//BUILDING A HOTEL BRAND

Brand tips with NYC based creative director Alex Booker

Building the right brand for your accommodation business is the single most important thing you can do to stand out, attract the right guests and increase your bookings potential.

Advertising guru David Ogilvy describes a brand as “the intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way it’s advertised.”

A commercial byAlex booker to launch Star Wars Battlefront 2 on PS4

So what does that even mean? Simply, everything you do, say, have said, and will say is a reflection of your brand. When it’s done right, it will attract the right guests over and over again and fill every one of your vacant rooms. When it’s done wrong, at best you’ll go unnoticed, and at worst it will leave people disappointed and turn them against your business.

Alex Booker is creative director at one of the world’s leading advertising agencies, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) in New York. He’s not only one of the most talented creatives I’ve worked with, but also one of the most down-to-earth.

I recently caught up with Alex on a Skype call and asked him his thoughts on the importance of building the brand.

In today’s world, having a brand is everything. It’s the thing that outlives products and offers, it sits above changes in management and staff and provides focus and direction of where things are headed both internally and externally.

For a hotel and accommodation business, a brand is more than the physical location of where you’re staying, it’s the promise of an experience. A name that conjures up an image of what you can come to expect before you’ve set foot in the room.

Alex Booker’s tv commercial for Playstation

Good branding is the one thing separating you from the competition. For the most part, you’re offering a similar product to your competitors – a place to lay your head at the end of the day. Branding and authentic storytelling is the promise of the experience you’re offering. Done correctly, a brand allows customers to trust and expect a certain quality just from a name alone.

Think of branding as the overall experience you’re selling, not just your visual identity and advertising. The way your business interacts with customers, handles a negative experience, and celebrates a positive one will get people to talk about and recommend your brand to others.

Alex Booker’s tv commercial for Tooheys Extra Dry

Alex Booker’s commercial for Weight Watchers

For more of Alex's work check out his website.