges, market)
• Always prepare your message and adapt it to your audience
• Create a safe and comfortable environment for participants to learn and share ideas; create emotional connections with and among participants
• Deliver a clear message aligned with your brand vision and make sure it resonates with every individual participant for effective learning
• Walk the talk: be an example and live the principles you are getting across

3. You’ve travelled quite a bit and seen many hotels and budding brand cultures… could you share your most memorable Hotel Brand experience/s. Why do you think they were so good?

4. Every hotel company and brand has training programs and systems to put a “brand culture” into place. What do you think are the 5 most crucial factors that ensure that the “idea” behind the brand culture makes a successful transition to “reality” in hotel operations?

To summarize:

• A very clear message and vision shall be communicated at all levels. Everyone must understand what their personal role is in building the culture and bringing the vision to life. Reinforcement of the vision on a very regular basis is key.
• Recognize the highly-effective on-brand individuals. Encourage, motivate and inspire on-brand behaviour. Share on-brand examples and compelling stories at every opportunity.
• Live and breathe the brand: it starts with the General Manager and goes all the way down to all associates.

For more insights into lifestyle branding, service culture and training, we recommend exploring the vast range of initiatives announced by major hotel chains in the past 3-4 years, including Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, Le Meridien, InterContinental, Marriott, Shangri-La and more.

We thank Joao for his time and for sharing the tips and habits that have made him successful in transitioning great brand cultures to operational reality.

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