Status QUO Issue 7 is out now! This issue, we speak to hospitality leaders about the most-talked-about topic in the industry: mergers. With a recent raft of consolidations, and rumours of more to come, we ask about the implications of management company mergers for hotel brands and the guest experience. Is this new world of hotel giants good for the guest and the bottom line? Also in this issue, QUO CEO David Keen reflects on 20 years of creating brand cultures, QUO’s content director, Orion Ray-Jones, muses on the secret to crafting the perfect hotel name, and Daniel Grossberg, QUO brand strategist, explores the power of content marketing for engaging on a deeper level with hotel guests. Discover: Why Vietnam’s Ho Tram is attracting the interest of hotel investors How developments in the Indian restaurant scene are leaving hotels playing catch-up What a major German hotel group is doing to refocus on the international market Why that trendy new website design might be hampering your performance If a digital magazine is the right way to communicate with your guests

1. Creatingculture–pg.3
Holdingthemittelground­–pg.7
What’sinaname–pg.10
Mediaisthemessage–pg.14
HoTramrises,websitefads&
digitalpublishingpointers
Travel|Tourism|Hospitality
BETTERTOGETHER?
THECHANGINGNATUREOFHOTELMERGERS–PG.12+
issue
07 STATUS

2. 0202
THE RISE OF
EXPERIENCE
FOCUSED
HOSPITALITY
AIRLINES
FLYING HIGH
ASIA
PACIFIC
OCCUPANCY
THE RISING
RATE OF
LUXURY
TAIWAN
TOURISM HITS
SPEED HUMP
Gartner Incorporated, a leader in technology and research, reported that this
year, 89% of companies were expecting to compete mostly on the basis of
customer experience, versus 36% four years ago.
Global airlines are on pace to post record profits this year. The
International Air Transport Association predicts net industry profits
of almost USD40 billion in 2016 – more than 10% above the 2015
figure of USD35.3 billion.
The fuel bill for airlines worldwide is expected to fall to USD127 billion
this year, down 44% from 2014. It will be the first time since 2004 that
fuel will represent less than 20% of airlines’ total operating cost.
It’s the second year in a row that the industry will generate a return
on investment higher than 9%.
In 2015, the luxury segment’s average daily rate climbed 4.2%,
while occupancy eked up 0.5% from 75% to 75.3%, according to STR.
The hotel data analysis firm predicts occupancy will rise another 0.4%
in 2016, while average daily rate will climb 4.5% and revenue per
available room will rise 4.9%.
Regional politics has dented Taiwan’s thriving tourism market, with group
tourist numbers from China declining by nearly a third since May (though
independent travellers have grown 13% in the same period). Arrivals from
Mainland China accounted for over 40% of total tourism arrivals to Taiwan
last year.
Chinese group tourists in May fell 31.7% from a year ago to 128,999 people.
But the news remains mostly positive. Taiwan still notched more than
one million visitors per month in the first half of this year, recording over-
all growth of 7.93% from the same period last year and placing it on track
for another annual record.
Visitors from Korea went up 29.65% in the first six months of 2016.
For the Asia Pacific region, hotel occupancy rates rose 2.8% to 72.1% in the
12 months prior to July 2016. The average daily rate was flat, falling 0.3% to
USD96.62. Revenue per available room increased 2.4% to USD69.68.
In Singapore, occupancy rates have remained fairly flat, growing just 0.4%
to 87.8%. ADR has been affected by a 4.3% increase in Singaporean hotel
supply, leading to a fall of 1% to SGD276.97.
Seeing relatively low hotel supply growth of just 0.8%, Thailand’s occupancy
rate increased 4.7% to 81.1%. ADR increased 4.3% to THB3,264.95 and
RevPAR delivered a healthy 9.2% increase to THB2,648.47.
Shanghai’s occupancy rose 4.3% to 80.5%, ADR is up 1.2% to
CNY592.96 and RevPAR increased 5.2% to CNY477.04.
In Australian and Oceania, occupancy has increased 2.0% to 77.2%, ADR
is up 2.4% to USD130.53 and RevPAR has increased 4.4% to USD100.82.
Source: IATA
Source: STR Global via HotelNewsNow
Sources: Forbes/Taiwan Tourism Bureau
Sources: HotelManagement.net/STR Global
Source: Hotel News Resource
01 02
03
$
04 05
02

3. DavidKeen,CEO,QUO
column
www.quo-global.com
Status QUO is a publication from QUO.
Opinions expressed in the publication
are those of the authors and are not
necessarily those of QUO. All rights
are reserved. © QUO 2016. Status
QUO is designed and edited by the
QUO creative team.
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For 20 years, QUO has been helping organisations evolve
THE CULTURE CLUB
coral wall. In a Maldivian village far from Malé in the north
of the country. I asked my companion about the wall we
were passing. She said it was a coral wall. All the houses
were built from coral. This was the way of the village.
Twenty years ago I set up a company in Thailand.
At first it was circumstantial. I wanted to stay in Thailand
and the easiest way to do it was to set up a company.
I grew to love this country. I built a home and raised a
family. My love for Thailand is in the heart of its people,
in its culture. I learned to be Thai; to hold Asian values
for relationships.
Our company grew on two premises: listening and
understanding. I knew early on that I wanted to figure
out the soul of an organisation. It was only if we found
how to define that soul would we be able to reflect it in
everything we do. And we are only able to define that
soul if we listen, question, probe and understand in the
most profound way the organisation, company or
country we are addressing.
And that’s when we started to define culture. It
sounds audacious to say that we will define your culture.
But brands are cultures – at their core. And our mission is
to form that core and to reflect it in everything that we do.
What do we mean by culture? Imagine you walk
along a remote mountain path and, to your surprise, you
happen across a village. That village has its own politics,
architecture, language, sense of style, food, festivals and
an amalgam of other nuances that give it a magic that can
never be replicated. That is culture. And every entity has
its own magic; its own way of doing things.
In 1991, I travelled for the first time to Bhutan. A small
kingdom hidden in the Grand Himalaya sandwiched
between India and China, Bhutan is one of the newest
countries to enter the modern world. Until 1961, the
kingdom was hidden from the world as, until then, there
were no cars, no roads and no mass communications.
The population would walk across the mountains to
reach India or Nepal.
His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck,
King of Bhutan from 1972 to 2006, opened
Bhutan to the modern world. A visionary
unlike any I have ever known, he managed
a path to modernity embracing the will of
his people, his own vision and the mores of
the outside world. His Majesty understood
how critical Bhutanese culture is to his
people and yet he knew that global culture
(in this case principally television) would
become the greatest challenge to the
future of the kingdom. Given Bhutan’s
precarious location between two giants,
it was essential for him to navigate
‘A Middle Path’.
I was privileged during the 1990s to
work closely with the Royal Government
of Bhutan and to listen and learn how His
Majesty’s government was bringing to life
his vision. It was through my experience
in Bhutan that I understood the magnitude
of culture and how much each nuance
impacts behaviour and perception.
This understanding became the
foundation of all of our work at QUO and
remains the catalyst for our future. It is
this cultural definition that forms that
critical distinction.
Eighteen months ago I sat in a
boardroom in Frankfurt. The leaders of
Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts, a
company with decades of history, were
demanding change. That change was
as much cultural as it was functional.
The company operates three brands,
two of which are not Steigenberger,
and the management were demanding
equanimity for their brands. But the
change, more than perhaps anything else,
was about culture. The leadership wanted
to take traditional German hospitality,
modernise it and deliver it to what they
believe is an expectant world. For many
inside the company, this is the cultural
change they crave. Today the flag of
Deutsche Hospitality flies about all of the
Steigenberger, InterCityHotel and Jaz in the
City hotels and resorts across the world.
In Colombo, a successful family
business is contemplating a significant
shift in its culture. Traditionally run through
generations, the younger generation has
come back from overseas and is ready to
take the helm. They talk about a paradigm
shift. The youth want to create a company
in the image of the future of Sri Lanka.
In Sri Lanka today, multiple privately
held companies are going through
transformation as their enlightened
children return from Western education
and demand cultural shifts. In this case,
one of the leading hospitals in the country
will reinvent its perception and the way it
hires and operates and lead the process of
change in the medical industry in Sri Lanka.
In our hotel world, cultures are
clashing. What will happen when Marriott
meets Starwood? When Fairmont
management integrates with Accor? Like
oil and water, there are indeed some
cultures that are very difficult to mix.
Yet whether it’s a coral wall in the
Maldives or a mountain village in Bhutan,
I believe that every time someone engages
another culture, there is an opportunity for
enriched human understanding.

