Recent question, and a new series of copy and pasted “quick thoughts” from internal conversations safe for public consumption. =) So: What do you think about Lifestyle Brands like Bulgari, Ferrari, or others, entering into the hotel space?
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People deeply identify with lifestyle brands, and want to be seen “wearing” them, as in flaunting style to friends on a Facebook post. But as modern marketing like Facebook has made the industry aware, there is a question about how much of an intimate, active, and ongoing relationship a client wants with a brand?
In a world where any correspondence from a brand could be framed as spam (IE, did it come when I wanted it, or when they wanted it), positioning luxury travel brands as timeless, classic, and confident become precarious in this culture of over communication.
The role of a luxury and lifestyle brand is to be available at the discretion of the guest, and not the other way around.
So – does the luxury brand user use the lifestyle brand to meet their ends, when it works for them, rather than want ongoing discourse with the actual brand? Is the scattered and diverse marketplace too niche for someone to solely identify with one luxury brand? Does the luxury group have the intrinsic acumen to execute and carry out the complex operations of a hotel?
Possibly…. but you have to hit the mark on the interior design, and service, that your branded luxury consumer has come to expect…. they’re already branded, and will have naturally high expectations. Anything not accomplished or delivered perfectly will already be held to higher scrutiny, potentially hobbling the luxury brand crossover right at the start. What’s more, you are looking at a tiny market of hard core luxury branded people that will patronize your business… but it will be floated by those not wholly brand-centric. Will the brand alignment actually alienate the larger customer base that are not die hard fanatics of the brand?
What’s more, it’s got to be done appropriately. There’s nothing worse than positioning yourself to exclude both your branded fans and non-luxury clients. I can’t imagine Ferrari-Land hitting the mark.
I think if luxury brands recognize their core values, reduce market myopia about their role in goods and services, and realize it is about catering to people who actively choose the lifestyle you offer, while keeping it classic, sophisticated, and continental, you could build a new Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton.
The luxury brand will have pluses and minuses at the get go, but any complexity will be offset by luxury brands finding the right, real hotel people to deliver and execute on the service and hospitality. The hotel world needs a rebirth of what “luxury” means, and luxury brands are absolutely positioned to deliver it. It’s just that the nature of their success will be what creates the major challenges. If they find real hotel people, and not wall street people, they’ll do wonderfully.
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