Holiday Inn’s billion-dollar rebranding of over 3,000 hotels worldwide is showing a strong rise in revenue over its 600 to-be-rebranded hotels is a signal that is opening many eyes lately. And it should. Among the corporate scandals and lack of consumer confidence, a call for change is heard universally in today’s business world.
Starting in 2008, the rebranding efforts should be complete in all open hotels by the end of 2010. This facelift will be more than skin-deep, introducing a new service promise and “welcome experience”, as well as redecorated guest rooms. Brand new signage, donning the new “H” logo, will signal each hotel’s re-launch..
Rebranding is usually a business’s visual response to an understimulated audience, and can have strong reverberances either way. However, in this “era of change”, it is crucial for larger companies to take a good look at how they’re perceived in the real world, and invite change where appropriate. Take, for instance, Nickelodeon’s decision to pull its Noggin and The N networks back into the Nickelodeon umbrella last month, or AIG’s decision to hold onto the brand of 21st Century Auto Insurance. This is a great case of leveraging an existing brand to shelter weaker divisions from the storm. More and more businesses are pursuing this “rebirth” of sorts, and, unless you’re the largest orange juice bottler in the world, it hasn’t disappointed.