4. 04
E V E N T S
2016 17
HIGH-TECH
APPLICATIONS
increasingly adopted, forward-thinking hotels must ask:
What else can be achieved with the mobile application?
Hilton guests can select their own room on check-in, rather
like making a flight reservation. Marriott guests can use their
app to request room amenities and services – from flowers
to fluffy pillows. Even greater control is given to guests of
Whitbread’s hub hotels. Downloading the app enables the
user to control their room’s lights, music, temperature and
more; arty, wall-sized locality maps transform into digital
guides when guests point their device’s camera at them,
sending area information and recommendations directly to
their phones. Lucy, Virgin Hotels’ application, adds a digital
streaming function so users can stream their own content
directly onto their room’s television.
Some hotels are going further, conveniently providing
the device as well as the application. Poland’s Blow Up Hall
5050 has dispensed with the front desk and room numbers
entirely. Guests check in online, and receive an iPhone when
they get to the hotel, which both locates and unlocks their
room. London’s Eccleston Square provides a free smartphone,
and their rooms boast iPads that act as guests’ personal
concierge. Aloft Hotels’ pioneering voice-activated hotel room
technology, trialling at their Aloft Boston Seaport and Aloft
Santa Clara properties, also operates from an in-room iPad.
A custom app by DigiValet gives hands-free control of lighting,
temperature and music (via iTunes), information about local
attractions or restaurants and voice-activated Internet access.
A quick “Hey, Siri” from anywhere in the room, and the world
of ambient technology is at their fingertips – or, rather, at the
tips of their tongues.
As tech integration increases in millennials’ lives, the
more they come to expect it in their own homes and the
harder the hospitality industry must work to provide the
same, or superior, services in their homes away from home.
Mobile apps are a powerful platform on which to explore this,
offering a flexible field for development to any brand bold
enough to experiment.
CONTROLCIRCUIT OF THE ROOM
Lighting of the room
Shower head
Music
Temperature
24C
Hotel technology for the new millennial
W
ith millennials on form to
represent the predicted
50% of all travellers in 2025,
savvy hospitality brands
are continually innovating
to keep this growing group
checking in. One interesting
platform being utilised
is the one closest to the
millennial heart: the mobile
application.
Hotel-branded mobile
apps are commonplace,
offering basic booking
functions and information
about hotel amenities and
local attractions. Several
big hotel names have
developed brand apps that
turn smartphones into digital
keys, providing access to
rooms and streamlining
check-in and check-out so
guests can bypass the front
desk. But as this trend is
2 – 4 November
HI Design Asia
Hanoi
3 November
European Hospitality Awards
London
7 – 9 November
World Travel Market 2016
London
10 – 11 November
Caribbean Hotel Investment
Conference & Operations
Summit (CHICOS)
San Juan
10 November
HOSPACE 2016
London
13 – 15 November
HX: The Hotel Experience
New York
14 – 16 November
GBTA Europe Conference 2016
Frankfurt
14 – 17 November
International Golf Travel Market
Mallorca
14 – 17 November
The Phocuswright
Conference 2016
Los Angeles
14 November
Worldwide Hospitality Awards
Paris
23 – 25 January
Great Hospitality Show
Birmingham
7 – 8 February
Tourism, Hotel Investment &
Networking Conference Sri Lanka
Colombo
22 – 23 February
The Business Travel Show
London
22 – 23 February
Travel Technology Europe 2017
London
28 February – 2 March
Phocuswright India
Delhi
6 – 8 March
International Hotel Investment
Forum (IHIF)
Berlin
8 – 12 March
ITB Berlin
Berlin
14 – 15 March
HICAP UPDATE
Singapore
15 – 16 March
Alternative Ownership
Conference Asia-Pacific (AOCAP)
Singapore
17 – 19 March
European Hotel Managers
Association 44th
General Meeting
Noordwijik
3 – 6 October
Bharat International Tourism
Bazaar (BITB)
New Delhi
5 – 6 October
African Hotel Investment Forum
Kigali
6 – 7 October
EyeForTravel North America
Las Vegas
12 – 13 October
The Annual Hotel Conference
2016 (AHC)
Manchester
18 – 19 October
Independent Hotel Show 2016
London
19 – 21 October
HICAP – Hotel Investment
Conference Asia Pacific
Hong Kong
19 – 21 October
ITB Asia
Singapore
20 – 21 October
eTourism Summit
San Francisco
26 October
The Hotelier Middle East
Awards 2016
Dubai
28 – 29 October
World Islamic Travel Summit
(WITS16)
Abu Dhabi
5 – 8 December
International Luxury Travel Market
Cannes
16 – 17 November
Hotel Technology Summit 2016
Dubai
16 – 17 November
Hotel Investment Forum
India (HIFI)
Mumbai
16 – 17 November
NATHIC Midwest
Chicago
22 – 23 November
Sleep
London
OCT NOV
DEC
JAN
FEB
MAR

5. 900,000
2015visitors in
Xuyen Moc District had
were foreigners.
hotel rooms
in 2015-2016
1,214
The Grand Casino
_First fully licensed casino in Vietnam
_90 tables and 614 slot machines
_Will expand to 9,000 rooms with
180 tables and 2,000 slot machines
Average
temperature of
28°C(82°F)
Source: Content courtesy
of Dynasty Investments
kilometres
14 of sandy,
pristine
shoreline
75,000
The Bluffs Golf Course
_18 holes
_Designed by Greg Norman
_Ranked 74th best golf
course in the world by
Golf Digest
A small seaside town in Xuyen Moc District, about 125km from Saigon.
A glance at Ho Tram
90minutes
from Ho Chi Minh
City via the Long
Thanh - Dau Giay
expressway
05news&events
With an average temperature of 28°C, a world-class golf course designed
by a golfing superstar and easy access to Ho Chi Minh City, what exactly
is holding back Ho Tram from fulfilling its potential as the ideal weekend
getaway for the people of Saigon?
HO TRAM:
VIETNAM’S ULTIMATE
WEEKEND GETAWAY?
T
he 14-kilometre-long pristine beachfront of Ho Tram
hosts a range of high-end developments, one of
which is The Hamptons, a comprehensive luxury
destination. Coming online in 2018, the project
will be managed by Meliá and will offer a five-
star experience. When asked why Ho Tram was
chosen, Nguyen Nam Son, owner of The Hamptons,
explained that it “is the perfect location to escape
the city”.
Indeed Marc Townsend, managing director
of CBRE, one of Vietnam’s largest property
consultancies, agrees, saying that, “It’s the closest
place to go to the beach on the weekend, and as
more and more people and families want to do that,
I think it’s got a huge future.” As evidence of this
confident outlook, visitor numbers have steadily
increased since 2011.
Currently, Vietnamese citizens are prohibited
from any form of gambling; however, those with
foreign passports are able to do so. As the
centrepiece of Ho Tram, The Grand Casino is the
first fully licensed casino in the country, providing
90 tables and 614 slot machines. We spoke to Gary
Martin from Asia Coast Developments Ltd. (ACDL)
regarding the future of the casino. “The second
tower, a five-star hotel of 560 rooms,
will recommence construction before
the year’s end with a completion
date projected for late 2017, [and] it
will add further options for both local
and international tourists. With likely
changes in the law governing local
gaming in Vietnam, the opportunity
is ripe for quality operators to invest
in Ho Tram.”
Interestingly, an overwhelming
number of the experts we spoke to
regarding Ho Tram envisage it as
Vietnam’s Hua Hin. With similar
proximities to major business centres
(Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok
respectively), a long, sandy beach and
ample opportunities for development,
the comparisons come easily and are
clearly evident.
In the coming weeks, QUO Indochina
will release a comprehensive report on
Ho Tram, outlining all current and future
projects for the upcoming destination.

