FHA: Engage the senses for strong brands, says consultancy
22 April 2010
Engaging the senses is essential to building a strong brand identity, said the CEO of a Singapore-based customer experience consultancy firm at a presentation at the FHA yesterday.
Simon Faure-Field, CEO of Equal Strategy urged hotel companies to look at their brands from a sensorial perspective and stressed the importance of ensuring consistency across all point of customer experience.
“The guest journey starts way before they reach the property. You need to think about the different moments you guests touch your brand – pre-arrival, arrival, during, departure, and at home,” he said in a presentation as part of the Hospitality Operations & Design Conference at Singapore’s Food and Hotel Asia Expo.
Hot hotel companies have started to look beyond the look of their properties and started to consider other elements such as forming an emotional connection with guests, he added.
Faure-Field cited music as an example of how hotel companies can enhance their brand identity. It’s important to identify brand values and select music accordingly rather than just choosing music that is pleasant, he said.
“Music is powerful and the brand is not just something written in a manual. It goes the whole way and focuses on the five senses,” he said.
Starwood is one hotel company that has taken steps in this direction; in September last year, the firm appointed Michaelangelo L’Acqua as its first ever global music director.
Starwood brand Le Meridien used a scent and sound combination in its award-winning arrival experience.
