At A rock-solid hospitality brand, why? highlights the importance of branding within the hospitality industry. Conclusion: the right foundation of a hospitality brand ensures that you become top-of-mind. Such a brand is founded by a unique identity that becomes visible in your own brand identity, among other things. Once you have created such an identity, an essential next step awaits: ensuring that potential guests see this identity and thus interact with your brand. Where do these moments of interaction take place and how do you capitalize on them?
To understand the moments of interaction, it is good to zoom in on the customer journey. The customer journey [1] represents the journey your guest goes through, which can be compared to the most literal sense of the word. This is because during a journey you are not only concerned with the stay itself, but also with the moment before you leave and after you return. Thus, a trip begins when you book a ticket and a photo book will make you remember the trip for a long time.
The same goes for a guest in the hospitality industry: he or she is not only thinking about your concept during the dinner, but already starts thinking about your brand the moment he or she wants to eat out. In the case of a strong hospitality brand, this guest will think of you even when he or she is not dining out, but for example recognizes your brand colors somewhere on the street.
So the customer journey can be seen as the total experience the guest goes through, from start to finish.
Understanding this experience will help you understand the guest. This will allow you to respond to certain wants and needs, and provide direction to exceed expectations.
Within this journey, there are several moments when someone interacts with your brand; interaction takes place.
These moments of interaction are called touchpoints [1]. Your guest's overall experience is judged by these touchpoints, and the trick is to win a unique place in the brain through these touchpoints.
One of the most important things that help win such a unique spot is your visual identity. It is important to make this visual identity recognizable within each touchpoint throughout the journey in order to make a lasting impression. There are a number of places where many of these touchpoints recur:
1. Within your business
Where better to bring your brand to life than within your own business? The place where you hold all the reins and where it is more than important to create a total experience for guests. Your brand can be visible from different angles. Think for example of unique workwear, printed cutlery bags, napkins in your own theme, your own glasses, beer mats with your own design or walls with quotes in your own tone of voice. Guests should be able to breathe, feel and smell your brand when they enter and, when they walk out, carry the pleasant scent with them.
2. En route
Even on the road, there are plenty of times when you can introduce someone to your brand. Do you do takeaway? Take advantage of this easy way to promote yourself. Print your takeaway bags with your unique brand identity and attract attention to that cycling bag. You can also capitalize on this type of promotion with to-go products. Coffee to-go in your own cup? With an Instagrammable design you stand out not only on the street, but also online!
3. Online
Speaking of online, in addition to traveling in the here and now, your brand makes occasional detours into the world beyond screens. Consider social media, where visits to your business can be shared en masse. Get those followers to recognize your branding.
Check out tips and tricks to steal the show online "
4. Home
Once they arrive home, the guest is still exposed to the beauty of your brand. Not only the takeaway bag has to radiate your identity, the packaging of the food and drinks can also be printed in your own style. This way you keep communicating with the guests and make them aware that they are enjoying your food at home. Something to munch on? Then don't forget to give the delivery man some printed wet wipes.
5. In the brain
The brain can be seen as the final destination of the journey. It is the goal of branding. Once arrived in the potential guest's brain, a bond can be built between you. Top-of-mind, there we have it again. All because your brand travels along all of the above touchpoints.
Source reference:
[1] Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey, K. Lemon & P. Verhoef. Accessed October 1, 2022 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1509/jm.15.0420