6. 0606
T
A NEW
TASTE TO LIFE
GayatriDravid,DirectorPR&Strategy,QUO
column
Changing consumer habits and the proliferation of contemporary standalone restaurants are giving
India’s hotel dining outlets tough competition. How are mainstream hotels reinventing their F&B
concepts to stay relevant in an age of experiential dining and glamourised fast food?
here’s an old saying in India: There are two kinds of
people – those who eat to live, and those who live
to eat. This country takes its food very seriously,
and the hospitality industry must innovate and adapt
if it’s to keep up with the picky palate of the modern
urban Indian.
The F&B landscape in India is changing at a
lightning-quick pace. Over the last few years we’ve
seen a tremendous shift in the way diners in India
are choosing, buying, consuming and ‘sharing’
food. These shifts have come as a result of greater
customer spending power and a more worldly
and well-travelled consumer base, as well as from
technology and the push for increased consumer
engagement. Eating out, once an occasional activity,
has become a more regular occurrence for urban
Indians given the new set of options that are now
available. A new generation of restaurateurs have
pioneered innovative dining concepts in India’s
most progressive cities, offering experiential dining
that encompasses accessibility, affordability, casual
settings and unintimidating yet amazing food and
beverage – concepts that are not necessarily found
within the F&B outlets of India’s mainstream hotels.
These conceptual restaurants have managed to
pluck out a sizeable chunk of the F&B customers
of mainstream hotels. Hotel restaurants, once the
bastion of upscale dining in India, are now having
to reinvent their F&B offerings, interior design
and general approach to dining just to maintain
their clientele.
EXPERIMENTATION
These days, hotels are flirting with the idea of offering
no-frills, premium-quality ‘fast food’. Brunch buffets,
wine and cheese promotions, and tapas nights are
all gaining popularity.
Hotels are also experimenting with giving their
food and beverage outlets a new look, reimagining
conventional spaces into warm, fun, inviting venues
that celebrate the joy of eating, drinking and
socialising, but also maintaining a certain standard
of food and service excellence.
These revolutionised F&B spaces are moving
away from the conventional way of placing
furniture and arranging seating. Many hotel
restaurants have adapted a more interactive,
open-kitchen layout to engage guests and
enhance their dining
experience.
INNOVATION
‘Innovation’ in any creative field is,
arguably, the most abused term today.
But never before has it been truer
of the food that is available in India.
There is ‘modern’ Indian cuisine, which
takes its cues from classical recipes
and old favourites and presents them
in a completely new avatar. There’s a
newfound focus on regional flavours and
cuisines, elevating the offering from the
usual chicken tikka, kebabs, dal makhani
and naan, with spices and vegetables that
were erstwhile seen as too unglamourous
and gauche for the kitchen of an upscale
hotel restaurant. The lotus stem or kamal
kakdi, for instance, or even bitter gourd
or karela, have always been household
favourites in India but almost never seen
on a restaurant menu. Hotel restaurants,
today, take great pride in recommending
these as signature dishes to their patrons.
When it comes to innovation,
executive chefs and restaurateurs no
longer rely on Internet-based desk
research nor dated culinary techniques.
These days they spend months, even
years, gleaning modern recipes and
sourcing the best ingredients to curate
a master menu.
PRESENTATION
Gone are the days when a hotel
restaurant that served good food was
assured of a certain revenue and loyal
patronage. The stakes are much higher
now and the whole idea of dining out
has undergone a radical change. Food
isn’t about a certain flavour anymore;
it’s about an experience, with a lot of
emphasis laid on modern styling and
plating. Hotel chefs today have to
engage all the senses of their customers
to make a lasting impression. Pluck at
Pullman New Delhi Aerocity, for instance,
has gone the extra mile in its cutlery and
presentation to draw attention to its farm-
to-table food concept.
TECHNOLOGY
Businesses have to understand
the power of digital platforms and
technology. Restaurants can no longer
rely on word-of-mouth PR – delivery
and distribution channels, social
media handles and Internet presence
have completely changed the rules
of engagement. Luxury hotels are
also beginning to appreciate the
power of technology; there is now
a corresponding importance being
given to marketing budgets for the
endorsement of food bloggers and
influencers, food photography and
videos, and the development of
social media accounts.
ENGAGEMENT
The implications of food-based
technology have been tremendous, not
just in terms of revenue, but also in the
way restaurants are engaging with their
patrons. Food, in that sense, has become
more democratic and consumers want to
participate more than ever.
At restaurants, customers want to
know more about what they are eating.
Waiters are now being trained to not just
recommend food, but also to explain
concepts – why this particular fusion,
how an experimental dish works and so
on. Menus are also more elaborate, and
weave a little narrative that explains
the essence and the chef’s concept
to its patrons.
According to a recent study
conducted by the National Restaurant
Association of India (NRAI), restaurant
industry sales across the country are
expected to top USD780 billion in 2016.
These figures merely go to prove what
we already know – you may know
how to put a great meal on the table,
but without a sound brand strategy, a
bit of innovation and a brilliant digital
presence, you may well be lost in the
sea of outlets that crop up each day.

