How do you create a single vision for a brand with no philosophical or physical coherence?
In 2005, The Dorchester Group, a management mechanism for five hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA), recognised a cross-marketing opportunity by developing a soft-branded hotel management company.
The new enterprise would leverage the goodwill of each of the Group’s five iconic hotels and generate growth by attracting new hotel management contracts once a credible management capability was established. Luxury Branding was approached to mastermind the realisation of this business ambition.
Our constraints were twofold. The portfolio hotels did not demonstrate the philosophical coherence of a single visionary creator, nor were they linked by any physical similarities. Furthermore, there existed considerable equity existing in each of the property names, and the BIA was determined to retain the “Dorchester” name. We, therefore, needed to produce a meaningful form of endorsement brand, which unified and lent greater visibility to the existing properties without compromising their individuality and the integrity of their independent identities.