I lately got here throughout this model pyramid chart. Whereas incomplete, I discover it’s fairly helpful to check the assorted motels of a number of teams of their classes.
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A 12 months in the past, I shared some ideas on how the resort business struggles to construct real manufacturers. I argued that almost all “manufacturers” in hospitality are manufactured identities with little depth or long-term funding behind them. Regardless of intelligent names and shiny brochures, motels too typically lack the persistent narrative and constant execution that true brand-building requires.
Since then, I got here throughout the “Lodge Manufacturers Pyramid” (offered by the CEO of Leonardo motels, to provide credit score the place credit score is due). This framework tries to place the manufacturers based on their place within the high quality and expertise spectrum. For customers, no less than, it brings a little bit of readability.
Now, as a substitute of squinting at a laundry record of unfamiliar resort sub-brands per “holding firm” and making an attempt to guess their defining traits, the pyramid helps us see the place every providing matches into the general market. It’s not excellent—some model nuances nonetheless really feel arbitrary—but it surely’s a step towards one thing tangible. In a world the place Marriott, Hilton, Accor, and IHG spawn new model identities at will, this straightforward, structured hierarchy is likely to be the closest factor we’ve got to significant differentiation.
Don’t get me incorrect: this doesn’t clear up the basic drawback I highlighted final 12 months. Creating a real model nonetheless calls for a transparent narrative, relentless consistency, and fixed reinforcement—efforts the resort business typically shies away from. The pyramid gained’t magically rework a scattershot method right into a targeted model technique. But it surely does no less than assist us, as customers, navigate the chaos, making it a bit simpler to “get” what a Kimpton or a Sofitel may imply within the grand scheme.
In the long run, many resort manufacturers stay wrappers for funding autos, quite than deeply constructed, consumer-centric identities. The Lodge Manufacturers Pyramid doesn’t clear up that, but it surely’s a reminder that there are methods to carry a measure of logic and comparability to a world the place model constructing continues to be too typically an afterthought. Perhaps that’s a begin.
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