7. 07
MOXY HOTELS
MOTEL ONE
JAZ IN THE CITY
INTERCITYHOTELS
25HOURS HOTELS
A
NORESERVATIONS
fter weathering a series of economic
storms, the future looks bright for the
world’s fourth-largest economy.
For Germany’s hospitality industry,
it means competition is brewing – and
innovation along with it.
Germans – there are about 83 million
of them – account for the most outbound
trips of any country, and only travellers
from the United States spend more
during their trips overall.
Germany itself remains not only the
most popular destination of Germans,
it’s also welcoming a constantly growing
number of international travellers –
income from international arrivals has
doubled in the last 15 years.
This has not gone unnoticed by
major global players in hospitality.
ROOMS TO MOVE
Germany has seen an influx of new
international hotel brands – the likes
of Hilton, IHG, Starwood and Accor are
opening new hotels across the country,
capitalising on their large brand portfolios.
Wyndham made a powerful entry
through a landmark deal in 2014, with
six brands now ranging from the Days
Inn to upscale Wyndham Grand.
While global chains have been trying
to get their share since Hilton opened
its first hotel in Berlin in 1958, Germany
remains strong on individually-run,
family-owned hotels. These often
uphold regional flair and tradition yet
easily match or even outperform major
chain hotels with their professionalism
and expertise.
In fact, a large part of Germany’s
economic success is ascribed to this
mittelstand – the typical form of small-
to medium-sized enterprises that
employ 70% of all German workers
in the private sector.
HOLDING THE MITTEL GROUND
When in 1930 Egon Steigenberger
founded what would become
Steigenberger Hotel Group, he laid
the foundation for a mittelstand
success story in hospitality. Run by his
family until 2009, the Steigenberger
brand ventured abroad to places
where Germans travelled, and over the years became
synonymous with German hospitality.
Today, the group is under new ownership and has
global aspirations. Having managed diverse hotels under
the family name, the company now has a portfolio of brands
responding to the needs of travellers in various segments.
By rebranding as Deutsche Hospitality and organising
its portfolio into a house of brands, Steigenberger Hotel
Group gives each sub-brand the freedom to respond to its
target audience – yet still rely on a powerful name and the
experience of the group.
And while its hospitality tradition continues to play
a big role, innovation is another German tradition
that the company employs when realigning its brand
portfolio. Steigenberger Hotels and Resorts, the core
brand of Deutsche Hospitality in the upscale segment, is
quintessentially German in that regard: traditional values
are experienced in a modern style befitting a global hotel
brand in the 21st century.
PUTTING THE HOUSE (OF BRANDS) IN ORDER
The budget and midscale hotel sectors are booming across
Europe, and Germany is no exception.
Motel One has shaken up the market, and is now rightfully
considered a competitor even to upscale hotels by getting
the basics right at excellent value and with an eye for design.
More boutique creations such as 25hours hotels have
long redefined the standard for hip hotels in Germany, and
Marriott is rolling out its Moxy brand across the country –
where they find Hotel Indigo, Aloft and Wyndham’s Tryp
have all thrown their hat in the ring.
With the introduction of Jaz in the City – first in
Amsterdam and soon in Stuttgart – Deutsche Hospitality
now has its own boutique offering. Operating under a house
of brands that doesn’t tie directly to the Steigenberger
family name, Jaz in the City has the freedom to make its
mark by creating a new interpretation of the lifestyle hotel.
Similarly, Deutsche Hospitality is able to recalibrate its
InterCityHotels brand — which today competes head-
to-head with Holiday Inn, ibis and NH — using a more
conventional approach to midscale hotels that remains
attractive to many.
And while the lifestyle brands have raised the bar when
it comes to design, demand for conventional hotels in the
three-star segment is strong and growing.
CHANGING THE GAME
It is innovation that has made the German economy so
amazingly resilient, and on-going innovation is crucial to
success in a market where any hotel brand able to find
an operator will be a contender.
A house of brands approach provides the combination
of flexibility and stability that will help a group like Deutsche
Hospitality gain an edge over the international competition.
SimonKern,Strategist,QUO
column
In a fiercely contested
German market,
a major player adopts
a new approach

8. 08
LeighRipley,HeadofDigital,QUO
column
the same main desktop navigation
menu on their screen. To overcome
this, the mobile menu (hamburger menu)
was born. The mobile menu button is
often displayed as three horizontal
lines (Ξ), with the vertical menu bar
appearing from the side once clicked
on. As the use of mobile devices to
access the web has grown, the mobile
menu has become more understood
and accepted. Because of this, mobile
menus are now used more and more,
even on desktop versions of websites.
The major advantage of mobile
menus is they use less space. If your
website features beautiful hero
photography to sell your offering, you
might not want a lot of the screen
area taken up by a menu.
The disadvantage, however, is
discoverability, or the lack thereof.
When users are presented with a
design that forces them to think about
where the content they are looking for
can be found, a certain percentage
will undoubtedly not bother, resulting
in lost sales and a lower ROI.
A solution would be to combine a
simple main navigation with a mobile
menu for other items. The main navigation
would provide clear access to areas
we know visitors are interested in.
For a hotel website, this includes room
information, the gallery, destination or
resort information and special offers.
All the additional content could be
accessed through a mobile menu.
DON’T GIVE YOUR
USERS MOTION SICKNESS
Parallax design, where the foreground
and background scroll at different
speeds, was a real fad a couple of
years ago. Fads fade. Done carefully,
parallax design can add pleasing
transitional effects, which helps make
webpages more engaging. On the
downside, however, there have been
reports of some users experiencing
motion sickness when the difference
in scrolling wasn’t what the eye/brain
was expecting.
The parallax effect also relies
heavily on multiple images and
JavaScript. This has a negative
impact on page load speeds, and,
as indicated earlier, slow page loads
equal lower conversions.
Parallax is particularly good for
webpages that tell a story as the
page scrolls. It should be carefully
considered whether it is a design effect
that is appropriate for a hotel website.
STRIKING A BALANCE
When designing an e-commerce
site, such as for a hotel where the
conversion is a room booking,
a balance needs to be achieved
between beautiful design and
functional design.
The user journey – from first
accessing the page, waiting for it to
load, finding the information and then
conversion – should be as fast and
as smooth as possible. Doing this will
result in an improved ROI.
A website design should be both
visually impressive and engaging and
should also stand the test of time.
Whereas it cannot be expected to
still look modern and impressive in
five years’ time, the longer the design
stays relevant, the less needs to be
spent on upgrades and the higher
the ROI on the initial investment.
WEBSITE
TRENDS,
FADS AND
ROI Don’t let aesthetics
hamper functionality
WHY IS PAGE LOAD SPEED SO IMPORTANT?
It has been found that one in four visitors will abandon a website if it
takes more than four seconds to load. Further, every additional second
a page takes to load can mean a 16% decrease in visitor satisfaction.
For an e-commerce website (such as a hotel site), this can seriously
affect the ROI for what was spent on the website.
efore you even start developing a website, you’d
better first have a digital strategy sorted. The digital
strategy is the foundation on which the rest of the
website development process relies. It needs to
include critical pieces of information, such as the
objectives of the website, the sitemap and content
structure, required functionality and a design brief.
The design brief will usually include aesthetic
preferences, often with reference to other websites
with popular designs. Website designers are also
often influenced by current trends. But tastes in
web design change, much as fashion fads evolve.
GOING BIG ON VISUALS
Web design trends often follow shifts in technology.
Not too long ago, Internet speeds were much
slower than they are today and webpages would
feature fewer or smaller images. Images equal lots
of data. The more data, the longer a page takes to
load. In much of the world, Internet speeds have
improved and costs have come down. This has
led to many website designs these days featuring
more or larger images and other media. However,
this should not be overdone.
Image-heavy webpages that contain multiple,
full-screen ‘hero’ images can very quickly increase
the total data size of a webpage. This problem can
be offset through heavily optimising images as
well as using other technical tricks, such as saving
images in multiple sizes for different devices,
loading images that are displayed further down a
webpage only when they are needed (known as
‘lazy loading’), or loading a low-resolution image
placeholder first and later on replacing it with a
high-resolution version.
There are similar page load problems with rich
media, such as embedded video or 360° tours.
These types of content are often served from
third-party providers, such as YouTube. However,
for them to work they must download numerous
additional files for the player to display on the
webpage. Typically, a YouTube video requires
10 or more files. These files are requested from
an external source to build the webpage, which
affects page load speed; the number of requests
increases and you are actually forcing the user to
download an additional 300 or 400 KB of data,
even if they don’t end up watching the video.
THE PROBLEM WITH HAMBURGERS
Another design trend that has recently become
common is the use of the ‘hamburger’ menu.
Mobile devices, especially smartphones, have
smaller screen sizes and physically cannot fit

