One of my pleasures is meeting up with an old friend after a long absence. For the last five years, Henny has been living in Zurich, Switzerland. I have lived in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, for the last ten years. It was great to meet Henny after all this time.
The Ivy, King’s Road, during Chelsea Flower Show
First, it used to be a Dive bar called Henry J Beans that we hung out at when we were younger. The restaurant has ‘grown-up’ over the years.
Henny Frazer, of Hyatt Hotels, 2nd from left.
My experience in branding comes mainly from working with agencies and corporate communications teams. My sector is fast-growing tech companies. Henny has worked with well-established luxury brands.
I’m fascinated by branding. And who could deny Henny’s undeniable talent for branding and strategy?
We both had travelled around India with a friend for several months when we were younger, and we talked about that first. Henny was in the south, in Goa. I was up in the North at Manali. We had both gone to the famous ‘full moon parties’ (In Goa in the winter and Manali in the summer).
The internet is a double-edged sword; in some ways, it’s helped strengthen and give new dimensions to brands. In other ways, it has commoditized a host of products.
Price comparison sites have hammered the hotel business similarly; it’s eaten into margins in the airline industry. A race to the bottom has ensued.
The hotel business has also been threatened by disruptive technologies like Air BnB. More recently, Covid-19 has brought the industry to its knees.
Andaz Hotel, Delhi
Connecting with the young and fashionable in Delhi
Why 401 Reasons? It’s simple – Andaz Delhi has 401 guestrooms. Every room has its own reason, which is defined in the book.
Besides, as you enter each guestroom or suite, you will find a unique piece of art illustrating each reason.
The book covers a range of subjects, from art and architecture to local delicacies, nature, and shops. They produced the album with reasons like:
Reason No. 161 – Lassi
‘Lassi is the much-loved yoghurt drink enjoyed all over India. The sweet-tart drink is consumed in vast quantities in Delhi and may be served in fine hand-etched silver and brass cups, terracotta tumblers, and even plastic cups.’
Reason No. 258 – Delhi Blue Pottery
Henny changed the conversation and developed a deeper, more powerful bond with Hyatt customers.
We covered a wide range of branding & strategy subjects at lunch. But I think my favorites were:
Grand Hyatt’s powerful ‘Living Grand’ message.
The Hyatt Centric brand offers a springboard to discover a city. I had enviously admired footage of Henny at a Flow Rida concert at Hyatt Centric Chicago Magnificent Mile.
Or the Hotel Du Louvre – The hotel team worked on rebranding this hotel as it has become part of the Unbound Collection by Hyatt. This hotel is all about slowing down and really becoming inspired by Paris.
Source link
