Originating from beautiful and bountiful Yunnan province, the Zhongwei Hotel Group holds more than 150 properties all across China.
The group had grown organically, with little or no focus on developing an overarching brand strategy. We were called in to rethink the brand strategy for the whole portfolio from the ground-up, in order to lay the foundations for future sustainable growth and increased added-value.
The need for a robust brand architecture was in order. We created four categories to fit the strategy for a diversified growth. The choice was made to use a “branded house” approach, and to create a family of brands echoing each-other. Although the brand was meant to build a nation-wide presence, we wanted to keep its soul and heart strongly anchored in the values and characteristics of Yunnan, its regional origin.
We translated the landscape, people and rituals of the Yunnan region into a brand story that could be communicated to partners of the business and across the organization. A customer journey for each brand was also developed to detail how the brand characteristics could apply to many guest touchpoints, beginning from the booking process and arrival to the departure and post-stay communication.