9. 09
TURNING THE
(DIGITAL) PAGE
SupatR.,HeadofDesign,QUO
column
Key lessons brands can take from magazines’ muddled transition
engaging with shorter, more accessible content.
Print readers are likely to be sitting and have
more time to tackle long-form content. Tablet
content should be balanced somewhere in the
middle. But keep in mind that habits are changing
constantly, and it’s essential to keep up with new
trends – for example, half of all YouTube videos
are now watched on mobile devices.
2. QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Readers are primarily looking for information
and simplicity, not fancy interactivity. Text and
photos are essential to illustrate any story, and
should not be hidden behind gimmicky features.
Interactive content – such as audio, video,
slideshows, 360° rotating objects, zooming,
panning, embedded web content – is becoming
increasingly important to stand out and engage
readers, but needs to be used sparingly.
The idea is to craft an active experience, but
overloading these features will annoy the reader.
3. IMMERSIVE CONTENT IS KING
For an industry like travel and hospitality, paper
is no longer enough to offer customers the full
experience of a property or destination. By
making use of digital technology like HD video
and audio content, customers can be more easily
immersed and given a more powerful impression
of what your brand has to offer.
4. PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS
The old adage ‘give people what they want and
they’ll come’ still rings true in the world of digital
content. But now it’s a case of giving people
what they want, where they want it. That might
mean producing unique content for a range of
devices – making it essential to connect all of
your brand’s communication channels. This not
only makes it possible to reach a wider audience,
it strengthens the core brand.
In the end, digital publishing is not ‘the future’
in the same way that it is not a direct replacement
for print media. Rather it’s an immensely powerful
tool that can complement a range of content
options, enhancing a core brand and providing
new possibilities to reach and engage
with customers.
Then what exactly is the future? It’s transformation,
and brands must remain agile and be willing to
adapt their publishing and marketing models to
remain in that elite group of digital trendsetters.
he digital landscape is constantly
evolving. And if you don’t want your
brand to go the way of the mastodon,
it’s important that your content evolves
along with it.
We’ve been hearing for years now
that digital is the future, and it’s a mantra
that’s unlikely to subside any time soon.
But at the dawn of this new digital
age, consumer habits are not always
keeping up with technological advances
– readership of print magazines, for
example, still far outstrips their digital
counterparts and doesn’t look to be
changing in a hurry.
And this has important implications
for a range of industries – including
hospitality and travel brands –
that are looking for new ways
to engage consumers.
A NEW CHAPTER
When Apple launched the first iPad
back in 2010, there were high hopes
that the new technology would
transform our reading experience. The
device offered a hand-held platform
that could turn static printed words
into scrollable text; transform a single
fixed image into an interactive gallery;
and bring magazine pages to life by
embedding animations or videos
directly into stories.
With the birth of those new
possibilities, the death knell was
enthusiastically sounded for print media.
More than five years later, the realm
of digital publishing has proven a
challenging testing ground – with
some notable losers.
According to PwC analysis
published last year, four out of every
five magazines sold globally in the
preceding year was in print form.
Digital editions meanwhile have been
stumbling, with falling readerships,
non-profitability, and in some cases
accounting for as little as 1% of
a magazine’s total revenue.
In the UK last year, readership
declined for eight of the 12 best-selling
digital editions – including titans such
as National Geographic.
And despite a predicted growth in
digital advertising revenues over the
next three years, PwC believes more
than 85% of total consumer magazine
circulation revenue in 2019 will still
come from the print format.
REQUIRED READING
At the other end of the spectrum,
there are some very successful digital
editions. Led by The Economist, The
Week, Wired and Top Gear, these are
not only survivors but trendsetters.
So what sets them apart from their
faltering rivals? They define their
customers’ needs first, and create their
digital model by working backwards
from consumer to product.
(For more information about reverse
thinking, please see ‘Flip the Script’,
StatusQUO issue 6).
Hotels and hospitality brands
looking to reach out to consumers
need to follow this lead, and think
about ensuring they’re one of the
trendsetters rather than one of the
followers. With the poor performance
of many digital magazines, brands
should question whether branded
publishing is always the right
approach, particularly when branded
content might be a better alternative
(see ‘Content Takes Centre Stage’ on
pg. 14 for more).
To do this requires a comprehensive
strategy and the courage to be bold
and innovative. But there are also
a few simple core values to keep
in mind.
1. INNOVATE, DON’T JUST REPLICATE
The key principles of producing
digital content remain the same as
print – producing engaging, original
content – yet the application is
vastly different. Perhaps the most
important thing to remember is
how your customers are going to
be consuming the content that
you’re developing – and adjust
your content accordingly. Mobile
device users, for instance, are more
likely to be reading on the go and

10. C
BOGUS PICO WILD
FERNIE SNOWQUA
MARQUETTE PAOL
AFTON NAKISKA S
MODA BELLA MIL
WHITEFISH KRYST
WINTERGREEN WH
10
A ROSE
BY ANY
OTHER
concerned about choosing the ‘right’
name for their investment, spending hours
agonising over hundreds of names. But
are we all wasting our time sitting around
conference tables arguing about whether
‘MonkeyHouse’ or ‘QX17’ best represents
the concept of our millennial-focused
brand? Yeah, we probably are.
ames are important. They can
communicate something about a brand’s
positioning, ethos or vision. And if you
get it wrong, it can be the hardest thing
to change, as a name holds more brand
equity than the logo, corporate colours
and building architecture combined. The
Chevy Nova might have performed fine in
Latin American markets, but the infamous
Ford Pinto didn’t fare quite as well when
it was released in 1980 in Brazil, where
‘pinto’ is slang for male genitalia. Ford
changed the name to Corcel – ‘horse’ –
and lost all the marketing dollars spent
on the old name. These days, the Internet
is full of similar missteps, and speakers
of any language have surely seen LOL-
worthy photos of foreign companies
advertising brands with saucy names in
the local lingo.
While the pitfalls of potty-talk make
for great memes, more common naming
problems are far less funny. The complex
world of intellectual property law makes
it near impossible for globally expanding
brands with real-word names to enter new
markets without some risk of trademark
infringement. In countries where punitive
damages can be awarded, a bad name
can be a very expensive mistake.
More difficult yet is navigating the
ever-changing world of SEO. Just when
you think you’ve found the perfect name,
you discover it’s already been taken
all me Orion. Some years ago – never
mind how long precisely – I may have
told you to call me Ryan. Easy to spell
and pronounce, the alias could’ve made
life a little easier for a kid growing up in a
time and place where names from Greek
mythology were rare. Every year, on the
first day of school, I would wait to be
called on by a new teacher, dreading the
inevitable “Or-EE-ahn” mispronunciation.
In the worst-case scenario, my educator
would write my name on the blackboard,
and, depending on their handwriting, the
‘r’ might extend a little too far, turning into
an ‘n’. Onion. So much for being named
after a legendary demigod who sparkles
in the night sky.
Having analysed a number of studies
about baby naming, pop economists
Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt
concluded “names are not destiny”.
According to their meta-analysis, there
seems to be little correlation between a
child’s moniker and their future success.
And to some degree, the same holds true
for a brand’s name. So-called experts
predicted that the Chevrolet Nova would
do terribly in Spanish-speaking markets,
as ‘no va’ means ‘does not go’. The car
sold like hotcakes. Chase Bank (named
for a mostly forgotten US Treasury
Secretary) is worth about USD250 billion,
even though nobody wants to ‘chase’ their
bank for money. And one of the biggest
successes in the video game industry
came in 2006, when Nintendo released its
Wii. The system was a smash, despite, er,
the obvious.
The list of successful brands with ‘bad’
names is endless. Yet, agreeing on a name
for a new hotel, company or product can
often be the most contentious part of the
branding process. Owners are justifiably
The secret to creating a great hotel name?
Create a great hotel.
by a guesthouse in Uruguay which has bought up all
the best URLs and planted itself firmly at the top of
Google’s search results. If you don’t have the appetite
for buying or litigating your way into your favourite URL
or trademark (see: iPhone), you’ll have to go back to
the drawing board.
In response to these complexities, a whole industry
has sprouted up around brand naming. Equal parts art
and science, the process usually starts with analysing a
brand’s DNA, target market and competitive set. From
there, the hunt for a word that embodies the brand and
appeals to its consumers can lead almost anywhere.
Fairy tales. Thesauruses. Dictionaries of dead languages.
Boggle. Linguists will agonise over the euphony of every
syllable, dissect the shapes of each letter and disappear
deep into semiotics as they look for that perfect word.
A long list of possibilities will become much shorter as
names are disqualified for problems with pronunciation,
intellectual property and URLs. The winning name might
come from an ingredient (Pepsi), a nickname (Adidas) or
geographic place (eBay). It might even be totally arbitrary
(Apple) or made up (Kodak).
In the past, owners named their companies
according to personal taste. Now, most believe it’s more
important to use a name to maximise brand value, rather
than appease a whim. It is far more important that the
name resonates with the target consumer than with
the boardroom, after all. A name that sounds ‘cool’ to
a 55-year-old man in a suit very likely won’t have the
same appeal to a 20-year-old, and vice versa. Effective
branding demands empathy with the consumer, so
it’s often useful to think about how one’s mother, or
grandkid, or favourite barista would react to the word.
What does it tell them about the brand’s offering? How
does it create an emotional connection with them?
A ‘great’ name won’t just appeal to customers, but
to employees as well. The recently launched Hotel Jen
is inspired by a fictional character – Jen. ‘A professional
hotelier who loves life, travel and the adventure of
discovering new places,’ the character helps to define
the ideal member of staff. CitizenM prides itself on
treating employees as ‘equals’ and ‘individuals’. Jaz in
the City seeks out staff members who love music and

