Effective Brand Management In A Global Marketplace

Prepared For:

Intercontinental Hotels

Prepared By:

Dallas Mullett

November 12, 2015

 Table of Contents

Section 1

Introduction…………………………………………………………………………2

Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………………2

Significance of the Study………………………………………………………….2

Scope of the Study………………………………………………………………...3

Review of Related Literature……………………………………………………...3

Methods of Repositioning Intercontinental……………………………………....6

Determine Current Status of the Brand…………………………………………..6

Determine What the Company Stands For Today……………………………....6

Develop Brand Positioning Platforms……………………………………………..7

Refine the Brand Position and Manage Presentation…………………………...7

Limitations to Repositioning………………………………………………………..7

Section 2

Introductions…………………………………………………………………………

Findings……………………………………………………………………………..

Customer Surveys………………………………………………………….

Understanding Brand Platform…………………………………………………..

Maintain a Strong Brand Platform……………………………………………….

 Section I

Introduction to the Report

Introduction

Brand management is an aspect to business that all companies need to take seriously.
When it comes to the customers, a company would be better off giving them a lasting
impression making it so that they want to have the product or service again. This report
is designed to inform Intercontinental Hotels what it means to have a great brand.
Within this report, you will learn the do’s and don’ts of brand management and
marketing. There will also be some examples provided on companies with a great brand
identity and also instances where a company failed to do so. We hope that by reading
this report, you will learn about the how an effective brand is made and apply this
knowledge to Intercontinental Hotels.

Statement of the Problem

When it comes to brand management, a great brand could have more success over
other brands that do not. The purpose of this report is to inform executive marketers on
the importance of creating a strong global brand that is highly recognized in each
specific country. At Intercontinental Hotels, the main target market is business
professionals, and as researchers we are going to successfully enter this specific hotel
into the vacationing market.

Significance of the Study

Intercontinental Hotel Group is the primary beneficiary of this report, but with the
information provided, any hospitality business can benefit from the research provided.
Our global brand management and marketing for Intercontinental Hotels will utilize the
business professionals that are frequent lodgers, and offer them a vacation stay at one
of the resorts we will establish in a popular vacation spot. Using the business target
market will help create a word-of-mouth advertisement, and will also turn these repeat
customers into loyal vacationing customers. Implementing a strong report on how to
build a strong brand identity internationally will not only benefit Intercontinental Hotels,
but also other hospitality businesses trying to widen their scope into a international
vacationing hotel. Any hotel business that is entering a new market can use the
research and marketing techniques that we will be providing, and build a strong,
recognizable hotel brand name.

Scope of the Study

This study was limited to the perceptions of successful internationally branded

companies as well as the research and marketing that is involved in the creation of a
strong brand identity. For the purpose of this study, what constitutes as a successful
global brand is defined by the market share. This study was restricted to the steps in
order to create global brand identity, and how to maintain that identity with different parts
of world. During this study global brand identity is defined as the success of how the
brand name became so highly recognized in an international market that is highly
competitive. The date for this study was collected in the fall of 2015.

Review of Related Literature

Rietbroek (2015), a managing director and CEO of Kimberly-Clark Australia, New

Zealand, Pacific Islands, and a member of the CNBC-YPO Chief Executive Network,
states that there are seven key drivers to building a billion dollar global brand. With a
constant changing world marked by, information overload and increased insecurity,
brand’s values are more important than ever. Consumers yearn for meaningful and
reliable relationships with their brand. By implementing seven key drivers into a
business, Intercontinental Hotels can build a global brand success.
 Key

1 Provide a highly compelling brand promise

2 Create a powerful insight to service

3 Closure power to gain loyalty

4 Build a contemporary feeling

5 Consistency with brand name that is renewed

6 Culturally relevant worldwide

7 Commitment to higher purpose

The first key driver to building a successful global brand is provide a highly compelling
brand promise. It is important that a business incorporates and delivers a service that
the brand has promised, and gives the customer an exceedingly great experience.
Through the development of a highly compelling brand promise, it creates a vision in the
customer's mind on what kind of experience the customer will have with using a specific
service.

The second key, is to create a powerful insight of the service you will be living up to with
customer. A billion-dollar brand will capture attention through their insights, and unlock
not only a customers mind but also their heart as well. A company should create a
brand that will position their brand in a customer's mind, to create a positive and excited
envision of what the lodging will be like. By creating a picture for the customer, a brand
will gain momentum in the global market.

The third key, is creating a closure power, to gain loyal customers. A company that can
convince consumers day in and day out that they are the best for their needs will
dominate internationally. A strong brand will reinforce that no other company can top
their services and experiences provided to the customer, creating a repeat loyal
customer.

The fourth key, is give the customer a contemporary feeling that their business is always
on trend. Billion-dollar brands plan for the predictable, but also need to identify
moments or events that can be used to reinforce their position. With the incredible rise
of social media and real-time brand building in a digital world, the key is to leverage the
unpredictable and bring the brand into the spotlight to capitalize on and own a trending
topic.

The fifth key is keeping a consistent brand promise that is continually renewed.
Inconsistency can break a company's brand, and give a customer the feeling of
unknown of what the experience will be like. A consistent brand promise will give a
returning customer the knowledge of what to expect from the company, while finding a
way of renewing it will make the brand seem more appealing and feel new to the
customer.

