‘There is a strong sense that overpriced mid-range properties are on borrowed time and that location-focused budget and top end luxury or themed hotels at either end of the spectrum represent the future,’ warned market research company Mintel in its 2006 UK Hotels report. Additional Mintel research into the budget hotel sector, published in 2007, found that value chains are outperforming the UK hotel market four times over, with particularly strong growth coming from Premier Inn and Travelodge.
Thistle Hotels, meanwhile, was suffering from a deteriorating reputation and losing out to other major mid-tier hotel operators. Priced in the same bracket as the likes of the Hilton, Marriott or Radisson hotels, but with a brand more closely associated with the budget chains, Thistle was poorly positioned to respond to these changes in the marketplace. To compete more effectively in these conditions the company decided it needed a new brand, a refreshed visual identity, updated interiors and improved service.
‘Thistle’s strength is that it has more high-profile city centre locations than anyone else, but otherwise they were in a bit of a mess, just one up from the bottom tier of budget operators in terms of perception, but not in terms of price. If people are going to spend the same amount of money as they would going to the Hilton, they would go to the Hilton,’ says Marc Jenks, design director of Navyblue, the consultancy behind Thistle’s new brand image.
Changes in the market, including the successful emergence of Malmaison, had resulted in a number of operators leapfrogging Thistle in terms of service and experience. Hilton International, for example, has recently worked with designers and architects Jestico & Whiles to boost its design credentials, while Malmaison has generally raised the bar in the sector. ‘There wasn’t really a good mid-range offer that caters to an informal but upmarket customer, where the environment is relaxed but the experience is rich and the detail is attended to,’ says Jenks.
Thistle’s chief operating officer Heiko Figge is now overseeing a major refurbishment of the company’s hotel estate, backed up and informed by Navyblue’s reworked corporate identity. ‘Our new vision for Thistle is to dominate the four star deluxe market. An investment of £138 million across the portfolio has provided a new corporate identity and will see [a refurbishment of] Thistle’s 33 hotels across the UK,’ says Figge.
To signal the changes, the company’s main corporate identity – the traditional thistle emblem – has been replaced by a contemporary logotype – a logo constructed simply from a typeface. Supporting this is a strapline ‘The way it should be’ – a confident statement of service quality, claims Jenks. The word ‘Hotels’ has also been dropped from the name – an assured move based on the assumption that people already know the company and what it does.
Navyblue’s design work also extends well beyond the main marque, to include business-to-business and business-to-consumer literature, as well as internal and external signage and in-room printed materials. The brand is deliberately ‘uncomplicated, informal and streamlined’, with a muted colour palette. ‘It was never meant to be a complex brand solution; it’s about simplicity and detail: the communications have to work across a whole range of different buildings, architecture and environments,’ explains Jenks.
As well as the visual changes, the branding process takes in the company’s values, processes and operations too, with Navyblue consulting on an appropriate ‘tone of voice’ for communicating with customers, for example. As Figge explains, the new identity symbolises an intended step-change in Thistle’s whole service. ‘At the core of the brand lies our service standard and we continue to invest heavily in staff training and development through initiatives. We feel that the new look Thistle and the investment into employee training and development will also boost motivation levels,’ he says.
This rebranding and refurbishment is a major undertaking for Thistle, which will take until 2009 to be completed. Beyond that, it could take years for general perceptions of the company to change to reflect its new brand and service. However, according to Figge, the roll-out to date has been ‘extremely effective, with a growing sector of new customers and a positive media response to the new look.’