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the destination – passions that can be evolved into
employee-led service concepts.
Conventional wisdom holds that the best brand
names come from real words; some studies have shown
they’re twice as memorable as made-up words. Pros will
also tell you that a perfect name should have a ‘story’,
though it’s often hard to tell how much the general public
knows, or cares, about the deeper meaning of brand’s
appellation. Ace Hotel’s name cleverly matches its from-
economy-to-extravagant concept with the position of
an ace in playing cards, but I have yet to meet anybody
outside of the industry who knows this. What the public
does care about is their ability to remember a name. An
effective name has to be distinctive enough to stand out
from the deck, but not so complex that the consumer
can’t spell it when they’re doing an Internet search.
A less clear-cut criterion is pronunciation. It’s very
difficult to create a name that is pronounced the same
in Cameroon, Cambodia and Cuba. Usually, a variety
of localised pronunciations won’t hurt – indeed, it’s
welcome proof that a market has figured out a way to
make a foreign brand more indigenous. Other times,
only a brand’s most loyal customers pronounce
their name correctly while others falter. A correct
pronunciation of Hermés or Moët signals to listeners
that the speaker has a level of sophistication worthy
of the products. Outside of the luxury segment, it’s
probably best to choose names that don’t intimidate
or trip up the speaker, which is why we see so many
Latin- and Sanskrit-derived names in the market.
These languages have combinations of consonants
and verbs that are relatively easy for consumers to
pronounce, no matter where in the world they’re from.
o you have chosen a name that’s clever, unique,
pronounceable and visually beautiful. It doesn’t translate
to naughty body parts in other languages, and it has a
rich and meaningful story. Everybody loves it. Success
must be right around the corner? Possibly, but it won’t
have much to do with that amazing name. A great
name will not save a horrible product any more than
Nintendo’s questionable choice of name hurt its fantastic
gaming machine.
No matter what name is ultimately
chosen, it will gradually gain meaning as
the rest of the branding and the product
itself come to life. There’s nothing
inherently luxurious about the words
‘Four Seasons’, but thanks to the brand’s
history of excellence, those words now
conjure up images of top-notch service
and refined accommodation. And while
Coralia, Adagio and Ramada all have
mellifluous sounds, none are brands
from which you’d expect a couture-clad
clientele and endless Champagne. Trends
in naming also change over time. Who
would name their company ‘Yahoo!’
or ‘General Motors’ these days? But
customers will continue to trust an old
brand name if the product continues to
deliver. In other words, a name is only
as good as what it represents.
y ‘Ryan’ phase was pretty short-lived,
though I do still use the nom de théâtre
on occasion, usually when making
reservations at a noisy restaurant.
(There are only so many times you
can scream “O – R – I – O – N” into a
phone before you give up.) My unusual
name hasn’t made me legendary like
my namesake, but at the same time,
sporadic teasing from classmates and
frequent mispronunciations haven’t
done much harm. My name is sometimes
a good conversation-starter (“hippie
parents,” I explain), but its ‘story’ is often
misperceived (my grandmother-in-law was
slightly disappointed to discover I wasn’t
an Irish ‘O’Ryan’). Sometimes a name is
an asset, sometimes an annoyance, but
ultimately irrelevant if the person behind
it is a jerk. A generous, friendly man
named Onion will always win out over
an obnoxious demigod called Orion.
No name will please everybody.
Don’t make the choice by committee.
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Don’t blow important deadlines or
sacrifice time spent on business
strategy in search of perfection.
Choose a name for your audience,
not your ego.
Specialist intellectual property attorneys
in countries of operation are essential.
Consult an SEO expert. Another company
in a different industry in a foreign country
might or might not be a problem.
While pronunciation should be
reasonably easy for target consumers,
allow for regional variation.
A name will gain richer definition
as the visual identity and product
are developed.
A name cannot explain everything
about your brand. Choose your
primary communication goals.
Do not try to choose from a massive
list of names. Have your agency only
present 3-6 at a time so that you can
consider them in depth.
If people love your product,
they will come to love your name.
TEN TIPS FOR NAMING
OrionRay-Jones,ContentDirector,QUO
column

12. 12
O
TWONE
WHEN
TWO
BECOME
ver 1,600 years since Sun Tzu wrote his classic
treatise on the art of war, tactics are alive and well.
This is especially true of today’s travel industry. As
you read this, battles for market share are raging
among industry giants and upstarts alike. And one
tactic in particular has found favour as a means for
gaining competitive advantage: mergers. Airlines
are swallowing up airlines; online travel agencies
absorbing online travel agencies; and car-rental
companies wolfing up car-rental companies.
Nowhere is the merger trend more visible than
in the hotel industry, which has seen a flurry of
acquisitions activity since the start of 2015. First, the
San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants
was acquired by InterContinental Hotels Group for
USD430 million. Then FRHI Hotels and Resorts was
bought for USD2.9 billion by France’s AccorHotels.
And most recently we have Marriott International’s
USD12.2 billion takeover of Starwood Hotels
Resorts Worldwide, a deal creating the world’s largest
hotel management company.
Many are asking what all this consolidation means
for consumers. “I have read a lot about the recent
acquisitions and there are many references to scale,
cost-savings, competitiveness etc., but what’s in it
for the patron?” wondered Bill Heineke, the head of
Minor Group, recently. His concerns seem to centre
not so much on whether titans uniting will translate
into higher prices for consumers as whether it will
enhance the guest experience. “I can imagine that
the loyalty programme offering will be more all-
encompassing,” he told TTG Asia, “but will the actual
experience in each and every property across the
globe be enhanced because of these titans coming
together? I truly doubt it.”
He added, “What one gains in scale one loses
in agility and the ability to take care of the most
important element of the business – the guest.”
He’s also not convinced that mega brands are
in the interest of hotel owners. “There is certainly an
argument for economies of scale, but owners will
become very small fish in a very big pond,” he said.
“In addition, they
will compete
with hotels/
brands within
the company.”
To gather industry
insights on the issue,
QUO recently spoke to Peter
Henley, president and CEO of
ONYX Hospitality Group; Nikhom
Jens, senior development planning
manager at Jumeirah Hotels Resorts;
Michael Levie, chief operations officer at
citizenM; and Jesper Palmqvist, area director
Asia Pacific for STR Global.
Are we at the start of a merger
and acquisitions feeding frenzy?
Peter Henley: MAs have been around in the hospitality
industry for a long time. The situation today, however, is
different. Firstly, deals are being discussed or concluded on
a scale previously not seen. Secondly, companies of all sizes
are seeking the potential financial benefits of a broader customer
reach and reduced costs.
Nikhom Jens: Over the past years the hospitality industry has gone
through a high growth period in many markets while the world’s
economy is slowing down. To remain competitive, other global chains that
focus on scale and geographical coverage will need to step up. Quick fixes
are undoubtedly acquisitions of smaller chains or mergers to complement
their existing portfolio. Capital outflow from Asia, particularly China, is another
driving force for MA activities, such as a Chinese firm’s takeover of Club Med.
Michael Levie: With the Internet revolution, online travel agents appeared and
are better than hotels at capturing individual business, e-commerce and
online marketing. Meanwhile, corporate contracts are losing ground as
price transparency obstructs hotels to react fully to the market. Also channel
management, where your reservations are coming from, has gained
importance due to the costs associated. This is all putting stress on the
frequent-stay programmes of hotels. Loyalty is bought, and volume in these
programmes is the last stronghold of chains. Chains have become asset light,
barely managed and reduced to brands. Consolidation is the only way forward
in their eyes, yet won’t solve the underlying problem. Online travel agencies
(OTAs) with their own corporate loyalty schemes will capture ground.
As mega mergers go ahead
in the hotel sector, what does
this all mean for brands?

