2015 winner: Hotel Jen, Best Outside the UK - case study

2015 winner: Hotel Jen, Outside The UK
Case studies

Traders Hotels was part of the highly competitive mid-range hospitality sector currently dominated by international chains and increasingly characterised by more independent, boutique style offerings catering to the rise in importance of the "Millennials" market.

'Millennials' make up some 50% of business travellers and will comprise some 75% of hospitality staff by 2025. Traders Hotels was lagging behind in attracting this highly desirable market. Endorsement by Shangri-La also carried the misconception that Traders provided s-star services and amenities - an expectation the brand attempted to fulfil while maintaining 4-star rates.
 
The result was disappointment for some guests and an unsustainable model in terms of profitability and customer expectation management. In addition, the new brand had to incorporate the already existing Traders portfolio of hotels and facilities.
 
The aim was to create the ideal mid-range hotel brand, with millennials as our new starting point. The approach was to gain a much deeper understanding of the target market and then explore if and how the existing portfolio assets could best be brought in line with their preferences. 
 
A strategy was devised that was both straightforward and simple: create a conceptual persona as a figurehead for an industry built on people, someone who shares Millennial values and can relate to Millennial minded travellers. We then created Jen-a professional hotelier and lover of travel, adventure and the simple pleasures in life-a truly distinctive solution amid a sea of fairly generic positioning and products communicating similar messages to the same target audience.

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