The sixth key, is to make sure your brand is culturally relevant to all worldwide
audiences. With social media and new technologies in the market, we know that
information will not stay in a single targeted area, and it will spread to other regions of
the world. Keeping in mind that you need a consistent brand, a company must also
make sure that the brand is culturally appealing in all aspect of the world too.
The final key, is creating a commitment to a higher purpose. By creating a commitment
to a higher purpose, a company will gain the staying power, ability to compete against
other brands within the market, win customers over from other companies competing in
the market, and create a loyal consumer market. (Rietbroek, CNBC)

Wasserman (2010) is a 15 year experienced writer about business, technology, and

politics for newspapers, magazines and websites. Her work has appeared in such
publications as Congressional Quarterly, Business Week, Portfolio and Slate. She
states in her article that “establishing and building a brand identity” is essential in a
competitive global market. Brands create a scope of what consumers think about your
service, and serves as a reputation of your service. Williams stated within the article
that "Building a reputation in any new market, including overseas, involves a first
impression, which comes from the initial interactions someone has with your company,
products, and services." Creating a strong brand will short cut customers into knowing
what they can expect and receive from the service provider, making brand management
an important role in any success in global markets. (Wasserman, Inc.)
 Methods of Repositioning Intercontinental

Intercontinental will be taking the international hotel and target vacationers to visit tourist
areas where their hotel is located. Expanding the hotel into vacation destinations, will
shift Intercontinental into a new a market as opposed to their current business stays
market. Using the lodgers that are staying in their hotels for business trips, the hotel
company can offer promotions to their current customers to experience their new hotel
sites that are in vacation destinations. Utilizing their already loyal customers can help
build a new brand identity that creates outstanding experience reviews and
recommendations to other potential consumers.

Determine Current Status of the Brand

Understand where the brand stands in the current market that the company is in. Utilize
the complete history of the brand success, and how it can be reused in the new market.
Know what the company is trying to achieve and where the company wants to be. As a
company that is already recognized in the market, survey the existing customers and
determine what image they have of the current brand.

Determine What the Company Stands for Today

Obtain a clear insight of what the customer is looking to get out of the service you can
provide them, and how you can improve from your current market. Respond to the
improvement of your company and position a brand that is easily foreseeable in the
eyes of consumers.

Develop Brand Positioning Platforms

Knowing where the brand is in the current market, a company can now evaluate how far
it wants to grow, expand, and stretch the brand. The success of this will require the
company to strategically ensure that all aspects of where the company wants to take the
brand, and carefully review that the core values and essence of the brand is maintained.

Refine the Brand Position and Manage Presentation

Review and refine the new brand position in the market and communicate to all
functional departments of the company to align consistent efforts in becoming
successful in a new market. Develop a strong team within the company to oversee and
carry the message of the new brand throughout the company to ensure each
department delivers a clear and concise goal of becoming a global phenomena.
(Pollack, MarketingProfs)

Limitations to Repositioning

With Intercontinental Hotels already having a strong international brand name, it may be
hard to reposition it in a new market. The repositioning of the brand relies heavily on
consumers, and can only gather information and data easily from previous and current
customers utilizing the service. Gathering information from vacationers that have
stayed at many other hotel venues will be tough to win over in a global market. Since
Intercontinental Hotels is a business focused market, the company can use it’s business
elegance to it’s advantage when creating a new brand identity for a vacationing hotel
chain within the company.
 Section II

Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations

Introduction

This report was designed to provide the importance of creating a strong brand identity
within a global market. A survey of the current established brand was evaluated and
found that many of the customers that have stayed at Intercontinental Hotels via
business trip rated the hotel at 4.5 out of 5 stars, and thoroughly enjoyed their
experience. With the repositioning and techniques we have researched, we hope that
this section will provide specific details on how recreate a successful and powerful
brand identity internationally. This section includes the Findings, Conclusions, and
Recommendations.

Findings

The findings of how to build a successful brand identity in the global market will be
presented into three sections: Customer Surveys, Understanding the Brand Position,
and Maintaining a Strong Brand Platform.

Customer Surveys

All respondents were previous customers that stayed at one of the current hotels
located in a tourist area. The survey participants were asked a series of questions
regarding the current brand and their experience at the hotel. As the research was
conducted the company was able to gather information of the customer experience and
gave insight on how the company is evolving.

We have researched guest reviews from TripAdvisor, the largest and most significant
customer review site, and have come to the conclusion that Intercontinental Hotels can
attract guests traveling for vacation rather than business.
Using TripAdvisor, we have researched the top 20 hotels with the highest star rating and
compared the hotels that are more vacation oriented to the hotels that are more
business oriented. With these results, we have come to the conclusion that it would be
beneficial for Intercontinental Hotels to improve their brand identity by widening their
image to offering top quality vacation resorts rather than business oriented hotels.

Understanding the Brand Position

Understanding what makes a great brand is essential to having a strong brand identity.
We will provide examples of how to maintain a successful brand and what causes a
successful brand to fail in a global setting.

Maintaining a Strong Brand Platform

When it comes to brand management, there is the right way to maintain a strong brand
platform.
 Section III

Conclusions