13. 13feature
Jesper
Palmqvist:
MA activity
certainly
picked up in
the last 12 to
18 months in
our industry,
and even
though recent activity
involving Starwood
Hotels Resorts is
of an unusually larger
scale, we’ve seen many
reasonably big deals
happening in the past as
well. From a personal opinion
it would seem likely that
this activity would continue,
especially in China, where
competition is more intense
than before, both across travel
technology and hotel companies.
There seems to be a sentiment there
that size does matter at the moment. But
in other countries around the world there is
less of a frenzy, partially in some cases due
to them coming out of a larger consolidation
phase and now finding their feet again in terms
of market dynamics.
Where is the balance between cannibalising guest
segments and gaining the ability to put multiple properties
under separate brands into a single market?
Peter Henley: If brands are clearly differentiated and have
a clear understanding of a market, a company can effectively
operate various properties across different brands in the same
market. For the larger companies, there is undoubtedly some
overlap between brands and it is their responsibility to show
owners that they can drive revenue and bottom-line growth
despite this. There is no single solution – it is something that each
hotel company considering a merger must address.
Nikhom Jens: Personally, in emerging markets where demand is
growing while supply is limited, it is possible to see benefits from
having more brands in a merged portfolio. Basically, you gain a
larger market share and increase consumer awareness of your
group quickly. In mature markets, the pie is pretty much the same
size. It is hard to drive new businesses into these properties and
you will see the owners realising this impact soon.
Michael Levie: All major chains have too many brands that already
overlap grossly. On top of that, take into consideration the various
physical states of properties and an old/bad five-star brand in a
chain can be way worse than a new three-star brand of the same
chain. In addition, location remains the key factor for competing.
Jesper Palmqvist: One of the challenging aspects of any post-
MA scenario is aligning and embedding brand cultures. If you
acquire a brand that, both at the corporate office and property
level, contains values and a vision that are quite different from that
of the new owner, it can sometimes be difficult to adapt and have
that operate optimally. There’s never a one-size-fits-all approach
in terms of what to do with a new set of brands and management
contracts; it so much depends on overall size, what brands you
have, the geographic spread and much more.
What should a freshly merged company do to preserve the
uniqueness of its newly acquired brands?
Peter Henley: Hopefully any company considering a merger has
done their homework as to how the newly acquired brand will fit
into the merged company. If the end goal was to generate the
inherent value of a particular brand then every effort must be
made to preserve the uniqueness of the brand. If, however, the
end goal was different – maybe the acquisition of assets or to
expand their marketing reach – the outcome of the merger
might be different.
Nikhom Jens: I believe there should be a comprehensive study on
how brands in the same tier/price point can coexist. Perhaps they
cater towards different types of consumers (corporate vs. leisure,
traditional vs. lifestyle) or they are strong in different markets.
Michael Levie: The only real differentiator will be
‘brand experience’. I don’t believe any of the major
brands differentiate themselves at all, so they can put any
brand name and logo on any building and it truly won’t
make a difference.
Jesper Palmqvist: I’d say first and foremost that it depends on
the management company; if they want to preserve the
uniqueness in the first place, there needs to be flexibility and
a culture of adaptation of internal process across operations,
marketing and other departments. Some bigger groups have
shown over time that they are well equipped to do so, whereas
others may have found it more challenging keeping that unique
aspect of a new brand.
How do mergers of large hotel companies affect the branding
of the hotel company itself, in terms of both B2B and B2C?
Peter Henley: The merging of larger companies such as Marriott
and Starwood will bring together two very powerful loyalty
programmes and their respective databases. From a strategic
perspective, the new company could seek to drive more business
through direct B2C channels.
Nikhom Jens: Basically, scale will augment the importance
of brands within the hotel company. There will also be more
negotiating power with suppliers, service providers and owners.
At the same time, global consumers will be more aware of the
hotel company. This is what Accor has done over the past years to
penetrate Australia, India and China. However, this doesn’t mean
that mergers will always be successful. Mergers of two regional
boutique firms may not have the same impact.
Michael Levie: Corporate contracts are on the decline; this
will remain the case with or without mergers. Brand frequent-
stay programmes will be under pressure as a result of
diminishing corporate deals. OTAs will continue to be a solid
solution and gain ground, including focus to win over the
corporate companies. My conclusion is that with or without
mergers, the chains have a huge problem.
WITH OR WITHOUT
MERGERS,THE
CHAINS HAVE A
HUGE PROBLEM.
Michael Levie
MaxCrosbie-Jones

14. 14
C
T A K E S C E N T R E S T A G E
ontent marketing is nothing new – think of the Michelin
Guide or John Deere’s magazine The Furrow, two
corporate-produced publications that have worked to
guide and influence potential consumers for well over
a century. Brands have always leveraged their unique
stories and histories to gain new customers and retain
old ones. What has changed significantly though, thanks
to the technological and digital revolutions of the past
decade, is the elimination of traditional barriers to entry
that brands once faced when it came to publishing,
marketing and content creation. In today’s content-driven
world, powerful and compelling stories have never been
more important in building a quality brand.
When done well, content marketing increases
profitable customer actions. That’s the end goal,
naturally, but it’s not the only purpose or even the
only measurement brands should be looking at.
Unlike traditional marketing campaigns, content
marketing requires a sustained commitment to
producing quality content and pushing it out through
an integrated publishing network. Without a solid long-
term engagement strategy in place, many brands fail
to actually capitalise on such initiatives.
Today’s savviest brands have essentially become
media companies in their own right, creating high-quality
content that they release across a variety of digital and
traditional platforms – Red Bull Media House is widely
seen as the gold standard in this arena.
THE BRAND BECOMES
A MEDIA COMPANY
Treating a brand as a media company
is increasingly becoming the model for
a wide variety of companies around the
globe. Take Net-a-Porter and Casper,
for example, two companies in widely
different sectors using innovative
techniques to not just take part in, but
actually create the culture and lifestyle that
will drive their overall brand in the future.
In 2014, Net-a-Porter, by then a leading
high-end fashion retail site, started
publishing a bi-monthly print magazine.
While this might sound like a step into
the past, Porter, their GBP5, 250+ page
publication, is anything but antiquated.
The magazine is uniquely designed
to complement their online retail
selection and work with their app,
allowing readers to scan a page and
purchase the items immediately.
Even though improved shopability is
the essence behind Porter, don’t confuse
it with a simple catalogue. What truly sets
the magazine apart is the level of editorial
talent and fashion experience that they’ve
been able to bring to the table. With Lucy
Yeomans, former editor of Harper’s Bazaar
UK, serving as editor-in-chief, and fashion
icons ranging from Gisele Bündchen to
Jessica Chastain gracing the cover, Porter
now has a serious voice in the fashion
world and a distribution that rivals British
Vogue. Most importantly for Net-a-Porter,
the magazine helps the brand actively
imagine, define and create the ideal Net-
a-Porter customer, while at the same time
driving new sales.
Similarly, Casper, a New York-based
mattress startup, launched a major online
publication in 2015 centred on the topic of
sleep. Named Van Winkle’s, the publication
is much more than your typical brand blog.
Presented through a unique domain name,
minimally branded – with only “Published
by Casper” appearing on the footer – and
boasting editorial independence, Van
Winkle’s is a freestanding media outlet
that aims to publish roughly 10 original
pieces daily and even plans to run outside
advertisements. Like Net-a-Porter, Casper
has also attracted an impressive editorial
team to run Van Winkle’s and produce
consistent and impressive content. Their
first headline article, for instance, was a
As brands increasingly operate like media companies,
what does the future of hotel marketing hold in store?

15. 15feature
detailed investigative piece that looked
into America’s dependency on prescription
sleep medications.
For smaller brands with minimal
marketing budgets, the potential rewards
from successful content marketing are
huge, but it can require more creative
thinking to get off the ground. Good!
Greens, a US-based maker of nutrition
bars, is a great example of how a small
company can leverage nearby connections
to produce low-cost and highly effective
content. Located in Cleveland, Ohio,
Good! Greens was in its infancy when the
CEO approached local bloggers to ask
if they would be interested in reviewing
and writing about Good! Greens’ bars.
By developing relationships with over
30 independent bloggers, Good! Greens
massively expanded their overall online
presence, boosted their credibility and
gained enough local traffic that they were
able to stock their bars in Cleveland stores.
The key to this success, of course, was a
great product, which ensured that bloggers
would actually want to produce high-
quality content.
For all of these companies, the end
goal is essentially the same: to sell more
of their product. However, their marketing
is notable more for its subliminal influence
than any overt call to action. Luke Sherwin,
one of the co-founders and the chief
creative officer at Casper, frames the
company’s philosophy this way, “Great
brands don’t just ride shifts in culture,
they contribute to them. Smarter brands
in general realise that their products are
just enablers to a lifestyle – changing the
lifestyle itself can be more profitable than
any change to your product.”
ENGAGING TODAY’S
HOSPITALITY CONSUMER
Nowhere is this truer than in the hospitality
sector. And indeed, many hotel and travel
companies have been quick to embrace
similarly strategic content marketing plans.
Over the past two years, however, no one
has done more than Marriott to adjust
to the new digital landscape. “We’re a
media company now,” says David Beebe,
Marriott’s vice president of global creative
and content marketing, and he means it.
With the launch of a global content studio
in 2014 and two marketing and brand
command centres, in Bethesda, Maryland
and Hong Kong, Marriott is working to
engage consumers both in real-time and
through longer format storytelling.
Marriott has also moved aggressively
to hire the sort of media experts who can
produce high-quality content, bringing
in talent from CBS, Variety, and the Walt
Disney Company. In two short years,
they’ve developed a successful TV show,
three hit short films, a personalised online
travel magazine, and even virtual reality
travel experiences for Oculus Rift.
Central to their success is the way
Marriott strategically focuses each
production on a specific brand. Their
short films Two Bellmen and its sequel
Two Bellmen Two, for example, were
made exclusively for JW Marriott. Another
key has been their subtle approach to
branding such content, “If brands want to
be relevant,” Beebe explains, “they need
to stop interrupting what consumers are
interested in and become what they are
interested in.”
Other hospitality companies have
also joined the trend in recent years. In
2008, Best Western launched a travel
blog called You Must Be Trippin’ filled with
travel tips, destination advice and real-
time news. Hilton’s Conrad brand recently
started an online luxury content campaign
that publishes local travel itineraries in
destinations where Conrad operates.
Holiday Inn Express has partnered with
BuzzFeed over the past two years to
produce entertaining travel-related videos.
Starwood’s W Hotel has even developed
its own Snapchat filter.
Clearly, the hospitality industry is
learning how to stay relevant in the age of
content marketing, but, as always, quality
remains essential. Driven by continual
technological advances and even fewer
barriers to entry, demand and supply of
online content will continue to boom. In
this world, the challenge is not just to
develop content, but to create high quality,
engaging material that truly interests a
potential consumer in the face of almost
limitless alternatives. Telling engaging
stories, forging emotional connections
and developing a bold cultural voice:
this is the future of hotel marketing.
THIS COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE IS AN EXCUSE TO
SHOOT FOR GREAT INSTEAD OF SETTLING FOR GOOD,
TO PUBLISH ORIGINAL RESEARCH, COMMISSION
LONGFORM ESSAYS, CREATE COMPELLING PODCASTS
ANDVIDEOS,AND CHALLENGEYOURSELF TO TELL
STORIES IN INTERESTING WAYS. IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO
STAND OUT AND CONVINCEYOUR AUDIENCE TO STICK
WITHYOU WHEN THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER OPTIONS.
JOE LAZAUSKAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, CONTENTLY
WHAT’S THE IMPACT?
• Marriott on their short film French Kiss: “If you
book through the French Kiss [sales] package,
you got a special rate, Champagne and
chocolate, and a Paris tour in one of our cars.
That package drove over USD500,000 in
revenue for that single hotel.” – David Beebe,
Marriott’s vice president of global creative and
content marketing.
• Marriott on their online publication Marriott
Traveller: In its first 90 days, Marriott Traveller
drove over 7,200 room bookings.
• Net-a-Porter on the influence of Porter: Once
a Net-a-Porter customer subscribes to Porter,
the average spend per customer increases
by 24% and the average amount of orders
increases by 86%.
• Liz Bedor, senior content marketing manager
at Bluecore, talking about Casper’s publication
Van Winkle’s: “Any business that is built on
benefiting the end consumer has a leg up on
an honest and trustworthy brand perception.
Launching an unbranded editorial site, filled
with amazing content, with no direct strategy
to drive e-commerce enhances that positive
perception even more.”
• Good! Green on the success of working
with local bloggers: “We watched our sales
average jump over 50% over the last four
months from the previous four-month period!”
WHAT SETS GREAT CONTENT
MARKETING APART?
Breaking Through
• Upping the entertainment factor: it’s all about
creating a valuable emotional connection,
whether that’s laughter or love.
• Credibility: consumers want to hear from
independent experts who are free to
speak their minds, not just listen to
company messaging.
• Self-multiplying content: take advantage of
social media trends, like unboxing videos
and customer testimonials.
vs. Falling Flat
• Put simply, bad content: if it doesn’t inspire
you to keep reading after the first sentence,
it won’t work on anyone else either.
• Going for the hard sell: too much content
and too little time – when’s the last time
you actually read a pop-up ad?
• Missing your cue: trying to jump too quickly
or too late into the conversation on trending
topics generally doesn’t work out too well
for companies.
DanielGrossberg,BrandStrategist,QUO

16. BANGKOK | AMSTERDAM | HO CHI MINH CITY
NEW DELHI | MALÉ | SINGAPORE
Celebrating 20 Years of
Bold Branding
We would like to thank all our partners for
two decades of collaboration, and for inspiring
us to always be at the vanguard of creativity.
Together, we have built some of the best-loved
and most successful hotel and travel brands.
Thank you for making us the world’s foremost
hospitality branding agency.
www.quo-global.com